NASA's supercomputers are enhancing our understanding of the Sun's complex behaviors by utilizing data from active sun-watching spacecraft.

The year 2024 has been significant for solar events, featuring both annular and total eclipses, as well as the Sun reaching its solar maximum.

For the first time, researchers successfully reproduced the fine structures of the Sun's subsurface layer, as observed by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

Irina Kitiashvili, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, highlighted the use of realistic simulations that incorporate current knowledge of solar plasma to replicate observed phenomena.

Researchers have created animations that depict the turbulent motions within the Sun's inner layers, illustrating the dynamic nature of solar activity.

NASA is showcasing 29 computational achievements at SC24, the international supercomputing conference taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, from November 17-22, 2024.

Understanding solar dynamics is crucial, as the Sun influences various Earth phenomena, including seasons, weather, and climate, as well as space weather that impacts NASA's Artemis missions.

The simulations, conducted on the Pleiades supercomputer at NASA Ames, generated terabytes of data over several weeks of processing time.

Due to the Sun's complexity, researchers focus on smaller models of specific areas or layers, allowing them to visualize intricate structures such as shock waves and tornado-like features.

Kitiashvili remarked that the Sun continues to reveal new surprises and exciting events.

In December 2024, NASA's Parker Solar Probe will approach the Sun closer than ever, setting a new record for the closest human-made object to the Sun.