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News: Scientists used the world’s largest solar telescope, Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, to capture the highest-resolution images yet of the Sun’s surface, revealing violent plasma whirlpools.
About Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope
- Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope is the most powerful and largest solar telescope in the world.
- Objective: Its primary objective is to observe the Sun’s magnetic fields and improve understanding of its dynamic behaviour and space weather.
- Named after: It is named after Daniel Ken Inouye, a former U.S. Senator from Hawaiʻi.
- Location: It is located at the Haleakalā Observatories site on the island of Maui, Hawaiʻi.
- The telescope is located at an elevation of about 10,000 feet (3,067 m) above sea level.
- Managed by: It is operated by the National Solar Observatory (NSO) under the management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).
- Funded by: It is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) through a cooperative agreement with AURA.
- Duration: It is expected to remain operational for at least 44 years, covering four solar cycles, through the 2060s.
- Components and Features:
- 4-Metre Mirror: It has the largest mirror of any solar telescope, which collects seven times more sunlight than other solar telescopes.
- Off-Axis Design: Its off-axis design helps reduce scattered light, allowing clearer observations of the Sun.
- Advanced Polarimetry: Its cutting-edge polarimetry enables ongoing measurements of magnetic fields in the Sun’s corona.
- Advanced Instruments: Its instrument suite captures high-resolution images of the Sun’s surface and lower atmosphere multiple times a second.
- Spectroscopic Capability: It can observe the specific fingerprints of hundreds of atoms and ions across the solar surface and atmosphere.
