See the Sun’s surface in higher detail than ever before in new telescope images

Researchers using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on Maui have captured unprecedented images of the Sun's surface, The Conversation reports, revealing a phenomenon scientists have theorized but never directly observed. The images show Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in the Sun's plasma — rolling, wave-like billows that form when fast-moving material slides past slower material. This matters because the Sun presents a long-standing mystery: its surface sits at around fifty-five hundred degrees Celsius, yet its outer atmosphere, the corona, reaches millions of degrees. The instability appears to be a key mechanism that transfers energy upward, heating the corona and triggering explosive solar flares that disrupt satellites and communications on Earth. Understanding this connection helps scientists predict space weather and interpret magnetic activity in distant stars.

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