Latest news with #NationalSolarObservatory
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's 2026 budget cuts would force the world's most powerful solar telescope to close
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. ANCHORAGE, AK — There was a pindrop silence in the room on Tuesday (June 10), as Christoph Keller, director of the National Solar Observatory, spoke on stage here at the 246th American Astronomical Society meeting. Standing in front of a giant projected bar graph, he solemnly explained the possible fate of the world's most powerful eye on the sun: the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). If Congress enacts President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget request — allocating just $13 million or so for DKIST — the telescope won't be able to continue on, Keller said. For context, this year alone, the federally funded National Solar Observatory (NSO) expects to spend about $30 million on the facility. "To put it bluntly," Keller said, "for DKIST, at $13 million, we cannot operate. There's no way for us to operate such a complex facility." The graph behind Keller spoke for itself. On the left, a bar represented the actual money the NSO spent in 2024, one in the middle represented what the NSO plans to spend in 2025, and one on the right depicted Trump's FY26 budget request. Each individual bar was divided into two colors: one representing money required for DKIST (a strong majority of each bar) and one representing money required for all other NSO facilities. "If you actually looked at what this means," Keller said. "Between this year and the request for next year, it's a 54% budget cut." The hit to DKIST would be unfortunate, as scientists made clear during the talk, particularly seeing as the telescope only captured its first image in 2020 after over 25 years of effort. Not only is it the world's most powerful solar telescope, it's also the largest. Built with about 150 tons of steel, it sits atop the 10,000-foot-high (3,048-meter) summit of the volcanic mountain. Haleakalā, which translates to "the house of the sun," on the Hawaiian island of Maui. "It's a really nice site," David Boboltz, associate director for DKIST, said during the meeting. "It's got low light scattering; it's got good seeing." "It is literally the greatest leap in humanity's ability to study the sun from the ground since Galileo's time. It's a big deal," Jeff Kuhn, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa's Institute for Astronomy (IfA) who worked on DKIST, previously said in a statement. Indeed, the details of our sun that DKIST is able to capture are astounding. In the image below, for instance (DKIST's first image of the sun), each cell-like structure is about the size of Texas. This is the highest-resolution image of our star that's ever been captured. What's extra mind-blowing here is how small of a solar region the image actually represents: Another more recent image from DKIST reveals what appear to be magnetic "curtains" on our star's surface, in reference to what are called "photospheric striations" shaped by the sun's magnetic field. In still another, an area above the sun's atmosphere looks like it has the texture of one of those rubber spike balls you can get at Chuck E. Cheese. The list goes on in terms of awesome DKIST data, and that's with only a few years of time online. But DKIST wouldn't be the only at-risk NSO facility, as Keller explained. If Trump's FY26 budget proposal goes through, just $4 million would be available for all other NSO equipment. "We can maybe operate three ground stations," he said, suggesting this would eradicate all of helioseismology. There may only be some room for space weather forecasting initiatives, Keller said. "If something goes wrong; if something really fails, we won't have the money to fix it," he added. "Congress can fix it, and all citizens here, you know what to do."
Forbes
04-06-2025
- General
- Forbes
In Photos: Sharpest-Ever Views Of The Sun's Surface Reveal ‘Stripes'
Scientists using the world's biggest solar telescope in Hawaii have captured the sharpest-ever view of the sun's surface. In doing so, they've identified super-fine 'stripes' and 'magnetic curtains' on the sun for the first time, which could help in understanding how the sun behaves — and how its energetic events can threaten Earth. It comes in the wake of the same telescope's spectacular image of a planet-sized cluster of sunspots covering 241 million square miles of the sun's surface, which was published in April. The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope is the world's largest solar telescope, situated atop the 10,000-foot-tall Haleakalā volcano in Hawaii. A 13-foot/four-meter solar ground-based telescope, it's designed to help solar physicists investigate the physics of the sun and how it drives space weather. The ultra-fine magnetic 'stripes' observed by the DKIST are bright and dark striations that appear to be rippling across the sun. The incredible detail reveals curtain-like magnetic fields and a new layer of complexity in the sun's magnetic structure. 'We investigate the fine-scale structure of the solar surface for the first time with an unprecedented spatial resolution of just about 20 kilometers or the length of Manhattan Island,' said Dr. David Kuridze, the lead author of the study, published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, and a scientist at the National Solar Observatory. 'These striations are the fingerprints of fine-scale magnetic field variations.' What causes the 'stripes' are magnetic fluctuations, which only DKIST's huge 4-meter mirror can detect. 'Magnetism is a fundamental phenomenon in the universe, and similar magnetically induced stripes have also been observed in more distant astrophysical objects, such as molecular clouds,' said Dr. Han Uitenbroek, co-author of the study and an NSO scientist. A deeper understanding of how magnetism works on the sun is essential if astronomers are to understand the origin of solar flares, eruptions and coronal mass ejections — powerful events that charge up the solar wind and can cause geomagnetic storms around Earth. Approximately 93 million miles from Earth, the sun is a middle-aged star, having existed for approximately five billion years. It burns around five million tons of hydrogen fuel every second. 