Solar Chromosphere and Corona Revealed in a Unique Image Captured During Total Solar Eclipse 2024
The Idea
Since I started in solar photography, I imagined how incredible it would be if we could capture both the solar chromosphere and the beautiful solar Corona, knowing that at first sight it seems to be an impossible task, indeed I thought it could be possible, not in a single capture, of course, but with special techniques and during the unique occasion of a total solar eclipse. So the opportunity came up on 8th April 2024 with the Total Solar Eclipse 2024 visible across US. I already had planned to capture an HDR image in white light of the Solar Corona from Texas, so I challenged my friend James Sinclair to capture at the same time a few images of the solar chromosphere immediately before the eclipse starts (C1) and immediately after ending, to avoid the presence of the moon while covering the sun. So my idea was being able to produce a real image – as much as accurate as possible – of the solar chromosphere with its filaments, active regions and prominences aligned along with its corresponding loops and streamers of the solar corona captured and visible at approximately the same time. We knew that this was a huge challenge with so many factors that could go wrong, but fortunately everything went well and we finally could produce a charming unique image, probably never seen before.
Making an high resolution HDR image like that represents an enormous amount of personal and professional efforts, as well as an incredible financial investment, and everything started many months before the Eclipse itself happened. To read to full story, please read the article of my Sun’s Aura, featuring the original HDR image in white light.
Technical processing and Color
After processing my HDR image of the Sun’s Corona (extensive article about it), I then processed the solar disc in Ha captured by James Sinclair from Southern Utah, with a Lunt LS130 and a camera Apollo M Max from Player One Astronomy, as result of a stack of 200 best frames for the single disc image. I used the inversion techinque with curves to better display the details of the sun’s chromosphere. The colors of the solar corona, are showed in orange/brown hues to match with the solar chromosphere for an aesthetic pleasent transition. Important to mention though that corona is not possible to see in Ha emission as we see the solar chromosphere through an Ha filter. The corona was captured in white light through our earth atmosphere which scattered the light giving a bluish appearance during Totality. But the sun corona in space should look like white light, as well as our Sun star.
The Sun’s Corona
The Corona is extremely hot and dynamic, being the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, it reveals intricate fine structures of delicate details distorted by the strong magnetic fields. Specially, close to the Solar maximum expected for 2025 (peak of 11 years cycle of activity), the plasma of the Sun’s corona features a lot of loops and wispy white streamers radiating into space. But due to an immense level of brightness it is only possible to see when the Moon is perfectly covering the Sun. Safe enough to enjoy with our naked-eyes, much more well prepared and efficient to comprise and accommodate a larger high dynamic range, than our cameras, which even nowadays can’t do it at once. This is why we need to cover around 14 stops in the dynamic range and probably even more would be best, but bracketing can help achieve this milestone.
And why this image is so special ? Because not even SOHO in space, from NASA, can watch the inner corona of the Sun. It only can see the most extensive part of the outer corona, using a coronagraph, from two solar radii distant of the Sun’s centre.
Why Eclipse HDR is so Challenging
Photographing a Total Solar Eclipse, is probably to most advanced and complex task in all of astrophotography fields, not only from preparing and planning which requires a bit of Math to find the correct set of exposures according to your gear combination, ISO, lens aperture, right place to be, right time to start etc, etc, as well as from executing it in a stressful short amount of time. But also very hard and difficult to process in a time consuming task. First, because the Sun, the Moon and the stars have all different motions across the sky, which are evident in long focal distances and long exposures. Images must be aligned not on the Moon’s disc, not on the stars, and not even on the prominences (as it only works in shorter exposures), so to reveal the corona in full glory, images must be aligned on the coronal structures which are very hard and tricky, as they are faint, subtle and lacking of contrast, and they keep moving too on a lower speed. Noticeable though over the course of all bracketing, but inevitably negligible, for the final fusion in order to naturally reduce the presence of noise. And probably the most difficult final achievement, is to keep as much as possible, everything looking natural without overcooking it. It is a delicate balance between, contrast, light flow, color and detail which I tried to keep in mind and respect until the very end. I hope I did it!
