sun
Images
On the day of the total solar eclipse (April 8, 2024) I began photographing the sun early so I could focus and align the scope. I immediately noticed some large prominences, so I zoomed in by adding my TeleVue PowerMate 2.5x and swapping the camera with the ZWO ASI290MM-Mini.
2024-04-16
This was the sun on the day of the total solar eclipse in the United States. It had some very prominent, well, prominences that prominently appear in most of the eclipse photos.
2024-04-08
This is the last image I took of the sun before the moon covered it completed. This phase of the eclipse is known both as C2 (second contact) and totality.
2024-04-08
Here a longer exposure reveals details along the solar limb (the sun's edge) as the moon travels closer to totality.
2024-04-08
When the sun's disk is fully covered, the brilliant light is no longer there to overpower the fainter corona and it becomes visible with slightly longer exposures.
2024-04-08
During the eclipse, there was an instant just as the moon covered the sun that the corona was not yet visible. The moon fully covers the sun's disc but not the prominences that arch above the chromosphere, so these get captured in this type of exposure.
2024-04-08
I took this photograph as the moon was moving away from the sun, signaling the end of the eclipse. The moon creates a stark contrast with the sun that brought out rich details on the surface and edges. The solid edge in the image is caused by the technique I use to create the frame, which is essentially subtracting the surface details from the image of the outer corona to create an inverted rendering that has depth, detail, and contrast.
2024-04-08
At the height of totality, the sun becomes a silver ring in the sky and if you are able to look, you can see bright red dots where the large prominences exist. It is a deeply transforming experience and of all the photos I captured, this one looks closest to what I saw with my unaided eyes.
2024-04-08
Just as the moon begins to completely cover the sun in what is referred to as C1 - first contact, the contrast from the last bit of light creates a bright flare and creates the illusion of a celestial diamond ring.
2024-04-08
Hydrogen alpha filters admit only an extremely small amount of light, measured in angstroms (10 angstroms is 1 nanometer). The contrast gives us a view into the chromosphere, a layer of plasma and gas that exists above the sun's photosphere, or 'surface' as we know it. We can see variations in temperature on the solar surface. Large, round structures are sunspots - still thousands of degrees Fahrenheit but cooler than their surroundings due to the effect of magnetic fields. These same fields can suspend columns of superheated gas above the surface. At the edge, prominences snake out looking deceptively small but spanning spaces larger than the earth. Seen head on, they appear as elongated filaments. Here is our closest star from early afternoon on Tuesday, March 26th.
2024-03-26
Hydrogen alpha filters admit only an extremely small amount of light, measured in angstroms (10 angstroms is 1 nanometer). The contrast gives us a view into the chromosphere, a layer of plasma and gas that exists above the sun's photosphere, or 'surface' as we know it. We can see variations in temperature on the solar surface. Large, round structures are sunspots - still thousands of degrees Fahrenheit but cooler than their surroundings due to the effect of magnetic fields. These same fields can suspend columns of superheated gas above the surface. At the edge, prominences snake out looking deceptively small but spanning spaces larger than the earth. Seen head on, they appear as elongated filaments. Here is our closest star from early afternoon on Tuesday, March 26th.
2024-03-26
An imaging session in February 2024 captured the sun's corona and surface details. Using a technique I developed, I combined the two to create a detailed, three-dimensional rendering of our closest star.
2024-02-23
A high exposure loses the details of the solar surface but exposes the massive activity happening along the edge as evidenced by the plasma 'flames' that stretch higher than the earth's diameter.
2024-02-15
In this close-up of the sun's surface, you can clearly see a cluster of sunspots with plasma arcing above it.
2024-02-03
Imaging the sun on an active day, I captured these prominent flares around the edges of the solar disk.
2024-02-01
A super-solar photo of a very active sun. Note the prominent solar flares both around the edge of the disc and on the surface in the northeast quadrant.
2024-01-09
My first solar with hydrogen alpha
First light! I'm still working out the best way to image (this is a cellphone picture) but the Coronado PST I just received is amazing! A dedicated hydrogen-alpha solar scope and the images in real life are stunning!
2023-12-24
I found definitive proof we're in the dog days of summer. If you look closely, the sunspots show a happy dog face.
2023-07-30
My first ever solar observation using an eclipse filter with my 135mm lens. I successfully captured the sunspots!
2023-05-20
Videos
On January 15, 2024, I used a Coronado PST 40mm single-stacked solar telescope in conjunction with a ZWO ASI294MM Pro monochrome camera and a ZWO ASI290MM Mini camera to observe the sun. The surface was very active and massive superheated columns of plasma were spewing from its surface. I recorded these videos and images to share.
2024-02-17 00:00:00 +0000
Symmetry: The Harvest Supermoon and the Sun
A video of the last supermoon of 2023 appearing in a cloud sky following by the morning sun from the following day.
2023-10-03 00:00:00 +0000
Explore the surface of the sun. View prominences, filaments, sunspots and solar flares in the chromosphere with the aid of a hydrogen alpha filtered solar telescope.
2024-03-27 00:00:00 +0000
I planned over a year for this total solar eclipse. I dragged gear across the country and watched the forecast predict thunderstorms as the day drew near. The experience itself was unforgettable. Here is my story about, and my photographs of, the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Taken on location in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
2024-04-08 00:00:00 +0000
What I saw when I looked at the sun
First, please don't ever even glance sideways at the sun without proper eye protection. If you happen to be looking through a filter hydrogen alpha solar telescope, this is like what you'd see.
2024-02-23 00:00:00 +0000