'This is just one of many firsts for the Inouye, demonstrating how it continues to push the frontier of solar research,' said Dr. David Boboltz, NSO Associate Director for the DKIST. 'It also underscores Inouye's vital role in understanding the small-scale physics that drive space weather events that impact our increasingly technological society here on Earth.' DKIST's stunning 'first light' images showed a close-up view of the sun's surface, revealing turbulent 'boiling' plasma across the entire star. The cell-like structures are violent motions that transport heat from the inside of the sun to its surface. Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
NDTV
01-06-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Sharpest Solar Images Ever: Pink 'Raindrops' On The Sun Captured In Unprecedented Detail
Advanced ground-based telescopes use adaptive optics (AO) to produce sharp images by correcting atmospheric distortion, capturing stunning views of planets, stars, and celestial objects. Recently, a team at the National Solar Observatory applied AO technology to study the Sun's corona in remarkable detail, as per Science Alert. The corona, the Sun's outermost layer, stretches millions of kilometres into space and is mysteriously hotter than the underlying photosphere, a phenomenon known as the 'coronal heating problem.' This region is governed by powerful magnetic fields and is the source of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which can interact with Earth's magnetosphere, triggering auroras and geomagnetic storms. Observing the Sun's corona is challenging due to its dimness compared to the Sun's surface. Typically, it's visible during total solar eclipses or through space-based coronagraphs that mimic an eclipse. However, researchers have now used Adaptive Optics (AO) to study the corona from Earth. AO employs computer-controlled, deformable mirrors to counteract atmospheric interference, producing clear images. A team from the National Solar Observatory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology developed an AO system for the 1.6-meter Goode Solar Telescope, enabling precise observations of the corona's fine structure. "Resolving fine structures in the Sun's corona may provide key insights into rapid eruptions and the heating of the corona," the authors write in their research article. Here we present observations with coronal adaptive optics reaching the diffraction limit of a 1.6-m telescope to reveal very fine coronal details," the authors wrote in a paper titled Observations of fine coronal structures with high-order solar adaptive optics. Solar prominences, loops, and rain are all composed of plasma, and understanding these phenomena requires observing their fine details. Key questions remain unanswered, such as how plasma in the corona is heated to millions of kelvins when the Sun's surface is only 6,000 K, and what triggers eruptions. "The turbulence in the air severely degrades images of objects in space, like our Sun, seen through our telescopes. But we can correct for that. It is super exciting to build an instrument that shows us the Sun like never before," Dirk Schmidt, NSO Adaptive Optics Scientist, who led the development, said in a press release. This video captures a dynamic prominence featuring a large-scale twist and cascading coronal rain. Coronal rain occurs when strands of coronal plasma cool and descend back to the Sun's surface. "Raindrops in the Sun's corona can be narrower than 20 kilometres. These findings offer new, invaluable observational insight that is vital to test computer models of coronal processes," said NSO Astronomer Thomas Schad. " Another video displays a dense, cool quiescent prominence with intricate internal flows. The next video showcases post-flare coronal rain, where plasma strands, guided by the Sun's magnetic field lines, cascade along curved paths rather than straight lines. These images, captured at the highest resolution ever achieved, reveal unprecedented details of this phenomenon. Solar telescopes using adaptive optics (AO) have historically detailed the Sun's surface with 1,000 km precision but struggled to image the corona. The new coronal AO system, developed with contributions from NSO Chief Technologist Thomas Rimmele, achieves 63 km resolution, the theoretical limit of the 1.6-meter Goode Solar Telescope. Described as transformative by NJIT's Philip Goode, this technology enhances resolution tenfold, revolutionising solar science. "With coronal adaptive optics now in operation, this marks the beginning of a new era in solar physics, promising many more discoveries in the years and decades to come," said Mr Goode.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Space photo of the week: Pink 'raindrops' on the sun captured in greatest detail ever
