Thank Colorado Solar Physics Researchers For The Most Incredible Images Ever Of The Sun's Surface

Image from Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii.

It is the highest resolution image of solar surface ever taken.

The surface of the Sun, the photosphere, was the subject of the best closeup ever barely a month ago, thanks to the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)  in Hawaii.  But these most detailed images ever were made possible - to no small degree- by the labors of research scientists based here in Colorado.  At the University of Colorado- Boulder, and the Nationals Solar Observatory based in Boulder, which built the instrument that took the photos.

The telescope is situated at the 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala, also known as the East Maui Volcano.   It is under the direction of  Prof. Thomas Rimele- based at the National Solar Observatory.  Prof.  Rimele, quoted in the Feb. 5 issue of The Denver Post, said:

"It was very exciting,  very emotional. A lot of high fives in the room."

Why the big deal?

"I've been with the project for more than 20 years. When the first images appeared  on the computer screen, that was the moment of truth. Twenty years of design and construction and engineering, and we will see whether that's going to be successful. So that you can do the science you set out to do."

Rimele's remark about "being able to do the science you set out to do" reminded me of my own inability to do that because the SOT, or solar optical telescope on which confirmation of my primary  thesis hypothesis hinged, was dead-ended. It was terminated in the NASA budget under GOP pressure - and with Reagan's military expenditures already reaching $1. 7 rillion, leaving the Ph.D. still born. See e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2011/06/telescope-that-never-was.html

An M.Phil. (Master of Philosophy) higher research degree, next thing to a Doctor of Philosophy or Ph.D.,  was awarded instead.  Fortunately, Rimele and his groups - thanks to the National Science Foundation - saw their project completed and the results (such as the startling image shown above) bears the proof.  Ironically, had this instrument been available in the early 1980s it could easily have substituted for the SOT.  Why? Because according to the UC researchers, "it will be able to map the magnetic fields within the Sun's corona"  - which is exactly what I'd hoped the SOT would have done- to complete my project.

For reference, I had hoped to achieve at least 0.5 arcsec resolution with the SOT to complete my Ph.D. thesis research.  (Recall there are 60 arc seconds in 1 arc minute and therefore 3600 arc seconds in 1 arc degree).   Using proportions one can then determine that one arcsec on the Sun is 725 km, so at 0.5 arcsec I sought to detect features in the corona as small as 362 km, or  226 miles across.    Meanwhile, the DKIST is able to detect features as small as 18.5 miles across- making possible the astounding image shown of the solar convection cells.  In other words the resolution achieved by the new DKIST is some 12 times greater than what I'd sought with the SOT.    A comparison of scales is shown below:


 This brings us to what exactly we are seeing in the high resolution image.  As discerned from the above scale image (from the NSO team) the larger, bubbling up convection cells  (bright 'bulbs') are roughly the size of Texas.  The smaller intervening features - separating the bright bulb- are roughly the size of the island of Manhattan.  As Rimele notes (ibid.): "These are where the magnetic loops are anchored, which channel energy into the Sun's corona, and which heat the corona".   An example of such a magnetic loop structure is depicted below:  
















But now for a reality check, to temper eager solar physics aficionados:  These early images are not meant to be used for any current work or research. As pointed out by Mark Rast, a professor in the Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences Dept. of the University of Colorado-Boulder, "The images are first light (test) images only. The telescope isn't going to be operational in any sense until this summer- and even then there's going to be a period of full commissioning."

Prof. Rast went on to point out that the instrument that returned the initial images is a "filter -based imager"  whereas the remaining four are spectrometers - including the Visible Spectro-Polarimeter - which is expected to provide precision measurements of the Sun's m magnetic field by measuring the full state of polarization of the Sun's radiation at different wavelengths in the visible spectrum.

Recall electromagnetic waves are  polarized when their E- field  components are preferentially oriented in a particular direction.

Other forms of polarization include:

Linearly or horizontally polarized: I.e. the E- vector is confined to one  (horizontal) plane, e.g.

---------> E

Vertically polarized: I.e. the E- vector is confined to one  (vertical) plane

^ E

!
!
!

Circular: The E-vector rotates through 360 degrees

Elliptic: any polarization not circular or plane.

Prof. Rast went on to emphasize (ibid.):  "In about a year's time, all five instruments will be brought online and commissioned, meaning they have been thoroughly tested and vetted."

In other words, actual professional work using the DKIST may not begin until next year at this time, or later.  Indeed, Rast in his Post interview took pains to point out that the image released (for public consumption) "was taken  at fairly long wavelengths so it's not even the most detailed image.  At short wavelengths the resolution of the instrument gets better."

DKIST  actually contains eight filters, and the initial image shown was just one filter image, i.e. at one wavelength of one instrument. When all the instruments are fully commissioned "their polarization and spectrometry capabilities will afford scientists the ability to measure and study the Sun's magnetic field out to a distance of about 1/2  solar radius, or 350,000 kilometers" - according to Rast.

The other great aspect for solar researchers is that the DKIST  has the capability of working in tandem with the NASA Parker Solar Probe, currently in orbit around the Sun, e.g.

Why I'm Excited About the Parker Solar Probe

As well as the European Space Agency's/ NASA's Solar Orbiter - soon to be launched.  The latter is expected to greatly enhance our ability to predict space weather, and especially the coronal eruptions (CMEs) that have the power to disrupt the power grid on Earth. 

All in all this is an exciting time to be involved in space physics and solar physics as we finally have the genuinely powerful and flexible instruments,  telescopes to really make a difference.  That includes enhancing space weather forecasts in major ways.