Astronomers have obtained the highest-resolution images to date of our sun's visible surface, observing swirling, vortex-like patterns reminiscent of the shapes depicted in the nocturnal sky in Vincent van Gogh's 1889 painting The Starry Night. By twisting the solar magnetic field, KHI creates energy that can suddenly unleash an explosion. Woger called the discovery of solar KHI "a true game-changer," saying it opens up a new framework for understanding how the sun energises its atmosphere. How these explosions are triggered is one of the main frontiers in modern solar physics," National Solar Observatory astronomer and study co-lead author David Kuridze said. The KHI manifestation might help explain why the sun's outer atmosphere becomes as hot as it does and why magnetic energy accumulates and moves around on the solar surface.