by Staff Writers Honolulu HI (SPX) Jan 30, 2020
 The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has produced the highest resolution image of the sun's surface ever taken. In this picture, taken at 789 nanometers (nm), we can see features as small as 30km (18 miles) in size for the first time ever. The image shows a pattern of turbulent, "boiling" gas that covers the entire sun. The cell-like structures -- each about the size of Texas -- are the signature of violent motions that transport heat from the inside of the sun to its surface. Hot solar material (plasma) rises in the bright centers of "cells," cools off and then sinks below the surface in dark lanes in a process known as convection. In these dark lanes we can also see the tiny, bright markers of magnetic fields. Never before seen to this clarity, these bright specks are thought to channel energy up into the outer layers of the solar atmosphere called the corona. These bright spots may be at the core of why the solar corona is more than a million degrees. See video presentation here |
Scientists operating the Inouye Solar Telescope said the unprecedented detail demonstrates the sheer power of the ground-based telescope to map the magnetic fields within the Sun's corona, where solar eruptions occur that impact life on Earth. Such activity can disrupt air travel, cause blackouts, and even disable technologies such as GPS used for navigation.
"It is literally the greatest leap in humanity's ability to study the Sun from the ground since Galileo's time. It's a big deal," said Professor Jeff Kuhn of the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Institute for Astronomy (IfA).
DKIST will be even more powerful after a suite of state-of-the-art instruments come online in the coming months. A team of IfA scientists constructed two complex infrared instruments that ultimately will allow scientists to predict the Sun's magnetic activity and solar storms.
The first is called the Cryogenic Near-Infrared Spectropolarimeter (CryoNIRSP). The nearly 2-ton instrument is designed to measure the Sun's magnetism beyond the visible solar disk. The second, called the Diffraction-Limited Near-IR Spectropolarimeter (DL-NIRSP), will allow DKIST to view the evolution of the Sun's magnetic fields in extreme detail.
"These instruments use sensitive infrared technology and complex optics that reveal sunspots and small magnetic features, and how their magnetism reaches into space. With these new tools we expect to learn how the Sun interacts with the Earth," Kuhn said.
Solar Research at the House of the Sun DKIST is by far the world's largest and most powerful solar telescope, and stands on the 10,000-foot summit of Maui's majestic Haleakala, which literally means "the house of the Sun." Haleakala's favorable atmospheric conditions provide the best location for it, as proven by the National Solar Observatory and IfA during a world-wide site survey.
The unusual optical design of the 4-meter telescope allows it to measure the Sun's magnetism out into space. It is also modeled after the UH/IfA designed proof-of-concept SOLARC telescope, in operation on Haleakala since 2001. Once the Inouye Solar Telescope becomes fully operational in July 2020, UH community astronomers will be major users of the telescope while doing pioneering solar research.
UH Maui College was also awarded a $20-million grant from the National Science Foundation, to engage Native Hawaiian students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The Akeakamai I Ka La Hiki Ola: Scientific Exploration Beneath the Life-Bringing Sun program will incorporate traditional cultural practices within its curriculum. The grant awards the program $2 million each year over the course of a decade. Part of the funding will go toward financial aid and paid internships for Native Hawaiians.
While the 4-meter solar telescope isn't set to be completed until June, scientists will continue preliminary tests by making observations of the Sun in the coming months. But pointing a telescope directly at the scalding sphere comes with challenges. The Sun's sweltering surface temperature is about 6,000 degrees Celsius. A specialized cooling system is in place to protect DKIST from massive amounts of heat.
"The focus of the telescope mirror is hot enough to melt metal within a short time. To deal with these heat problems we make the equivalent of a swimming pool full of ice every night to provide cooling for the optics and structure during the day," said Inouye Solar Telescope Director Thomas Rimmele. More than 7 miles of piping will distribute coolant throughout the observatory.
The state-of-the-art telescope was renamed in honor of the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, a strong supporter of STEM education.
Related Links Manoa'S Institute For Astronomy Solar Science News at SpaceDaily
