More 3D solar imagery! This is the highest-ever resolution image of a sunspot, just published in the journal Solar Physics by the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Maui, the world’s largest optical solar telescope. I used the original 2D image (2nd pic here) as its own depth map to convert it to artificial 3D, but in this case, the 3D may approximately reflect reality (relatively, but not to scale), since in the Sun’s corona, hotter brighter gas rises, and darker cooler gas sinks.
As far as scale: the dark sunspot at center is about 10000 miles (16000 km) across, while the diameter of Earth is about 7000 miles (13000 km)!
Original image credit NSO/AURO/NSF; 3D conversion by me (Gordon Au) via StereoPhoto Maker.
TAGS: astronomy > the Sun > sunspots; experiments > depth maps
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