High on a volcano in Hawaii, scientists have used a powerful telescope to take the clearest pictures ever of the sun's surface. The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on Maui, has captured images showing small, spinning whirlpools. These whirlpools are found near strong magnetic areas on the sun. They are about 20 to 200 kilometers wide.
The scientists published their findings in a journal called Nature. They explained that these whirlpools are caused by a phenomenon called Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. This happens when layers of gas move at different speeds next to each other, creating swirling patterns. This effect can also be seen in clouds on Earth or on planets like Jupiter.
These whirlpools appear around areas called granules, which are bubbling hot gas on the sun. Researchers believe these whirlpools might help solve a long-standing mystery: why the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, is much hotter than its surface. The surface is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but the corona reaches almost 2 million degrees.
The newly found whirlpools could be a key factor in mixing the sun's magnetic fields. This mixing might release a lot of energy, which could explain the extreme heat in the corona. Understanding this process is important because powerful solar storms can harm technology on Earth, like satellites and communication systems. The new telescope is powerful enough to see these small details, which were impossible to observe before.