Scientists have observed tiny vortices on the Sun’s surface for the first time
Using the world’s largest solar telescope, scientists have, for the first time, directly observed tiny vortices in the photosphere — the Sun’s visible outer layer. These structures form at the boundaries of plasma flows and may play a role in mixing matter and twisting the star’s magnetic field.
The study has been published in the journal *Nature*.
The observations were carried out using the four-metre Daniel Inouye Solar Telescope, located in Hawaii. The researchers obtained a sequence of images of an active region of the Sun at a wavelength of 416 nanometres.
The resolution of the images reached approximately 19 kilometres — the maximum achievable by this instrument at the selected wavelength. By way of comparison, distinguishing such a structure from Earth would be about as difficult as seeing a coin from a distance of around 180 kilometres.
The scientists analysed 47 distinct vortices. The sizes of the identified structures ranged from approximately 25 to 170 kilometres, and the typical distance between them was around 65 kilometres. Some vortices moved along the boundaries of magnetic regions at speeds of up to three kilometres per second.
Details
The photosphere is covered with granules — cells formed by convection. Hot plasma rises from the Sun’s interior at the centre of a granule, cools and sinks back down along its edges.
In the new images, the boundaries of the granules did not appear smooth, but were covered with fine stripes and swirls. In successive frames, these structures moved like the crests of breaking ocean waves.
Vortices occurred particularly frequently where ordinary plasma came into contact with regions of concentrated magnetic fields. Computer modelling reproduced virtually identical structures, confirming the physical interpretation of the observations.
What is the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability?
The authors believe they have detected manifestations of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. It arises when neighbouring layers of a liquid, gas or plasma move at different speeds.
Shear forces arise at the boundary between the flows. Small perturbations gradually amplify and develop into waves or vortices. A similar phenomenon can be observed in ocean waves, clouds, the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, and at the boundaries of planetary magnetospheres.
The existence of such instabilities in the photosphere had been predicted by theoretical models, but previously telescopes lacked the resolution to observe them directly on such a small scale.
Calculations have shown that these vortices are capable of effectively mixing magnetised and almost non-magnetised plasma. They also distort the boundaries of magnetic regions and contribute to the development of turbulence.
According to the scientists, this process may explain how magnetic flux propagates and dissipates in the photosphere more rapidly than previous models predicted.
Furthermore, vortex motions can twist and intertwine magnetic field lines — much like a spring being coiled. As a result, energy accumulates within the magnetic structure, which can later be released during magnetic reconnection.
Can vortices influence solar flares?
Movements in the photosphere are considered to be one of the sources of free magnetic energy that powers various manifestations of solar activity — from small eruptions to solar flares and coronal mass ejections.
The authors suggest that the ubiquitous microvortices may serve as one of the mechanisms for magnetic flux entanglement. This makes them a potentially important part of the processes of energy storage and release on the Sun.
However, the study does not prove that the structures detected directly trigger solar flares or determine the 11-year activity cycle. Scientists have yet to assess how much energy these vortices carry and how significant their contribution is to the overall dynamics of the magnetic field.
Why this is important
The discovery shows that processes on a scale of just a few tens of kilometres can influence the Sun’s much larger magnetic structures.
The new data will help refine models of solar activity and provide a better understanding of how energy moves from the photosphere to the upper layers of the star’s atmosphere. In the long term, this could improve physical models of solar flares and other space weather phenomena.
That said, the term ‘surface of the Sun’ is somewhat of a convention: the star does not have a solid outer layer. The observations relate to the photosphere — the visible layer of plasma from which most of the Sun’s light reaches Earth.
Source
Study: David Kuridze et al. Ubiquitous Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities driving plasma mixing on the Sun.
Journal: Nature, 2026.