The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope is an incredible piece of equipment that is helping researchers to get a better look than ever before of our sun. Recently, high-resolution observations have been released showing coronal loops that occurred during a solar flare.

The flare itself took place on August 8, 2024, and the flare was an X1.3-class event, which is reasonably strong. The coronal loop that took place is an arch of plasma that travels along magnetic lines on the sun. As the plasma erupts from the sun, it can twist and move, with magnetic energy causing it to heat up to millions of degrees.

Astronomers have long known that these types of solar flares occur, but have never before had such a detailed image of them. In fact, this telescope made it so researchers could pick out individual arches of plasma in a way never before possible. These individual loops were an average of 48.2 kilometers (30 miles) in width.

In a statement about the event, the lead author of a study that was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Cole Tamburri, said the following:

“This is the first time the Inouye Solar Telescope has ever observed an X-class flare. These flares are among the most energetic events our star produces, and we were fortunate to catch this one under perfect observing conditions.”

The images produced are incredible, and surprised even the astronomers who were working with the telescope. Maria Kazachenko is a co-author of the study and a National Solar Observatory scientist. She commented:

“Knowing a telescope can theoretically do something is one thing. Actually watching it perform at that limit is exhilarating.”

Having the ability to get such a high-resolution picture of specific events on the sun is essential for its continued study. This will hopefully allow researchers to better understand what causes massive solar flares, and may even lead to the ability to better predict them in the future.

If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.