Clearest-ever images of sun's corona captured with new optical technique

Using a new optical system, scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology have captured the most detailed images of the complex movements in the sun's atmosphere, the corona. The technology will allow scientists to better understand the extreme nature of the corona and produce computer models that more accurately predict space weather and potential Earth-impacting solar flares.

The researchers developed the new coronal adaptive optics system at the NSF-funded Goode Solar Telescope in California. Similar to a camera's "autofocus" feature, the adaptive optics system continuously adjusts to counteract the blurring effect of the Earth's atmosphere while isolating and zooming in on dynamic coronal features. The results of the study were published in Nature Astronomy.

"Observing the sun's corona requires specialized optical capabilities because details are easily overpowered by the brightness of the sun and blurred from view by Earth's atmosphere," says Carrie Black, program director for the NSF National Solar Observatory. "This makes coronal adaptive optics all that much more technologically miraculous, and we expect they will help us better understand the dynamics of the corona and create more accurate predictive models for space weather."

The sun's corona — the outermost layer of its atmosphere, visible only during a total solar eclipse — has long intrigued scientists due to its extreme temperatures and violent Earth-sized eruptions.

In addition to recent advancements in detailed solar magnetic field mapping, this latest technology is a major development in ground-based solar astronomy. Researchers aim to pair the adaptive optics technology with the more powerful NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii to deliver increasingly detailed coronal mapping.