A NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day entry dated August 6, 2026, reported that the sharpest image yet of the Sun in visible light has captured evidence of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI), a process that can produce waves and swirls when two streams flow past each other. In this case, the interacting streams were described as variable flows of solar magnetic plasma.

The image was taken recently by the Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii, according to the report. Long hypothesized to occur at the Sun's surface, KHI streaks and swirls were confirmed in the high-resolution images, the entry said. The false-yellow image, actually taken in deep blue, spans about the radius of the Earth, while its finest details are city sized, it said. Smooth tops of changing solar granules appear alongside flower-like structures whose edges were found to harbor multiple KHI swirls.

Future research may examine how KHI helps move energy and magnetic fields, and may even heat the surrounding solar corona, the report said.