Huge, Earth-Sized Sunspot Captured by Inouye Solar Telescope in Showing Sun’s Activity [LOOK]

A new study on the sun revealed a spot that measures the size of Earth. The solar activity was observed by experts from the United States National Science Foundation through the help of Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope.

The sunspot was captured right after the commencement of the telescope last Wednesday, February 23.

Inouye and Solar Observations

The Inouye Solar Telescope is the largest telescope built specifically to image the sun's activities. The corona and surface of the massive fireball are the main interests of the instrument's observation.

Inouye can capture images from the solar body as small as 20 kilometers across its surface. The largest sun telescope is placed just a few distances away from the summit of Maui's Haleakala volcano.

The latest images taken by the Inouye are so close that observers can see the detailed surface of the star. A particular sunspot gained their attention among the features that the experts recorded from the burning orb.

Inouye Solar Telescope director and astronomy expert Thomas Rimmele said that the first few observations with the telescope began an "exciting moment for the solar science community."

The director boasted that the solar telescope is more than a match of other instruments from other facilities. The Inouye Solar Telescope will be the 'cornerstone' of missions to collect further information and deepen our understanding of the sun. Rimmele dubbed the new telescope as a 'game-changer' for solar studies.

The sunspot's image, published by the National Solar Observatory on the social media platform Twitter, revealed a fascinating detail. According to the experts, the dark region, also called 'umbra', has a scale comparable to our planet's diameter.

Sunspot as Big as Earth

The Inouye telescope spotted the umbra as the flyby of the Parker Solar Probe near the sun commenced last February 25.

Experts believe that Inouye's imaging and Parker's observations would give a much more detailed finding of the solar activity. A separate image taken by the Inouye last May presented a group of sunspots seemingly looking deep in the telescope's lens.

The operations with Inouye will proceed throughout a phase that will run for 12 months. This long-term phase will serve as a testing window to calibrate the telescope and other corresponding systems.

The observatory specialists expect some minor issues to occur, but they guarantee that problems will be resolved to meet Inouye's peak operational condition.

The sun has been acting weird lately due to the approaching solar maximum. This cycle happens every 11 years, in which the solar magnetic field shifts position and switches the sun's north and south pole.

On the other hand, the solar minimum is the phase in which the sun is weakest. During this phenomenon, sunspots and abnormal flares manifest. This marks the end of the 11-year cycle of the sun and the beginning of a new one.

The first study conducted with Inouye was the analysis of the sun's magnetic reconnection. During this event, the magnetic field is being cut and reactivates, causing an alarming energy burst known as the coronal mass ejection.

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