The clearest and most detailed images of the Sun have been captured by the largest telescope in the world. Just-released first images and videos from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope reveal unprecedented detail of the Sun’s surface, with experts saying it will enable a new era of solar science and a leap forward in understanding the Sun and its impacts on our planet.

Dr Erwin Verwichte and Prof Tony Arber from the Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics at the University of Warwick are part of a UK consortium, led by Queen’s University Belfast, that developed and supplied the cameras used to takes the images. Funding has been provided by UK Research and Innovation’s Science and Technology Facilities Council.

The Inouye Solar Telescope provides a view of the Sun’s atmosphere that is ground-breaking. The dynamics of the solar surface are revealed at an unparalleled level of quality and detail. The telescope will provide the ladder for a step change in our understanding of how the Sun’s activity manifests itself through flares and eruptions, as well as the flow of energy and matter into the Sun’s corona. The telescope will also play a critical role in understanding space weather.

More information can be found at https://www.nso.edu/inouye-solar-telescope-first-light/ and https://www.nsf.gov/solarscience.

Image credit: NSO/NSF/AURA