{"id":2837,"date":"2010-10-15T16:20:42","date_gmt":"2010-10-15T14:20:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/?p=2837"},"modified":"2010-11-13T18:41:26","modified_gmt":"2010-11-13T16:41:26","slug":"eye-of-the-sun-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.psyched.be\/wordpress\/science\/eye-of-the-sun-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"Eye of the Sun .::. Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nEye of the Sun: Telescope captures most detailed image ever of a sunspot that is bigger than Earth<\/em>
\nLike the centre of a flower or a mysterious eye, this is the most detailed image of a sunspot ever captured using visible light.<\/p>\n

The stunning picture was taken using the Big Bear Telescope<\/em> in California and is the best photo of a huge sunspot that is around 8,000 miles in diameter.<\/p>\n

At the centre of the sunspot the temperature is around 3,600C, while the surrounding regions are much hotter, more than 5,800C.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n
\nThe irregular shapes that surround the sunspot are known as granulation <\/em>and are made of hot gas rising from inside the Sun. Each one is around 1000km in size.<\/p>\n

The telescope that took the picture is know as the New Solar Telescope<\/em> which uses adaptive optics, parts that change to adapt to disturbances in the atmosphere and correct distortions in the signals.<\/p>\n

Scientists believe magnetic structures, like sunspots hold an important key to understanding space weather. Space weather, which originates in the Sun, can have dire consequences on Earth’s climate and environment.<\/p>\n

A bad storm can disrupt power grids and communication, destroy satellites and even expose airline pilots, crew and passengers to radiation.
\nWHAT IS A SUNSPOT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

* Sunspots are actually regions where powerful magnetic fields emanate from the Sun.
\n * These magnetic fields can get wound up so tightly that they rise up from inside the Sun, and the sunspots mark the points where this happens.
\n * They are usually a different temperature – either hotter or colder – than the rest of the Sun’s surface and usually last a few days before disappearing.<\/p>\n

‘This photo of a sunspot is now the most detailed ever obtained in visible light,’ according to astronomy magazine Ciel et l’Espace.<\/p>\n

Professor Philip R. Goodewill at the New Jersey Institute of Technology said that the images were achieved with the 1.6 m clear aperture, off-axis New Solar Telescope<\/em> (NST) at BBSO.<\/p>\n

The telescope has a resolution covering about 50 miles on the Sun’s surface.<\/p>\n

The Big Bear Observatory<\/em> is located in a clear mountain lake which is known for its atmospheric stability.<\/p>\n

The images were taken by the NST with atmospheric distortion corrected by its 97 actuator deformable mirror.<\/p>\n

By the summer of 2011, in collaboration with the National Solar Observatory<\/em>, BBSO will have upgraded the current adaptive optics system to one utilizing a 349 actuator deformable mirror.<\/p>\n

The NST will be the pathfinder for an even larger ground-based telescope, the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST), to be built over the next decade.<\/p>\n

The new telescope now feeds a high-order adaptive optics system, which in turn feeds the next generation of technologies for measuring magnetic fields and dynamic events using visible and infrared light.<\/p>\n

A parallel computer system for real-time image enhancement highlights it.<\/p>\n

\n©copyright\/\/Source::dailymail.co.uk<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eye of the Sun: Telescope captures most detailed image ever of a sunspot that is bigger than Earth Like the centre of a flower or a mysterious eye, this is the most detailed image of a sunspot ever captured using visible light. The stunning picture was taken using the Big Bear Telescope in California and is the best photo of a huge sunspot that is around 8,000 miles in diameter. At the centre of the sunspot the temperature is around 3,600C, while the surrounding regions…<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,22,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","category-space","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t