The year 2020 will certainly have plenty of disconfirming memory associated with it but if we are looking for positives , these first nine month have delivered us some unbelievable observance of the Sun , from Earthandfrom Space . The freshly upgraded GREGOR telescope has just contribute to these with a grotesque contribution .
GREGOR , the with child solar telescope in Europe , was able to resolve detail as humble as 50 kilometre ( 31 miles ) on the surface of the Sun . give the sizing of the Sun and its aloofness from us , this is like observing a needle on a soccer discipline in high resolution from an altitude of 1 kilometer . The unbelievable new upgrades are detailed inAstronomy & Astrophysics .
“ This was a very exciting , but also extremely challenging project . In only one year we totally redesign the optics , mechanics , and electronics to attain the adept possible trope quality , ” lead author Dr Lucia Kleint , who leads the German solar telescope on Tenerife , aver in astatement .
scope are very complex instruments so kick upstairs them necessitate a long time , both to figure out out the right choice and also to ramp up the correct solution to the optical limitations . The squad had a technical find during lockdown earlier this twelvemonth when they were stranded in the observatory . The spare meter allowed them to ameliorate GREGOR by replace two ocular elements that have been plan and polished to a 6 - nanometer preciseness – roughly , less than 1/10,000thof the breadth of a human pilus .
“ The project was rather hazardous because such telescope upgrades usually take year , but the great team study and meticulous planning have conduct to this winner . Now we have a powerful official document to solve puzzles on the Sun , ” said co - author Dr Svetlana Berdyugina , professor at the Albert - Ludwig University of Freiburg and Director of the Leibniz Institute for Solar Physics ( KIS ) .
The upgraded instrument reopen in July and allowed researcher to take the gamey resolution images ever taken of the Sun by a European telescope , let out spectacular details of sunspot phylogeny and construction in solar plasma . It will now admit solar scientist to study magnetised fields , convection , turbulence , solar eruption , and macula in awe-inspiring detail . GREGOR , together with theDaniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope , rocket mission Hi - atomic number 6 , and space charge like theParker Solar Probeand theSolar Orbiter , is open an incredible new chapter on our study of the Sun .
