Categories: sun

The “Deep Blue Sea” of the Sun

Looking like an intricate pen-and-ink illustration, the complex and beautiful structures of the Sun’s surface come to life in yet another stunning photo by Alan Freidman, captured from the historic Mount Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles, California.

Click below for the full-size image in all its hydrogen alpha glory.


An oft-demonstrated master of solar photography, Alan took the image above while preparing for the transit of Venus on June 5 — which he also skillfully captured on camera (see a video below).

Hydrogen is the most abundant element found on the sun. The sun’s “surface” and the layer just above it — the photosphere and chromosphere, respectively — are regions where atomic hydrogen exists profusely in upper-state form. It’s these absorption layers that hydrogen alpha imaging reveals in detail.

The images above are “negatives”… check out a “positive” version of the same image here.

” The seeing was superb… definitely the best of the visit and among the best solar conditions I’ve ever experienced,” Alan writes on his blog.

The video below was made by Alan on June 5, showing Venus transiting the Sun while both passed behind a tower visible from the Observatory.

Alan’s work is always a treat… see more of his astrophotography on his website AvertedImagination.com.

Image © Alan Friedman. All rights reserved.

Jason Major

A graphic designer in Rhode Island, Jason writes about space exploration on his blog Lights In The Dark, Discovery News, and, of course, here on Universe Today. Ad astra!

Recent Posts

Astronomers Find a 3 Million Year Old Planet

Astronomers have just found one of the youngest planets ever. At only 3 million years…

1 hour ago

There was Hot Water on Mars 4.45 Billion Years Ago

Mars formed 4.5 billion years ago, roughly the same time as the Earth. We know…

5 hours ago

Axion Dark Matter May Make Spacetime Ring

Dark matter made out of axions may have the power to make space-time ring like…

9 hours ago

Earth’s Old Trees Keep A Record of Powerful Solar Storms

Most of the time the Sun is pretty well-mannered, but occasionally it's downright unruly. It…

24 hours ago

New Supercomputer Simulation Explains How Mars Got Its Moons

One mystery in planetary science is a satisfying origin story for Mars's moons, Phobos and…

1 day ago

The Early Universe May Have Had Giant Batteries of Dust

The largest magnetic fields in the universe may have found themselves charged up when the…

1 day ago