Spectacular details on the Sun’s surface

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) plays an important role in my novel “Silent Sun.” When I wrote the book, the solar telescope was still under construction. It’s still not completely finished, but it’s already taken its first snapshots of its only object of observation, our Sun. The images are absolutely stunning, showing the Sun’s surface at a level of detail never seen before.

Close-up of the image above, edge length 8,200 km x 8,200 km. (image: NSO/AURA/NSF, CC-BY 4.0)

In this image taken at a wavelength of 789 nm, structures as small as 30 km (18 miles) can be seen for the first time. The image shows a pattern of turbulent, “boiling” gas covering the entire Sun. The cell-like features are each about the size of Texas and indicate violent flows transporting heat from the inside of the Sun to its surface. Hot plasma rises in the bright centers of cells, cools off, and then sinks back into the interior in dark channels. In these dark channels, small, bright spots can also be seen, marking magnetic fields (“small” is relative here, because they are each about as large as New York City). From here, energy flows into the outer layers of the solar atmosphere, the corona, which is heated up to a million. The image boundaries represent about 36,500 km x 36,500 km. (image: NSO/AURA/NSF, CC-BY 4.0)

The scale of the Sun (background image: NSO Integrated Synoptic Program/GONG)

The Disturbance 3: The Truth

No one has ever ventured deeper into space than the astronauts of Shepherd-1. The aim of their mission: to witness the creation of the cosmos and to see who had a hand in it.

The answer never reaches Earth. Shepherd-1 looks functional, but abandoned. Former crew member Benjamin sets off and sends his consciousness to the spaceship. Although an enemy throws clubs between his legs, he finds the culprit. The fact that there appears to be no remedy whatsoever does not remain his only problem: The ship, which is about to be destroyed, suddenly receives radio signals from interstellar space.

Benjamin has only one chance: he must join forces with his adversary to ward off the danger to his friends and Earth, and hopefully uncover the final truth in the process.

The grand finale of the Disturbance trilogy.

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The Rift

There is a huge, bold black streak in the sky. Branches appear out of nowhere over North America, Southern Europe, and Central Africa. People who live beneath The Rift can see it. But scientists worldwide are distressed—their equipment cannot pick up any type of signal from it. The rift appears to consist of nothing. Literally. Nothing. Nada. Niente. Most people are curious but not overly concerned. The phenomenon seems to pose no danger. It is just there.

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Hard Science Fiction

Spectacular details on the Sun’s surface

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