Equipment and Exposures for Corona
The High Resolution image was captured with a Sigma lens at 600mm at f6.3, and a Nikon D850 modified (Ha sensitive – not relevant for this type of TSE images) on a Vixen portable mount. I did more than 163 photos (bracketed exposures), but I’ve only selected 72 images (8 bracketed sequences of 9 shots each) to process, where the sky was crystal clear without any high cloud visible. The exposure time for each sequence bracketing was ranging from 1/125s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/15s, 1/8s, 1/4, 1/2s, 1s, 2s at ISO100, plus additional fast exposures of 1/4000 for C2 and C3 (Prominences and Baily’s Beads). 93GB of images were acquired just for this setup, being 1446 calibration frames such as flats, darks and bias (in a total of 65GB). Images used were captured during 1 minute and 28 seconds of the Maximum, during the 4 minutes and 19 seconds of Totality as seen from my location in Clarcksville, Texas.
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The Sun’s Aura – Solar Corona Revealed in All It’s Glory During Total Solar Eclipse 2024
Behind the Trip, from Portugal to Texas
Taking an high resolution HDR image like that represents an enormous amount of personal and professional efforts, as well as an incredible financial investment, and everything started many months before the Eclipse itself happened. Planning the trip to be on the right path, booking accommodation several months in advance, before prices went crazy, renting a car to be as much mobile as possible, and all of it without knowing if the weather will collaborate on the place we have choose to be for the special moment. Me and Apolónia, we travelled from Portugal to Pearsall, in Texas, as planned, but the forecast was indeed terrible almost in the entire US, or at least where the path was located. So after many hours driving from Dallas to Houston and then to Pearsall, with the rest of the week monitoring with several different models the evolution of the weather forecast, we have decided – even with a certain risk -that we must need to move back to north, again, to be more close to Oklahoma state. So on the day before the Eclipse, we had to drive back to Dallas during five or six hours and in the morning of the Eclipse, we did an extra two hours drive, to reach a small city called, Clarksville, in the northeast of Texas. At 10 AM the sky was still cloudy, and I only had 2 hours before the Eclipse starts, which means, to prepare my entire setup of 6 cameras with lens, tripods, mounts, filters, cables etc…. We found a nice green calm farm to setup everything. The owner kindly authorised us to stay with our car near by, thanks Ed. This was the most stressful time of our lives, without knowing until the very end, if we could make it, trying to focus and center the sun in between the clouds brought an extra difficulty to my task. Additionally, I only had 3 solar filters for 6 cameras. Fortunately, like a miracle, just 5 minutes before totality starts, the sky cleared up where the Sun was located and during the Maximum it was completely crystal clear, at least, for around 1min and 30 seconds, calm and windless until the end. It was just…Magical!!
Technical preparation and processing
My inspiration came from some of the most finest images I´ve seen so far, from pioneering Dr. Miloslav Druckmuller, and the incredible work of Nicolas Lefaudeux, as well as and the notable results achieved by my friend Petr Horalek. Just few months before the Eclipse I started going deep, researching and studying the processes involved in those kind of HDR Eclipse images. I red some of the papers by Dr. Miloslav, many other articles…and I knew it would be a very hard task. Specially some critical steps, as calibration and precise sub-pixel alignment in the linear stage, must be done using phase correlation, using correlated image structures to align them perfectly, which is done by non-available softwares, mainly developed by each of the authors, programmed and implemented themselves to apply the correct algorithm in a proper way. I don’t have access to a program with such capabilities and I didn’t wrote my own code – at least for now — so I had to find a different alternative for the critical steps. After many weeks testing and learning, I found the proper way to do it manually with pixel precision, using also calibration frames in the linear stage, but aligning and blending the seamless high dynamic range (HDR), free of artifact in the non-linear stage. There were helpful articles and tutorials along the way…from Fred Espenak, Alan’s Dyer (Books), Sean Walker (S&T article), and more recently by Bray Falls tutorial, but anyone was completely perfect on covering every aspects in case you plan to do both (Calibration, Aligning and HDR in Linear and non-linear stage). The image I’m presenting is the result of many hours of study and practice and a refined fusion of some of the techniques I’ve learned over the last years with some of you, so I’m thankful for that knowledge and want to show my deeply appreciation for that. I think that learning is the most beautiful thing, after…a Total Solar Eclipse :). With patience and knowledge, I tried to refine and improve some of the them, while integrating as part of my won developing workflow. It proved to be very efficient, as an example, after aligning all the brackets, and to achieve a perfect HDR merging while matching each exposure brightness levels, totally free of any artifact, I didn’t had to do, one single luminance mask during this non-linear stage, in order to get a well natural balanced light flow, ready for further enhancements of the corona details, such as removing the lowest spatial frequencies. It was incredible simple and it works like magic, I just need to check if also works so well on other different sets of Eclipse images, taken with different setups and exposures. Also important to say, specially nowadays, that this image, or part of it, was not AI generated, it’s of course, the result of a real hard amount of work captured and processed manually by myself. I’ve not even used during the processing stage, any AI fancy softwares, nor even to reduce noise, like Topaz. I used only PixInsight and Layering techniques in Photoshop.
