Thread by @BadAstronomer, This photo of a sunspot is INCREDIBLE. Wait, no. It's completely credible. [...]

This photo of a sunspot is INCREDIBLE.

Wait, no. It's completely credible. What it is is *amazing*. So much detail!

And oh, BTW, you could drop the entire Earth into it without hitting the sides… and this spot is considered to be "small". https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-sunspot-seen-in-jaw-dropping-detail-by-the-daniel-k-inouye-solar-telescope

A sunspot seen in jaw-dropping detail by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar

Late last year, the Sun began a new cycle of activity. It started slowly, but there were a handful of sunspots to be seen early in 2020.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-sunspot-seen-in-jaw-dropping-detail-by-the-daniel-k-inouye-solar-telescope

2/ It was taken in January by the Daniel K Inouye Solar Telescope, a huge four-meter (!!) telescope. To be clear this isn't the big spot we just saw on the Sun last week. But it was one of the very first decent-sized spots of the new solar cycle, a harbinger of what's to come.

3/ The Sun's magnetic cycle is heading for a peak in 2025, and this new 'scope will help astronomers see magentic activity like sunspots in phenomenal detail. Combined with space telescopes that see in X-rays and ultraviolet, it'll usher in beter science.

4/ OK, so a few points: Sunspots have a dark inner region (umbra) and a lighter outer region (penumbra). Including both, then yeah, this spot is big enough to swallow Earth. Here's the same spot from NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory with Earth for comparison.

5/ I made a video showing the Sun in UV from SDO which highlights magnetic activity. The 1st 20 sec shows the spot from January and the 2nd shows the much bigger spot we just saw last week. Note how there's a LOT more stuff going on now.

6/ One thing I was thinking about with the Inouye 'scope is how they get rid of waste heat. You can burn paper with a magnifying glass and the Sun, so imagine what a mirror with over *6000* times the area can do!

7/ Lots of pipes running cooled fluid helps. Also, the focused light from the mirror is split into 7 different cameras, so again that helps. Plus, there's sophisticated engineering to absorb the heat in the beam. All this keeps things from melting.

https://dkist.nso.edu/tel/teoa

8/ I'm very impressed by all this. The 'scope is a marvel, and the images/data we'll get from it will be tremendously valuable in the coming years. The Sun is a feisty star, capable of putting serious hurt on Earth, like it almost did in 2012. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/2012-solar-disaster-almost-was

The 2012 Solar Disaster That Almost Was

In July 2012 the Earth dodged a bullet. Or more accurately, the bullet was misaimed. But had it hit, we’d have been in big trouble.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/2012-solar-disaster-almost-was

9/9 We need to take this seriously, and astronomers very much do. Understanding the Sun's behavior can save lives and even our technological civilization.

That's no hyperbole. I'm glad to see more observatories brought to bear on it.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-sunspot-seen-in-jaw-dropping-detail-by-the-daniel-k-inouye-solar-telescope

/fin

A sunspot seen in jaw-dropping detail by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar

Late last year, the Sun began a new cycle of activity. It started slowly, but there were a handful of sunspots to be seen early in 2020.

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/a-sunspot-seen-in-jaw-dropping-detail-by-the-daniel-k-inouye-solar-telescope

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