New Image of Sun from world’s largest solar telescope offers unprecedented view

New Delhi, Apr 30: A newly released image of the Sun, captured by the world’s largest solar telescope, offers an extraordinary look at the solar surface in unprecedented detail, revealing intricate patterns of sunspots and magnetic activity as the star approaches its peak in the 11-year solar cycle, reports CNN and other international media.

The image, released by the US National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, is the first taken using its new Visible Tuneable Filter (VTF), a powerful imaging instrument that allows scientists to explore the Sun’s dynamic surface in three dimensions. Taken in early December, the high-resolution snapshot captures a cluster of massive sunspots, each spanning thousands of miles, at a resolution of just10 kilometers per pixel.

These dark spots, cooler than the surrounding solar surface, are signs of intense magnetic activity and are typically where solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) originate. Such solar outbursts can launch charged particles into space, potentially disturbing Earth’s electromagnetic systems, including satellites, power grids, and communications networks.

The image comes at a critical time as scientists confirm the Sun is at its solar maximum, the most active phase in its cycle, marked by a surge in magnetic activity and sunspot formation. The VTF allows researchers to probe beneath and between the layers of the solar atmosphere, using a method akin to tuning a radio. Unlike standard imaging, the VTF isolates specific wavelengths of light to analyze solar temperatures, velocities, and magnetic structures across different depths of the Sun’s atmosphere.

The technology works through an optical mechanism known as an etalon, a pair of finely spaced glass plates. These plates filter light based on wave interference, selecting specific wavelengths while blocking others. Within seconds, the VTF captures hundreds of filtered images that are combined into a single 3D view.

Developed over more than a decade, the VTF was constructed in Germany before being transported to the Inouye Solar Telescope’s facility atop Haleakalā, a 10,000-foot volcanic peak on Maui. Once reassembled, the instrument became a central component of the telescope’s mission to advance understanding of solar physics.

The tool is expected to become fully operational by 2026 and will be instrumental in studying phenomena such as solar storms, which have the potential to cause global technological disruptions. The Carrington Event of 1859, the most intense solar storm on record, disrupted telegraph systems and remains a stark reminder of the Sun’s capacity to affect Earth-bound infrastructure.

The Inouye Solar Telescope project joins other major solar research missions, including NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter, both of which are designed to observe the Sun up close and decode its magnetic mysteries. As researchers continue to test the VTF’s capabilities, early results already promise a transformative leap in space weather prediction and solar science.