The Sun’s Aura
The Corona is extremely hot and dynamic, being the outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, it reveals intricate fine structures of delicate details distorted by the strong magnetic fields. Specially, close to the Solar maximum expected for 2025 (peak of 11 years cycle of activity), the plasma of the Sun’s corona features a lot of loops and wispy white streamers radiating into space. But due to an immense level of brightness it is only possible to see when the Moon is perfectly covering the Sun. Safe enough to enjoy with our naked-eyes, much more well prepared and efficient to comprise and accommodate a larger high dynamic range, than our cameras, which even nowadays can’t do it at once. This is why we need to cover around 14 stops in the dynamic range and probably even more would be best, but bracketing can help achieve this milestone.
And why is so special ? Because not even SOHO in space, from NASA, can watch the inner corona of the Sun in white light. It only can see the most extensive part of the outer corona, using a coronagraph, from two solar radii distant of the Sun’s centre.
Why Eclipse HDR is so Challenging
Photographing a Total Solar Eclipse, is probably to most advanced and complex task in all of astrophotography fields, not only from preparing and planning which requires a bit of Mat to find the correct set of exposures according to your gear combination, ISO, lens aperture, right place to be, right time to start etc, etc, as well as from executing it in a stressful short amount of time. But also very hard and difficult to process in a time consuming task. First, because the Sun, the Moon and the stars have all different motions across the sky, which are evident in long focal distances and long exposures. Images must be aligned not on the Moon’s disc, not on the stars, and not even on the prominences (as it only works in shorter exposures), so to reveal the corona in full glory, images must be aligned on the coronal structures which are very hard and tricky, as they are faint, subtle and lacking of contrast, and they keep moving too on a lower speed. Noticeable though over the course of all bracketing, but inevitably negligible, for the final fusion in order to naturally reduce the presence of noise. And probably the most difficult final achievement, is to keep as much as possible, everything looking natural without overcooking it. It is a delicate balance between, contrast, light flow, color and detail which I tried to keep in mind and respect until the very end. I hope I did it!
Equipment and Exposures
The High Resolution image was captured with a Sigma lens at 600mm at f6.3, and a Nikon D850 modified (Ha sensitive – not relevant for this type of TSE images) on a Vixen portable mount. I did more than 163 photos (bracketed exposures), but I’ve only selected 72 images (8 bracketed sequences of 9 shots each) to process, where the sky was crystal clear without any high cloud visible. The exposure time for each sequence bracketing was ranging from 1/125s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/15s, 1/8s, 1/4, 1/2s, 1s, 2s at ISO100, plus additional fast exposures of 1/4000 for C2 and C3 (Prominences and Baily’s Beads). 93GB of images were acquired just for this setup, being 1446 calibration frames such as flats, darks and bias (in a total of 65GB). Images used were captured during 1 minute and 28 seconds of the Maximum, during the 4 minutes and 19 seconds of Totality as seen from my location in Clarcksville, Texas.
