Scientists have captured the most detailed images and videos of the sun’s surface ever taken using the world’s most powerful solar telescope, including the first-ever clear view of the rotating vortices that form on the sun. Experts say the discovery is a major step toward better understanding the sun’s magnetic system and space weather.
According to the research team, these vortices visible on the surface of the sun are actually formed by the continuous twisting and turning of the sun’s magnetic field due to the movement of hot gases. This process later causes intense explosions of energy on the sun, which give rise to space weather.
According to experts, space weather can affect Earth’s satellites, power transmission lines and communication systems, while astronauts in space are not immune to its potential dangers.
Dr. David Boboltz, a scientist at the US National Solar Observatory (NSO), said that the sun is the main source of all this energy and space weather, so if space weather is to be accurately predicted in the future, it will be necessary to understand the physical processes taking place inside the sun at a very fine level.
This important research has been published in the scientific journal Nature, while the observations were made using the world’s most advanced Inouye Solar Telescope, which is installed on a high mountain in the US state of Hawaii. The clean and dust-free environment of this location is considered ideal for very clear observation of the Sun. Flora& Fauna
In the images obtained from close to the Sun’s surface, scientists saw small but powerful rotating vortices, which NSO astronomer Dr. David Koredze said that these rotating movements generate magnetic energy, which can later take the form of large solar explosions.
Scientists have named this process ‘Kelvin-Helmholtz instability’. This is a physical phenomenon that occurs when fluids or gases moving at different speeds rub against each other and small vibrations gradually turn into rotating vortices. This principle also explains how small waves in the oceans turn into large powerful waves.
According to Dr. Friedrich Woger, another scientist at NSO, this discovery has not only helped to understand the basic causes of space weather but also explained why the outer surface of the sun is so hot. According to him, these vortices transfer energy to the upper layers of the sun, where the energy is accumulated and released in the form of solar flares or coronal mass ejections.
Experts say that this research has extraordinary scientific value in addition to its practical importance, because the sun is the closest star to our Earth and its study helps to understand the basic physical laws in the universe. He reminded that the first experimental confirmation of Einstein’s theory of relativity was possible only through observations of solar eclipses, which is why such modern research on the sun is considered very important for future scientific progress.