Advanced optics capture structures as small as 20 kilometers on the surface of the sun
The sunspot image taken by NSF s Inouye Solar Telescope s Wave Front Correction context viewer.
December 9, 2020
The world s largest solar observatory, the U.S. National Science Foundation s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, has released its first image of a sunspot. Although the telescope is still in the final phases of completion, the image is an indication of how the telescope s advanced optics and 4-meter primary mirror will give scientists the best view of the sun from Earth throughout the next solar cycle.
The sunspot image accompanies a new paper by Thomas Rimmele and his team. Rimmele is the associate director at NSF s National Solar Observatory, the organization responsible for building and operating the Inouye Solar Telescope. The sunspot was captured by the Inouye Solar Telescope on January 28, 2020 and is not the same sunspot currently visible to the naked eye.