Contacts C2 and C3
I merged the images from contact C2 and C3 in a single final photo, to reveal the best of all prominences visible around the Sun’s limb. This allowed to show the solar prominences and their associated magnetic loops on the final HDR image.
Moon Earthshine
Normally well seen one or two days after the new moon, the Earthshine phenomenon was described and drawn for the first time by the great Leonardo Da Vinci about 500 years ago on his book Codex Leicester, Leonardo da Vinci explained the phenomenon known as Earthshine in the early 16th century, when he realised that both Earth and the Moon reflect sunlight at the same time. Light is reflected from the Earth to the Moon and then back to the Earth as Earthshine. During Totality the Moon is in front of the Sun and can be seen in a long exposure. Indeed, it’s the only moment when is possible to capture the full disc of the Moon during New Moon phase. I was gladly surprised with the level of detail that could be seen, after a stack of the 0,5s, 1s and 2s exposures of all 8 bracketing combined together, comprising a total amount of 28s. The level of detail was then enhancement using a Local Histogram Equalisation with a large scale. Again, is interesting to show that a stack aligned on the moon, reveals the trails of background stars as the moon is moving much more faster then sidereal, and solar motion. Below: The image on the left, shows the natural Moon’s disc after the 28s stack, and before any further detail enhancement. Startrails are shown on the right image as the result of the stack.
Background stars up to 10.8 mag
The stack of the long exposures aligned on the stars, comprises a total amount of 28 seconds too, and can reveal stars down to magnitude 10.8. Interesting to note that the brightest star visible close to the left side of the Moon, – landscape version or upper in the portrait one – is indeed a variable double star in Pisces named: Zeta Piscium (86 Psc).
Coronal motion on finest structures
Loops in the inner corona are normally more slow and tend to not reveal obvious motion in such short amount of time (88 seconds), but streamers and small scale features seems to reveals some noticeable movement in the background. Some of the most interested features that my eyes could caught are highlighted with arrows at the lower left corner, showing what seems to be a displacement of a small scale structure. Besides the evident Moon’s motion, is also possible to notice some subtle radial motion on large scale features, visible in the background. Even not being as precise as sub-pixel phase correlation algorithm, the animation can also attest the high accuracy of manual alignment. Images used for this animation were acquired during 1 minute and 28 seconds of the Maximum during Totality in between 13h45m46s and13h47m14s Local time (-6 UT). Each successive 9 exposures set of images was aligned and processed independently to get 8 successive final composites of the solar corona. Then, the lowest spatial frequencies was removed and all composites were animated as a final Gif at a speed of 0,05 seconds each. Captured from Clarcksville, Texas, US, during Totality on April 8, 2024 with a 600mm lens f/6.3 on a Nikon D850. Note – you might feel seek if you focus your attention for a long period of time on the same spot. Make a few seconds pause, and then look back.
Acknowledgments
To produce a photo like that your investment may easily achieve the amount of a small entry level car, so fortunately, I had some extra support of some good friends that helped to make this possible. They know who are and their place in our thankful hearts. This image is dedicate to them, but specially to my dear girlfriend/wife Apolónia, as she not only planned every detail of the travel and ground trip alone when I was immersed in planning the technical stuffs, gears, cameras, lens etc…as she helped overcome all the single obstacles in our way that we faced since last year…and that, almost…made me give up of making this expensive trip to the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. Last but not the least, to our lovely Sun, for being just mesmerisingly Beautiful and make it appear in between the clouds, for long enough, to make every drop of sweat count! To summarize the beauty of this event in a 1 minute video, I’ve created the Whispers of Totality.
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and if you still want to support my work as an independent artist, you can buy this image as a Fine Art Print, a piece of Art to bring some magic to your sweet home! I will be deeply grateful for your kind support. I have created a special limited Edition of this Print supplied with a signed & numbered Certificate of Authenticity, global delivery with tracked & insured shipping, in a carbon neutral sustainable production, packaging and shipping. Explore the size options and prices by clicking on my Print gallery. Meanwhile, you can sign-up my newsletter to get early access of future Print releases.
