Surface appearance of the sun. Sunspots are observed in high resolution by the GREGOR telescope with a wavelength of 430 nanometers. (University of Freiburg, Leibniz Institute of Solar Physics (KIS) / IFL Science.) The year 2020 may leave bad memories along with the Covid-19
pandemic. But on the other hand, the researchers' last nine months offer
extraordinary observations of the sun, earth and outer space.
Most recently, the recently updated GREGOR telescope is
contributing to a snapshot of the sun's surface. GREGOR, Europe's largest solar
telescope, manages to capture detail up to 50 kilometers on the sun's surface.
Given the immense size of the sun and its considerable
distance from the earth, capturing this detailed image is like looking for a
needle in straw.
This very detailed report on solar images is published in
the September 1, 2020 issue of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
"This is a very interesting project, but also very challenging.
In just one year, we redesigned the optics, mechanics and
electronics (GREGOR telescope) to achieve the best image quality, "said
lead author Dr Lucia Kleint, who leads the German solar telescope project in
Tenerife, as reported by IFL Science, Wednesday (2/9) / 2020).
Telescopes are very complex instruments. Upgrading its
capabilities will take a long time, both to get the best option and also to
build the right solution for optical limitations.
The visible
cell structure on the surface of the Sun is as big as Texas. (University of
Freiburg, Leibniz Institute of Solar Physics (KIS) / IFL Science.) Kleint's team made a technical breakthrough during the
lockdown earlier this year when they isolated themselves at the observatory.
That extra time allowed researchers to upgrade the GREGOR
telescope by replacing two optical elements that had been designed to a
precision of 6 nanometers, roughly 1 / 10,000 the width of a human hair.
"The project is a bit risky because upgrading such a
telescope usually takes years, but great teamwork and careful planning have
resulted in this success," said co-author Dr Svetlana Berdyugina,
professor at Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg and Director of the
Institute. Leibniz Solar Physics (KIS).
"Now we have a powerful instrument for solving puzzles
about the sun," he added.
The upgraded instrument performed a scan in July. At that
time, researchers took the highest-resolution images ever taken by European
telescopes of the Sun, revealing spectacular details of the evolution of
sunspots and structures in the sun's plasma.
This allows solar scientists to study magnetic fields,
convection, turbulence, solar eruptions, and sunspots in incredible detail.
GREGOR, along with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the
Hi-C rocket mission, and space missions such as the Parker Solar Probe and
Solar Orbiter, are opening up extraordinary new chapters in our study of the
Sun.
TAG:
sun
telescope
shape of the sun
GREGOR telescope
This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title
"Expert Successfully Captures the Most Detailed Form of the Sun, This Is
Its Form", Click to read:
https://www.kompas.com/sains/read/2020/09/04/110446523/ahli
-success-catch-the-most-detailed-sun-like-this-form? page = 2.
Author: Gloria Setyvani Putri
Editor: Gloria Setyvani Putri
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