This snippet of the ‘first light’ image released by NSF’s Inouye Solar Telescope shows the Texas-sized convective cells on the Sun’s surface in higher resolution than ever before. For the first time, the features in between the cells, with resolutions as small as 30 km, can be viewed, shedding light on the processes occurring on the Sun’s interior. (NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY / AURA / NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION / INOUYE SOLAR TELESCOPE)

This Multi-Trillion Dollar Disaster Is Coming, And Solar Astronomy Is Our Prime Defense

The NSF’s new, cutting-edge solar observatory shows us the Sun as never before. Here’s why we need to know.

On December 12, 2019, the world’s most powerful solar observatory — the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope — opened its eyes for the first time. With a whopping 4-meter diameter primary mirror and a unique, off-center design, the Inouye Solar Telescope is capable of imaging features as small as 30 km in size on the Sun. Already, in its first light images released on January 29, 2020, features in-between the Texas-sized convective cells were revealed for the first time ever.

But the Inouye Solar Telescope offers so much more than just gorgeous images of our parent star; it’s one of a number of solar astronomy projects that are all working together to protect our planet from a multi-trillion dollar disaster that’s definitely coming: a catastrophic solar flare. It could come anytime this year or not for another few centuries, but studying the Sun is the only way to be prepared. Here’s the science behind these beautiful images and videos.