New images of solar activity have been delivered by a new telescope.
The first science operations of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope took place on February 23, 2022. Scientists hope that the high-resolution observations of the solar corona will greatly advance our understanding of our home star.
Inouye can image features as small as 20 kilometers.
The instrument has begun a new era of solar science from its vantage point near the summit of Haleakal.
The first images we saw from Inouye were released recently. They arrived two years ago. One of the most fascinating things our Sun does is sunspots.
Thanks to powerful technology and sophisticated processing @NSF's Inouye Solar Telescope has given the world a striking new sunspot image. With details as small as 20km across, the Inouye had its eyes on the #Sun as @NASASun PSP approached the corona #NSFFunded #ParkerPerihelion pic.twitter.com/AVI04zu5WK
— NatlSolarObservatory (@NatSolarObs) February 28, 2022
The director of the Inouye Solar Telescope said that taking the first science observations with the telescope marks an exciting moment for the solar science community.
There is no other facility like the Inouye Solar Telescope. Our mission is to advance our knowledge of the Sun by providing forefront observational opportunities to the research community. It is a game-changer.
The sunspot is visible in a spectacular detail in the image above. The umbra is roughly the diameter of Earth.
It was captured when the Solar Prob e approached the Sun.
Inouye's observations could be combined with data captured by Parker for a more comprehensive range of data on solar phenomena.
The sunspot complex is shown in a picture snapped by Inouye in May of last year.
NSO/AURA/NSF
The telescope's science operations will begin in a year with some issues that need to be resolved as the telescope is tested and adjusted.
It is a good time for a solar telescope to be online. Inouye is designed to measure solar phenomena such as sunspots, solar flares and coronal mass ejections, as well as the complicated solar magnetic field. The Sun is getting rowdy.
There has been a lot of sunspot activity in the last few months in the approach to solar maximum, the most active period in the Sun's 11-year cycle. The Sun has a magnetic field that changes every 11 years with the north and south magnetic poles.
The solar minimum is marked by a minimal level of sunspot and flare activity and occurs when the Sun's magnetic field is at its weakest.
Sunspots are temporary regions of strong magnetic fields, while mass ejections from solar flares are produced by magnetic field lines snapping and reconnecting. The most recent minimum was in December of 2019.
An investigation into magnetic reconnection is the first study selected for Inouye.
It is an honor to have been selected as the first science experiment at the Inouye Solar Telescope, said study lead Tetsu Anan of the National Science Foundation.
We all looked forward to this moment, a historic welcoming to the new age of solar observations. I would like to thank the co-investigators and everyone involved with the Inouye Solar Telescope for this monumental milestone.
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