--- title: "Ludicrously Close Up Shots of the Sun Look Nothing Like You’d Expect" description: "As captured by the Inouye Solar Telescope, our home star's chromosphere — its atmosphere's middle layer — shows a softer, almost delicate side of the Sun." date: "2022-09-08" modified: "2022-09-08" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/close-up-shots-of-the-sun" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "solar telescope" - "Sun" - "the digest" - "the sun" --- # Ludicrously Close Up Shots of the Sun Look Nothing Like You’d Expect ![]() *\Image: NSO/AURA/NSF\* ## Mug Shot Big year for space photos! [New imagery]() from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Inouye Solar Telescope — the world's most powerful solar scope — shows some incredibly close up shots of our Sun's fiery, plasma-laden surface. The images are absolutely breathtaking, and once again demonstrate that up close, the Sun looks nothing at all like we might imagine a giant, burning ball of gas would. This time, the Sun's chromosphere — the middle layer of its atmosphere — shows a softer, almost delicate side of our home star. In the words of [one observer](), it looks almost like shag carpet. ![]() ## Flamin' Hots In the chromosphere, lines of burning plasma known as "spicules" apparently look like golden strands of Rapunzel's hair, or even something close to smooth, crystallized honey. Spicules, in short, are thin, bristle-like spurts of plasma that cover the Sun's face like a star-scale version of peach fuzz. (Think [pom poms](), or those [lil' soot sprites]() from "My Neighbor Totoro.") According [to *Smithsonian Magazine*](), spicules erupt from the Sun's surface at roughly 60 miles per second, and can extend roughly 6,000 miles. While they might be beautiful, don't let them fool you! Get tangled with one, and you'd probably be vaporized. That being said, they do exist for a purpose other than, you know, spitting hot fire — scientists believe that spicules help the star sustain, balance, and transfer energy through its many regions. "Our new results prove that spicules are formed because of flux cancellation at the lower atmosphere," astrophysicist Dipankar Banerjee, co-author of a 2019 spicule study [published in the journal *Science*](), [told *Live Science* back in 2019](), "and they also provide good amount of energy for the heating of the upper atmosphere of the sun." Previous close up imagery has shown Sun spots to pretty much be, uh, [portals to hell](), and some blobs of plasma captured in the past [somehow look like caramel corn](). Looks like we're now adding a fuzzy inferno to that list — so here's to whatever the Inouye Solar Telescope surprises us with next. **READ MORE:** *[Stunning New Images Show The Face of The Sun Like We've Never Seen It Before]()* \[*ScienceAlert*\] **More on sunny surprises:** *[The Sharpest-Ever Image of a Sunspot Looks Like a Portal to Hell]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()