The US National Science Foundation (NSF) shared the first results of the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST), the largest ground-based solar telescope with a mirror diameter of 4.24 m, and on this occasion two spectacular never-before-seen images of the star have been released.
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The first image shows the chromosphere, the outer shell of the star, which is difficult to see from the Earth’s surface due to strong radiation from the photosphere, the lower layer of the Sun’s atmosphere. The chromosphere is visible during a solar eclipse when the Moon blocks the star’s bright light. The image presented here shows an area of 82,500 km wide and was taken on June 3rd.
It will make a great contribution to solar research
The second image shows a more detailed view of the Sun’s chromosphere, and we see a series of “granules”, each 500 to 1,500 km wide. It was stated that this image was taken during the solar observation on June 3.
Thanks to its high spatial resolution and high sensitivity, the DKIST telescope is able to distinguish relatively fine details in the Sun’s photosphere. This allows scientists to closely monitor coronal mass ejections and determine the strength and direction of the magnetic field in the star’s chromosphere and corona.
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