Our sun is still in a period of reduced activity, so there are still frequent days without any sunspots, prominences, or filaments of any kind. The surface texture (called spicules) is still incredibly gorgeous in its own right.
This was done with a special solar scope that focuses on a specific band of light- (Hydrogen alpha), and can get details by targeting a section of visible light just .5 Angstroms wide (an angstrom is one hundred millionth of a centimeter- so it's used to measure tiny things, such as light waves). The scope I used is fairly pricey for an amateur, but you can get decent results with a cheaper one as well.
This image was taken from my backyard in Sacramento, California. This was taken using a special solar telescope and camera, and involved taking around 3,000 images and combining them with special software designed to sharpen images that are taken through miles of atmosphere. The real color is a pinkish red due to the nature of the light put off in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, but since the camera I use is monochrome it allows me to have some fun with colors in post-processing.
For more of this stuff- find me on instagram @cosmic_background. I give behind the scenes info on these images and more info about equipment, processes, etc. Don't have instagram? Check out my gallery here.
ajamesmccarthy on August 2nd, 2019 at 19:13 UTC »
Our sun is still in a period of reduced activity, so there are still frequent days without any sunspots, prominences, or filaments of any kind. The surface texture (called spicules) is still incredibly gorgeous in its own right.
This was done with a special solar scope that focuses on a specific band of light- (Hydrogen alpha), and can get details by targeting a section of visible light just .5 Angstroms wide (an angstrom is one hundred millionth of a centimeter- so it's used to measure tiny things, such as light waves). The scope I used is fairly pricey for an amateur, but you can get decent results with a cheaper one as well.
This image was taken from my backyard in Sacramento, California. This was taken using a special solar telescope and camera, and involved taking around 3,000 images and combining them with special software designed to sharpen images that are taken through miles of atmosphere. The real color is a pinkish red due to the nature of the light put off in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, but since the camera I use is monochrome it allows me to have some fun with colors in post-processing.
For more of this stuff- find me on instagram @cosmic_background. I give behind the scenes info on these images and more info about equipment, processes, etc. Don't have instagram? Check out my gallery here.
porkman384 on August 2nd, 2019 at 19:46 UTC »
What I find interesting looking at these pictures is that those tiny flares you can see on the edge are bigger than the entire Earth, by a longshot.
ReginasBlondeWig on August 2nd, 2019 at 19:54 UTC »
Looks like the surface texture of those red bouncy balls from elementary school.