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Large Prominence and Chromosphere in Motion – Solar Session from 19th Sept 2021 With Photos and Time Lapse
Captured on September 19th, 2021, from Dark Sky® Alqueva region, Portugal, with a telescope equipped with a Daystar Quark filter at the wavelength of Hydrogen-Alpha, the high-resolution image features a wonderful solar prominence visible in great detail around the sun’s limb. Due to a good atmospheric conditions and stability, it was possible to record a nice time lapse video sequence taken between UT 11h32 and UT 12h51 (Universal Time) to help reveal all the solar dynamics and activity in motion. It’s possible to see a lot of interesting changes in the shape of prominence structures, as well as, fine spicules surrounding the solar disc and some slower motion in the chromosphere of the sun (surface). The images also captured minor and fast eruptive prominences appearing around the limb’s disc. The video zoomed to a crop close-up into some sequences to highlights the spectacularity and details in the solar activity. I edited the time lapse with music to be more immersive while enjoying, but you can switch of the sound, to be less distractive and notice better what is going on.
PT: Captada a 19 de Setembro de 2021, a partir da região do Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, com um telescópio equipado com um filtro solar Daystar Quark – no comprimento de onda do Hidrogénio Alfa, a imagem de alta resolução apresenta uma incrível promeminência solar visível em grande detalhe ao redor do limbo do sol. Devido a boas condições atmosféricas e de estabilidade, foi possível registar uma sequência time lapse captada entre UT 11h32 e UT 12h51 (Tempo Universal) para ajudar a revelar toda a dinâmica solar e actividade em movimento. É possível ver muitas mudanças interessantes na forma e estrutura das proeminência, bem como espículas finais e aguçadas que aparecem ao redor do disco solar, assim como algum movimento mais lento na cromosfera do sol (superfície). As imagens também captaram proeminências eruptivas menores e rápidas aparecendo ao redor do limbo. O vídeo faz um zoom-in nalguns trechos, para permitir em close-up destacar a espetacularidade da actividade solar. Eu editei o timelapse com música para ser mais envolvente enquanto o leitor desfruta, mas pode desligar o som, para ser menos distrativo e permitir assim apreciar melhor os detalhes.
Below and above are some still shots presented in a portrait, landscape, or monochromatic version, intended to help conduct the reader attention to the most interesting parts of the image. All the images have been captured at different times, over the course of 1h20m.
PT: Em baixo e acima estão algumas fotos apresentadas em uma versão retrato e paisagem, bem como em uma versão monocromática, com o objetivo intencional de ajudar a conduzir a atenção do leitor para as partes mais interessantes da imagem. Todas as imagens foram captadas em minutos diferentes, no decorrer de 1h20m.
Below is possible to watch the video time lapse compiling 135 shots processed, each one as result of a stack of the best 250 frames from each raw video. The final result is a 3K high resolution time lapse movie comprising 1h20 of images.
PT: Em baixo é possível ver o vídeo time lapse compilando 135 captações processadas, cada uma como resultado de um stack dos melhores 250 frames de cada vídeo raw. O resultado final é um filme time lapse de alta resolução de 3K que compila 1h20 de imagens.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
SW Esprit 120ED Professional | EQ-6 Pro mount | Daystar Quark Chromosphere filter| ASI174MM | ZWO EAF | Stack of 250 frames for each single image, captured in good seeing conditions (average of 1,22 ” arcs) from Dark Sky® Alqueva territory, Portugal.
