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NASA has captured an amazing picture of the Sun’s surface as never before. Astronomical observation and NASA technological advances were the ones that could get new Sun’s revealing data, with the help of Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. Solar Physics experts could study tiny structures that show never known secrets about the Sun’s magnetic field. This space science discovery is an opportunity to better understand the sun’s activity including: eruptions, solar storms, and changes in the star’s surface.
Many things have been said about the Sun
, and it’s fascinating we keep getting new data about it. This NASA finding can be an open window for understanding how this star works inside and how it affects our planet. So, let’s get into it!
Telescope are telling us things about the Sun
You may have heard about a NASA mission and also about telescopes that were used for it. Well, this is another mission telescopes are essential for obtaining new information of the star, in this case.
Thanks to Daniel K. Inouye Telescope, scientists could see a very clear image of the Sun’s surface and they found never before seen tiny things in the star.
Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope are the most famous telescopes, but what about the Daniel K. Inouye? This might not be as known as the other ones, but it is one of the most powerful telescopes to observe the
Sun
.
This telescope was made by the NSF (National Science Foundation) and it started to work in 2022. It’s located in Hawaii and it has a huge 13.12 feet mirror which allows scientists to see tiny things in the Sun’s surface.
What did scientists find about the star?
There was something that caught scientists’ attention, they saw infinite lines, as if they were ”solar curtains”, on the Sun’s surface. They are so thin that they measure 12.43 miles wide.
These lines aren’t a Sun’s complement, they create the Sun’s magnetic fields (an invisible force) which darken or lighten some parts of the star’s surface.
The ”solar curtains” are also useful for understanding other aspects of the star, like suddenly flashing, the solar storms or how they affect our satellites and communications.
Telescopes used for this mission
NASA has so much advanced technology and they mostly use telescopes to help them on their studies. In this case, the Daniel K. Inouye Telescope was the most important one, but there were other 3 that contributed on this mission. So, scientists used a total of 4 telescopes:
- The Zwicky Transient Facility: for explosions or twinkles.
- The Hubble Space Telescope: for very detailed images.
- The James Webb Space Telescope: for things other telescopes can’t reach, like far away galaxies.
- The Daniel K. Inouye Telescope: for details about the Sun.
Should we care about this discovery?
Of course! Everybody should be informed about what’s happening out there, the fact that it’s not happening on Earth doesn’t mean it has nothing to do with us. Yes, the Sun is far from us, but everything that happens to the this star has consequences on us.
Many things we use everyday could be affected, for example our signal for smartphones or GPSs, satellites functioning we use to watch tv and even electricity grids could stop working because of solar storms, which can cause blackouts.
So, next time you see news about something about the universe, I recommend you to read it or watch it. The more aware we are about what’s happening on Earth and other parts of space, the more information we can spread around our surroundings. This might make society conscious because in some cases, we can do something to make Earth a better place. Today is the Sun, but who knows if Earth is the topic of the next article?
