The NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has given scientists their first clear experimental view of a process called Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the Sun’s surface.
The process creates small, wave-like swirls when layers of moving plasma slide past one another. Researchers saw the patterns along the edges of magnetic areas in the Sun’s photosphere, and computer simulations showed matching shapes and movement.
The finding confirms a phenomenon that scientists have predicted for years. It also shows how the Sun’s magnetic fields can mix and spread through its atmosphere.
Researchers say the swirls may help explain how energy moves upward, how the Sun’s outer atmosphere becomes so hot and how solar activity begins. More work is needed to measure how much energy the process carries.