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International Space Station as Seen in H-alpha Crossing the Solar Disc
The image shows the International Space Station (ISS) silhouette while crossing the Sun´s disc at a distance of 436.29km from us at a speed of about 7.38km/s. The ISS completes an entire orbit around Earth each 90 minutes. Carrying on board astronauts, the large artificial satellite orbiting our planet with a width of 108.5 meters seems although very small when compared with the Solar disc with an angular size of 31.5′ is actually 29.2 times larger than the ISS in the moment of the passage. Hard to see it even with a special telescope equipped with Ha filters, only the fast video camera shutter set to an high speed frame rate could capture this rare moment that happens in a blink of an eye, as it was seen from Redondo, Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, Portugal, on June 6, 2021, at 13h20m11s (UT 12h20m11s) with a total duration of only 0,55 seconds. Its very interesting to recognise on the picture the ISS structure with the solar panels and main body elements well distinct. The image also shows in great detail, spicules and supergranulation in the surface of the Sun. Granules, as well as sunspots, appear in a layer we call the Photosphere (sphere of light). Being from this same surface that emerges all the light we visually see, leaving our star, it is involved in the Chromosphere (sphere of color), which is the place where we can observe gas filaments visible on the image and solar Prominences, where Solar Flares do occur. With a diameter of 1,392,000 km, our Sun is composed of 73% Hydrogen, 25% Helium and 2% from heavier elements. The image is also featuring many prominences spread around the solar limb, in the Chromospher.
PT: A imagem revela a silhueta da Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS) atravessando o sol a uma distância de 436.29km de nós e uma velocidade média de cerca de 7.38km/s. A ISS completa uma órbita em torno da Terra a cada 90 minutos. Transportando a bordo vários astronautas, este grande satélite artificial com uma envergadura de 108,5 metros parece muito pequeno quando comparado com o disco solar com um tamanho angular de 31,5 ‘ é na verdade 29,2 vezes maior do que a ISS no momento da passagem. Difícil de observá-la mesmo com um telescópio especial equipado com filtros de protecção H-alfa, só o obturador da câmara de vídeo numa sequência de disparos rápidos tem a capacidade de captar e eternizar este momento raro que acontece num um piscar de olhos, com a curta duração de apenas 0.55 segundos, como foi visto a partir do Redondo, no Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, a 6 de junho de 2021, às 13h20m11s (UT 12h20m11s). Na fotografia é possível reconhecer a estrutura da ISS com os seus painéis solares e os elementos que compõem o corpo principal. A imagem também mostra a superfície supergranulada do Sol e repleta de espículas em grande detalhe. Os grânulos assim como as manchas solares, aparecem numa camada a que chamamos a Fotosfera (esfera de luz). Sendo desta mesma superfície que emerge toda a luz que vemos sair visualmente da nossa estrela, está envolta na Cromosfera (esfera de cor), sendo o local onde podemos observar Filamentos de Gás como os que são visíveis na imagem e Protuberâncias Solares, ou Proeminências, regiões onde ocorrem as chamadas “explosões solares”. Com um diâmetro de 1.392.000 km, o nosso Sol é composto por 73% de Hidrogénio, 25% de Hélio e 2% de elementos mais pesados. A imagem captada a partir do meu terraço, revela assim uma série de intensas protuberâncias que se espalham à volta do limbo solar, na cromosfera.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | ASI178MC | Stack of 250 frames in very good seeing conditions for the solar surface and prominences, plus the single frames where the ISS has appeared. Redondo, Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal. 06/06/2021 13h20m11s.
ISS Details | Detalhes da ISS:
ISS angular size: 63.33″; distance: 436.29 km
Angular separation: 0.6′; azimuth: 173.5°; altitude: 73.9°
Center line distance: In the center; visibility path width: 4.11 km
R.A.: 04h 59m; Dec: +22° 41′; parallactic angle: 5.5°
ISS velocity: 57.6 ′/s (angular); 7.31 km/s (transverse)
ISS velocity: -1.07 km/s (radial); 7.38 km/s (total);
Direction of motion relative to zenith: 57.1°
Sun angular size: 31.5′; 29.2 times larger than the ISS
Dragged Sun – Gigantic Solar Prominence in a Stacked Motion – Color vs BW
Captured on March 17, 2021, from Dark Sky® Alqueva region, Portugal, with a Solar Ha telescope – at the wavelength of Hydrogen-Alpha, the high-resolution image shows a gigantic solar prominence. Seen in Color and Black and White version, the image feature a stacked scene comprising 2h55 minutes of solar motion with dragged prominences visible in great detail around the sun´s limb due to an exceptional seeing conditions (very good atmospheric stability). The sequence of close-up captures were taken between UT 12h02 and UT 14h57 (Universal Time) to help reveal very interesting changes in shape, intensity and detail, with spicules and supergranulation in motion on the sun´s surface, as well as spicules and minor prominences appearing around the limb´s disc. The still single images and time lapse video also highlights a spectacular fast eruptive prominence visible in the upper right edge, click here.
