Inouye Solar Telescope resolves 20 km plasma vortices on the Sun, Nature study reports

Scientists using the NSF Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope have resolved previously unseen plasma vortices on the Sun's surface, some about 20 kilometers across, that may help explain how the star twists, transports, and releases magnetic energy, ScienceDaily reported of a Nature paper. The work combines Inouye observations with simulations from teams at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Solar Observatory, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, and the High Altitude Observatory. MPS co-author Michiel van Noort said resolving roughly 20-kilometer structures is at the limit of the world's largest solar telescope and current simulations. The vortices form along boundaries of granules, convective cells typically 500 to 2,000 kilometers across that cover the visible solar surface as hot plasma rises, cools, and sinks. Fine fringe-like structures along granule edges repeatedly develop swirling motions. The summary said the vortices may twist magnetic fields, help build energy released in small eruptions called nanoflares, and help magnetic fields spread through the solar atmosphere faster than some models explain. Journal reference: Ubiquitous Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities driving plasma mixing on the Sun, Nature, DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10871-3.