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Quick facts What it is: The sun's corona Where it is: The outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere. When it was shared: May 27, 2025 Solar "raindrops" — plasma streams and vast arches extending outward from the sun's surface and into the corona, the outermost part of the solar atmosphere — have been captured in spectacular new detail by a ground-based telescope in California. Among the images taken from time-lapse movies, which utilize new technology to eliminate blurring caused by Earth's atmosphere, is coronal rain, a phenomenon that occurs when cooling plasma condenses and falls back toward the sun's surface along magnetic field lines. Other features imaged include prominences — the term solar physicists use to describe the arches and loops — and finely structured plasma streams. The images are artificially colorized from the hydrogen-alpha light captured by the telescope, making them appear pink. The remarkable images, taken by researchers from the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Solar Observatory and New Jersey Institute of Technology, were published this week in a paper in the journal Nature. "These are by far the most detailed observations of this kind, showing features not previously observed, and it's not quite clear what they are," Vasyl Yurchyshyn, co-author of the study and a research professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, said in a statement. The researchers captured the new images using the 1.6-meter Goode Solar Telescope at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) in California, equipped with a new technology called Cona, which employs a laser to correct for turbulence in Earth's upper atmosphere. Related: NASA spacecraft snaps eerie image of eclipsed sun with an extra moon overhead. What's going on? Cona is "like a pumped-up autofocus" for the sky, Nicolas Gorceix, chief observer at BBSO, said in the statement. It's a form of adaptive optics that works by measuring, and then adapting in real-time to, atmospheric distortions, reshaping a special mirror 2,200 times per second. Turbulence in Earth's upper atmosphere has always been a limiting factor when studying the sun, but Cona increases the resolution of what can be observed, from features over 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) wide to just 63 km (39 miles). SEE MORE SPACE PHOTOS —Violent galaxies seen 'jousting' near the dawn of time —Cotton candy clouds shine in one of Hubble's most beautiful images ever —Bizarre 1-armed spiral galaxy stuns Hubble scientists The sun's corona, which means crown, is one of the most mysterious places in the solar system. This outer layer of the sun's atmosphere is blocked from view by the brighter photosphere — the sun's surface — and is only visible briefly to the naked eye during a total solar eclipse. That also applies to prominences, which can be seen during totality as reddish-pink arches and loops. Despite its tenuous nature, the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the photosphere. It's of critical interest to solar scientists because it's in the corona that the solar wind originates. This constant stream of charged particles then radiates throughout the solar system, interacting with planetary atmospheres (including Earth's) to cause geomagnetic storms and auroras. Following the successful test of Cona, plans are underway to install it on the 4-meter Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Maui, Hawaii, the world's largest solar telescope.
Gizmodo
27-05-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Telescope Upgrade Reveals Sun's ‘Coronal Rain' in Unprecedented Detail
A powerful new optics system has captured the clearest view yet of the Sun's corona, revealing stunning plasma structures. The Sun's outer atmosphere—the corona—is the piping hot outer limit of our star, and is usually hidden from view except during rare total eclipses. Now, scientists have gotten their clearest look ever at this mysterious region, thanks to a new adaptive optics system that scrubs away atmospheric blur, revealing fine views of the wispy plasma on the star's surface. Researchers from the National Solar Observatory and New Jersey Institute of Technology unveiled the system today, along with dazzling new images and videos of the Sun's corona. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy, show fine-scale structures in solar prominences, short-lived plasma jets called spicules, and even coronal rain: cooling plasma that falls back to the solar surface along the star's magnetic field lines. The team's imaging breakthrough hinges on a technology called coronal adaptive optics. Installed on the 5.25-foot (1.6-meter) Goode Solar Telescope in California, the new system—nicknamed 'Cona'—adjusts a mirror 2,200 times per second to correct for distortions caused by the churn of Earth's atmosphere. The remarkable technology counterbalances any would-be wobble in the telescope, thereby producing particularly sharp images of the corona. 'This technological advancement is a game-changer,' said Dirk Schmidt, an adaptive optics scientist at NSO and the study's lead author, in an observatory release. 'There is a lot to discover when you boost your resolution by a factor of 10.' Until now, solar telescopes have used adaptive optics mainly to study the Sun's surface, the release stated. Observing the fainter corona has remained a challenge, with coronal features blurred to scales of 621 miles (1,000 kilometers)—a limit that's existed for 80 years. But Cona now resolves features down to just 39 miles (63 km), the theoretical limit of the Goode telescope. Among the new footage captured by the team are shots of a twisting solar prominence reshaping in real time, spicules flickering on the surface, and fine, hair-like strands of coronal rain narrower than 12.5 miles (20 km). When you consider how far the Sun is from Earth, how faint the corona is relative to the rest of the star, and how much of Earth's turbulent atmosphere the team had to cut through and correct for, the sharpness of the images is a triumph. 'This transformative technology, which is likely to be adopted at observatories world-wide, is poised to reshape ground-based solar astronomy,' said study co-author Philip Goode, a physicist at NJIT-CSTR, in the same release. 'With coronal adaptive optics now in operation, this marks the beginning of a new era in solar physics, promising many more discoveries in the years and decades to come.' The observations offer crucial data for unraveling enduring solar mysteries—like why the corona is millions of degrees hotter than the solar surface. The team plans to bring the coronal adaptive optics technology to the 13-foot (4-meter) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaiʻi—potentially revealing even smaller details of the Sun's atmosphere.