PT: Captada a 17 de Março de 2021, a partir da região do Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, com um telescópio Solar Ha – no comprimento de onda do Hidrogénio Alfa, a imagem de alta resolução revela uma gigantesca promeminência solar. Apresentada numa versão a cores e a preto e branco, a imagem é o resultado de um stack que compreende 2h55 minutos de movimento solar com o arrastamento das protuberâncias, vistas em grande detalhe ao redor do limbo solar, graças a condições de seeing excepcionais (excelente estabilidade atmosférica). A sequência de captações em close-up foi feita entre UT 12h02 e UT 14h57 (Tempo Universal), para assim permitir revelar mudanças muito interessantes na forma, intensidade e detalhe, com espículas e supergranulação em movimento na superfície solar, bem como espículas e pequenas proeminências aparecendo ao redor do limbo. As imagens singulares estáticas e o vídeo time lapse também destacam uma espetacular e proeminência eruptiva em forma de lagarta que faz um movimento rápido visível no extremo superior direito, clique aqui.
Below – from right to left – is possible to appreciate a portrait of a singular shot taken at UT 12h45, and the BW and Color version of a stacked sequence comprising 2h55 minutes of solar motion with dragged prominences.
PT: Em baixo – da direita para a esquerda, é possível apreciar uma versão estática de uma imagem singular em modo retrato, captada às 12h45 (UT) e uma imagem a preto e branco e a cores, resultado de um stack em sequência que compreende 2h55 minutos de movimento solar com o arrastamento das protuberâncias.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | ASI174MC | ZWO AD | Powermate 4x | Stack of 250 frames for each single image, captured in very good seeing conditions (average of 1″ arcs) from Dark Sky® Alqueva territory, Portugal.
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You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Gigantic Solar Prominence in Motion – Photo & Time Lapse
Captured on March 17, 2021, from Dark Sky® Alqueva region, Portugal, with a Solar Ha telescope – at the wavelength of Hydrogen-Alpha, the high-resolution footage features a gigantic solar prominence visible in great detail around the sun´s limb due to an exceptional seeing conditions. The time lapse sequence of close-up captures were taken between UT 12h02 and UT 14h57 (Universal Time) to help reveal very interesting changes in shape, intensity and detail, with spicules and supergranulation in motion on the sun´s surface. The video also highlights in slow motion a spectacular fast eruptive prominence visible in the upper right edge.
PT: Captada a 17 de Março de 2021, a partir da região do Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, com um telescópio Solar Ha – no comprimento de onda do Hidrogénio Alfa, a imagem de alta resolução apresenta uma gigantesca promeminência solar visível em grande detalhe ao redor do limbo do sol, graças a condições de seeing excepcionais (excelente estabilidade atmosférica). A sequência de captações em close-up foi feita entre UT 12h02 e UT 14h57 (Tempo Universal), para assim permitir revelar mudanças muito interessantes na forma, intensidade e detalhe, com espículas e supergranulação em movimento na superfície solar, bem como espículas e pequenas proeminências aparecendo ao redor do limbo. O vídeo também destaca em slow motion uma espetacular e rápida proeminência eruptiva visível no extremo superior direito.
Above – from left to right – is possible to appreciate a singular portrait of a still shot taken at UT 12h45, and the BW and Color version of a stacked image comprising a sequence of 2h55 minutes of solar motion with dragged prominences. To help reveal the prominence flames in motion, I made a time lapse compiling 162 shots processed, each one as result of a stack of the best 250 frames from each raw video. The final result is a 2K high resolution time lapse movie comprising 2h55 of images. Due to vimeo algorithms it may shows a little compression, which is not visible in the .mov master file.
