This is the clearest image we’ve yet captured of the sun’s surface. It was caught on the first day of watching our star by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the world’s largest solar telescope.
The honeycomb-like pattern is made up of plasma cells that roil throughout the sun’s whole surface, drawing heat away from the centre. The brilliant centres of the cells represent plasma ascending, and the dark outlines represent plasma sinking back into the sun. Each cell spans hundreds of kilometres, roughly the size of France or more.
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