A solar telescope perched on the summit of Haleakalā, the dormant volcano on the Hawaiian island of Maui, captured new granular images of the sun, unlike any seen before.
The solar images were released Thursday by the National Solar Observatory , showing bright orange sunspots on the sun’s surface, known as the photosphere.
The photos were captured by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the most powerful ground-based telescope in the world.
6 photos
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NSF/AURA/NSO
This image shows heating plasma rising on convective bubbles of the “quiet” sun, then cooling into intergranular lanes.
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NSF/AURA/NSO
This image from the Daniel K. Inouye Telescope shows the solar atmosphere above the sun’s surface.
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NSF/AURA/NSO
This image shows the solar atmosphere above the sun’s surface.
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NSF/AURA/NSO
This image shows fine structures of a sunspot on the sun’s surface, as captured by the Daniel K. Inouye Telescope.
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NSF/AURA/NSO
This image shows the “end phase” of a sunspot, due to the presence of umbral fragments, according to the National Solar Observatory.
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NSF/AURA/NSO
This image shows a light bridge and convection cells surrounding a sunspot on the sun.