Renowned American astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has once again delighted fans of his work with a highly unusual image that is currently unmatched. He used a solar telescope to photograph the Falcon 9 rocket flying against the backdrop of the Sun.
Source: Andrew McCarthy
The photo was taken on September 6 at Cape Canaveral. On that day, SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. To capture the rocket’s flight, McCarthy used two types of cameras: a relatively standard Canon R5 with a solar filter on a telephoto lens and a combination of an astronomical camera and a specially designed solar telescope shooting in the H-alpha spectral line (656.28 nm). Astronomers use it to study the solar chromosphere and active regions.
According to McCarthy, he installed cameras on a dirt road in a wildlife reserve about 13 km west of the launch site.
“Finding the right spot wasn’t easy, and I didn’t have the experience to plan it well, so I relied on the experience of my fellow rocket hunters, who gave me good advice on where to best position myself,” the astrophotographer is quoted as saying by the PetaPixel website.
In the first image, obtained using traditional methods, it is impossible to distinguish any details on the surface of our star. However, the image taken with a solar telescope reveals a world hidden from us, one of raging plasma and fierce stellar winds.
Source: Andrew McCarthy
We can see the main structures of the chromosphere, such as granules, filaments, and floccules. The latter surround active regions with strong magnetic fields, which appear as dark spots in visible light. The image also shows prominences and interesting optical effects related to how rocket exhaust scatters light.
Source: Andrew McCarthy
According to McCarthy, to his knowledge, this is the first such image of the Sun in history. Previously, some photographers had taken pictures of aircraft transits using solar telescopes. But he is the first to capture such an image with a rocket taking off.
Earlier, we talked about how Andrew McCarthy managed to photograph the ISS transit against the background of a solar flare captured in a photo.
Provided by: PetaPixel
