Wherever two fluids slide past each other at different speeds, the boundary between them buckles, then curls, then rolls up into vortexes. This phenomenon, known as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, was first described in the late 1860s and explains why wind causes ripples on water or clouds shear into curves.

For decades, scientists believed this same principle applied to plasma on the Sun’s surface, but proof eluded them. Now, a team led by David Kuridze and Friedrich Wöger of the National Solar Observatory has confirmed that these vortexes are indeed visible on our star and are ubiquitous.

Their findings could change how we view heat, mass, and magnetic energy transport within the Sun’s atmosphere, suggesting that these processes may be more complex than previously thought. The reason for the long-standing invisibility of these plasma whirlpools was their tiny scale: below what smaller telescopes can resolve. This changed with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, a 4-meter instrument and the largest solar telescope on Earth.

During a three-minute window on April 14, 2025, this state-of-the-art telescope captured images of an active region near the Sun’s center at a wavelength of 416 nanometers. The team aimed to achieve diffraction-limited performance rather than specifically look for vortexes.