PREVIEW

Scientists have captured never-before-seen whirlpools swirling across the surface of the Sun in a breakthrough that could help solve one of astronomy's greatest mysteries.

The spectacular observations reveal tiny vortices of superheated plasma that researchers believe play a crucial role in heating the Sun's outer atmosphere – a phenomenon that has puzzled scientists for decades.

Using the U.S. National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, the team recorded the highest-resolution images yet of these swirling structures, known as Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities.

The whirlpools form when fast-moving streams of solar plasma flow past slower-moving material, creating turbulent eddies similar to those seen where ocean currents meet on Earth.

Scientists believe the turbulence twists and tangles the Sun's magnetic fields, releasing energy that is transferred into the corona – the Sun's outer atmosphere.

The discovery could finally help explain the long-standing "coronal heating problem". Although the Sun's visible surface reaches temperatures of around 5,500C, its corona can exceed one million degrees Celsius.

Until now, researchers had theorised that these tiny whirlpools existed but had never been able to observe them directly because of their small size.

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, the world's largest solar telescope, provided the unprecedented level of detail needed to detect the structures, some measuring less than 20 kilometres across.

Researchers say the findings represent a major advance in understanding how energy moves through the Sun and is released into its atmosphere.

The work could also improve forecasts of space weather, which is driven by activity on the Sun and has the potential to disrupt satellites, GPS navigation, radio communications and electricity networks on Earth.

By revealing a process that had remained hidden until now, scientists hope the discovery will lead to more accurate models of solar behaviour and provide fresh insights into how magnetic energy powers not only our own star, but stars throughout the universe.