The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope has captured the first direct evidence of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities on the Sun, confirming a phenomenon theorized since the 1860s. These ubiquitous plasma vortexes, previously too small for earlier telescopes to resolve, may significantly alter our understanding of energy and magnetic field transport in the solar atmosphere.
Background
The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii is the world's largest solar observatory, operational since 2021. Kelvin-Helmholtz instability occurs when there is velocity shear between two fluids, commonly seen in Earth's atmosphere and oceans but long sought in solar plasma.
- Source
- Ars Technica
- Published
- Aug 7, 2026 at 09:20 PM
- Score
- 8.0 / 10