Courtesy of Discovery News:
Astrophotographer Alan Friedman captured this gorgeous portrait of the sun on April 7 from his home in Buffalo, NY, using a backyard solar telescope and a new Grasshopper CCD camera by Point Grey Research. Viewed in a wavelength emitted by hydrogen alpha (Ha) the sun's surface details become visible, showing the complex texture of our home star's true face.
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 the only regions cool enough for hydrogen to exist in atomic form and it's these layers that hydrogen alpha imaging reveals in detail.
The "furry" texture of the sun's surface is caused by structures called spicules -- tongues of superheated plasma that flare upwards from the photosphere at speeds up to 55,000 mph. Spicules can reach 3,000 miles (4,830 kilometers) in altitude before fizzling out. There's an estimated 100,000 spicules distributed across the face of the sun at any one time.
For some reason I just found this picture to be incredibly beautiful.
I really like to see things in a different light, and have become fascinated with the high resolution pictures that have been sent back to earth from the Hubble telescope. However I never thought I would see a completely new, and unique picture of our own sun.
And then I did.
It's the sun, of course (and no, I didn't read the rest).
ReplyDeleteWow, that is a fascinating shot.
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought it was a planet, but then I thought, a planet would not have all that light around it. Wow, it's just beautifully fascinating.
an amazing photo-- thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteI love these pictures of the sun.
ReplyDeletethanks gryphen. very cool shared photo
ReplyDeletei, too, am totally impressed by Hubble's gifts.
Ha ha ha. You can't fool me, I know an orange when I see it, even if I can't rhyme it.
ReplyDeleteStunning.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was an orange that was going bad.
ReplyDeleteIf you like this, check out NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:
ReplyDeletehttp://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/
Also, information on solar flares and possible aurora events (along with incredible solar images):
http://www.spaceweather.com/
Please consider posting a high resolution of a woman's egg next to this picture of the sun. I say it will be a beautiful demonstration of Einstein's relativity.
ReplyDeleteHa! I thought it was a close up of a fried egg.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a photo of one of Sara's Holy Eggs that remained unfertilized because the dude with the short wanker - his swimmers perished in the incredibly toxic death passage trying to make their way to it.
ReplyDeleteHahaha...Good one...heehee...
DeleteMy first thought was the sun. Now i will await my prize!
ReplyDeleteBut, if i had a second answer, it kind of looked like those foam balls that dogs chew on.
I agree with Huntress, looks like a human egg waiting for those little sperms. Thanks for the post...it really is a cool ass pic.
ReplyDeleteLOL...I thought it was a human egg that had just been penetrated by a sperm...or as Republican would call it, a person.
ReplyDeleteExcept,in Arizona that happens two weeks before egg meets sperm.
DeleteAccording to the rightwing loos, that, sir, is a human being, with rights that supersede those of the wombress.
ReplyDeleteI guessed it was the sun, and then saw the tag "The Sun" before even needing to click "read more" for your answer...Good one! It is an amazing photo, thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you like historical, as well as scientific, photos. But, I just found this website and it is fantastic! www.shorpy.com
ReplyDeleteIt's a historic photo archive of very large, high quality, high resolution photos full of amazing detail. The pictures are some of the best I've seen in terms of detail and making the past come alive.
The depression era photos make me realize how lucky we all are now, to have the government safety nets people didn't have then. Here's just one of many depression era photos:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/1470?size=_original
The ones by Dorothea Lange, for the Farm Security Administration, are especially emotional:
http://www.shorpy.com/dorothea-lange-photographs
Here's one from a convention of former slaves, taken in 1916:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/12384?size=_original
Anyway, just thought I'd share this amazing historic photo archive, since you were so kind as to share this beautiful photo of the sun.
Wow! Thanks for the links! I am an amateur photographer and those old photo portraits are really inspiring! Isn't the internet amazing, with all the stuff it allows us to share!! Thanks!
DeleteOthers thought it was a human egg, I thought it was a sperm, (with its tail out of sight in the back of the photo)...nearly bursting its skin in excitement at meeting the egg... Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's the fourth rock from the earth?
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was an egg.
Amazing !!!
Looks similar to my little dog's NERF BALL,
ReplyDeletebefore he played with it a couple of years and got it all dirty.