International Team Captures Sharpest Sun Image, Revealing 1st Direct Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability
Updated
Updated · Space.com · Aug 10
International Team Captures Sharpest Sun Image, Revealing 1st Direct Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability
3 articles · Updated · Space.com · Aug 10
Summary
Using the NSF's Inouye Solar Telescope, researchers obtained the highest-resolution image yet of the sun's surface and identified swirling structures in the solar photosphere.
Those swirls at the edges of magnetic regions were identified as Kelvin-Helmholtz instability — a fluid-shear effect long suspected on the sun but not directly observed there before.
The team said the finding exposes inner plasma dynamics that drive solar and stellar activity, with numerical simulations supporting the interpretation.