Astronomers using the 4-m Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii have detected tiny plasma vortices on the Sun’s surface (photosphere) for the first time, revealing a long-suspected process that could transport energy into the million-degree corona. Using the Inouye Solar Telescope, the solar astronomers captured the highest-resolution images ever taken of the Sun’s photosphere. According to the team, these microscopic vortices act as hidden engines that can twist and tangle the Sun’s magnetic field lines. “However, because the solar magnetic cycle is only 11 years, a remarkably rapid timescale in cosmic terms, the generated magnetic flux must dissipate efficiently.” The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability we discovered in the solar photosphere can act as a key source of this missing magnetic diffusion.”