--- title: "This Extreme Closeup of the Sun Is Just… Extremely Weird" description: "Fascinating new closeup images taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii show incredible new details of the surface of the Sun." date: "2023-05-22" modified: "2023-05-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/close-up-sun-weird" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "solar activity" - "Sun" - "sunspots" - "the digest" --- # This Extreme Closeup of the Sun Is Just… Extremely Weird ![]() *\Image: NSF/AURA/NSO\* ## Sunspotting Fascinating [new closeup images]() taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in Hawaii show incredibly vivid details of the surface of the Sun. The images show the intricate features of a sunspot, which are isolated areas dotting the Sun's surface where the magnetic field is [staggering in strength](). Thanks to these strong magnetic forces, the surrounding plasma cools and darkens, forming a dark spot, or umbra. The newly released images show convection currents of roiling plasma at an incredible level of detail, with almost biological-looking tendrils reaching into the sunspot's umbra. The scale of the spots is truly mind-blowing. The individual tendrils reach across an area of tens of thousands of kilometers. Some sunspots can grow big enough in diameter to fit the [entire ]()[planet Jupiter](). The images could give scientists new insights into the nature of these sunspots and how they can trigger solar storms when grouped together. These powerful events send highly energetic particles careening through the solar system and can even [impact critical infrastructure]() back on Earth as they sizzle through our atmosphere. ![]() *Credit: NSF/AURA/NSO* ## Solar Maximum Solar activity is incredibly high these days as the Sun nears the apex of its roughly 11-year cycle, a point known as the solar maximum when the Sun's poles switch over. The next maximum is expected to [occur in 2025](), after which solar activity will begin subsiding again. Despite our best efforts, there's still much we don't know about what causes these sunspots to form. But the Inouye Telescope's incredible images could shed new light on these mysterious patterns. The DKIST, the world's largest solar telescope, officially [kicked off]() its science observations in February 2022. It's still in its inaugural Operations Commissioning Phase, as scientists continue calibrating its scientific instruments. And that means we should prepare ourselves for even stranger snapshots of the Sun's alien surface in the near future. We can't wait. **More on the telescope:** *[The Sharpest-Ever Image of a Sunspot Looks Like a Portal to Hell]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()