Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope captures solar plasma waves

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) on Maui has captured the first confirmed evidence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities on the Sun. Using a high-speed camera to test instrument calibration, astronomers discovered unprecedentedly sharp images of solar plasma curling into wave-like vortices near sunspots.

This fluid-dynamics phenomenon occurs when magnetized plasma particles move past one another at varying speeds, creating patterns similar to waves on water. While observed on Earth and gas giants like Jupiter, this is the first time such small-scale processes have been documented on the Sun at this resolution.

The discovery may provide insight into solar physics mysteries, specifically why the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, is significantly hotter than its surface. The research was led by astronomers from Queen’s University Belfast and the National Solar Observatory, with findings published in the journal Nature.