Plasma whirlpools on the sun could trigger solar flares

The most detailed pictures of the sun ever taken have caught a surprising new feature. High-energy whirlpools, it seems, speckle the surface of our star.

The sun is a giant ball of superhot, electrically charged gas called plasma. The sun’s surface is unstable, the new images hint. That instability — the swirling plasma — could end up twisting the sun’s magnetic field. And that, in turn, could build up energy that later gets unleashed as a solar explosion.

This could explain why the sun occasionally flings out violent bursts of radiation. Known as solar flares, such outbursts shape space weather. They, in turn, can affect technology on and around Earth.

Researchers shared their new findings August 5 in Nature.