Scientists are using the world's largest solar telescope, the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, to study the Sun's surface with unprecedented detail. The high-resolution images reveal intricate magnetic activities, offering new understanding of solar flares. This telescope, which is 4 meters high, captured images during a Category 5 hurricane in Hawaii, showing high-resolution magnetic fields that resemble tornadoes, with the addition of swirling magnetic fields that affect the path of light.
These detailed observations, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, are crucial for understanding how solar magnetic fields form and impact the Sun's surface and its effects on space weather. Researchers from the National Science Foundation (NSF) have focused on the appearance of 'magnetic tornadoes,' which are narrow, swirling structures that can extend up to 20 kilometers, similar to the size of the island of Manhattan, and appear on the Sun's magnetic fields, which are channels that carry dangerous plasma from the Sun's interior to its surface.
Using a specialized instrument in the Inouye telescope, scientists can isolate these detailed observations in a specific magnetic field known as the 'G-mode', which is a special shape for the magnetic field. By comparing these observations with advanced computer models, scientists are confirming their theories about the behavior of solar magnetic fields. David Kuridze, a lead scientist in this study, explains that these detailed observations are like 'signatures' of the changes in the solar magnetic field.
These discoveries come at a critical time, as the Sun approaches the peak of its current 11-year solar cycle, which increases the likelihood of intense magnetic events impacting Earth. In May 2024, a G5-class geomagnetic storm (the highest classification) caused disruptions in power grids and satellite communications, in addition to the effects on industrial infrastructure caused by changes in the upper atmosphere.