PT: Acima – da esquerda para a direita, é possível apreciar uma versão singular estática em modo retrato, captada às 12h45 (UT) e uma imagem a preto e branco e a cores, de um stack em sequência que compreende 2h55 minutos de movimento solar com o arrastamento das protuberâncias. Para ajudar a revelar as chamas da proeminência em movimento, fiz um time lapse compilando 162 captações processadas, cada uma como resultado de um stack dos melhores 250 frames de cada vídeo raw. O resultado final é um filme time lapse de alta resolução de 2K que compila 2h55 de imagens. Devido aos algoritmos do vimeo, o video poderá mostrar alguma compressão, que não é visível no ficheiro master original .mov. Não se esqueça de colocar o som ligado.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | ASI174MC | ZWO AD | Powermate 4x | Stack of 250 frames for each single image, captured in very good seeing conditions (average of 1″ arcs) from Dark Sky® Alqueva territory, Portugal.
BUY THIS PRINT | COMPRAR ESTA IMPRESSÃO
Buy a Fine Art Print or Wall Decor of this Image – Make your order Now!
You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Dragged Sun – Large Solar Prominence and a Swirling Eruptive Flame in a Stacked Motion – Color vs BW
Captured on Jan 17, 2021, from Dark Sky® Alqueva region, Portugal, with a Solar Ha telescope – at the wavelength of Hydrogen-Alpha, the high-resolution image shows a gigantic solar prominence. Seen in Color and Black and White version, the image feature a stacked scene comprising 1h30 minutes of solar motion with dragged prominences visible in great detail around the sun´s limb due to an exceptional seeing conditions (very good atmospheric stability). The sequence of close-up captures were taken between UT 12h56 and UT 14h24 (Universal Time) to help reveal very interesting changes in shape, intensity and detail, with spicules and supergranulation in motion on the sun´s surface, as well as spicules and minor eruptive prominences appearing around the limb´s disc. The still single images and time lapse video also highlights a spectacular fast swirling eruptive prominence visible in the upper right edge, while not faraway, a nice plume of fire was flown up and vanished as a smoke ring. To enjoy the time lapse and still photos of this dragged version, click here.
PT: Captada a 17 de Janeiro de 2021, a partir da região do Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, com um telescópio Solar Ha – no comprimento de onda do Hidrogénio Alfa, a imagem de alta resolução revela uma gigantesca promeminência solar. Apresentada numa versão a cores e a preto e branco, a imagem é o resultado de um stack que compreende 1h30 minutos de movimento solar com o arrastamento das protuberâncias, vistas em grande detalhe ao redor do limbo solar, graças a condições de seeing excepcionais (excelente estabilidade atmosférica). A sequência de captações em close-up foi feita entre UT 12h56 e UT 14h24 (Tempo Universal), para assim permitir revelar mudanças muito interessantes na forma, intensidade e detalhe, com espículas e supergranulação em movimento na superfície solar, bem como espículas e pequenas proeminências eruptivas aparecendo ao redor do limbo. As imagens singulares estáticas e o vídeo time lapse também destacam uma espetacular proeminência eruptiva em forma de espiral e que faz um redemoinho rápido visível no extremo superior direito, não muito distante, é ainda possível ver uma pluma de fogo erguer-se e desvanecer como um “anel de fumo”. Para desfrutar do vídeo time lapse e das imagens estáticas resultantes desta versão arrastada, clique aqui.
Below – from right to left – is possible to appreciate a portrait of a singular shot taken at UT 13h07, and the BW and Color version of a stacked sequence comprising 1h30 minutes of solar motion with dragged prominences.
PT: Em baixo – da direita para a esquerda, é possível apreciar uma versão estática de uma imagem singular em modo retrato, captada às 13h07 (UT) e uma imagem a preto e branco e a cores, resultado de um stack em sequência que compreende 1h30 minutos de movimento solar com o arrastamento das protuberâncias.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | ASI174MC | ZWO AD | Powermate 4x | Stack of 250 frames for each single image, captured in very good seeing conditions (average of 1″ arcs) from Dark Sky® Alqueva territory, Portugal.
BUY THIS PRINT | COMPRAR ESTA IMPRESSÃO
Buy a Fine Art Print or Wall Decor of this Image – Make your order Now!
You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Large Solar Prominence and a Swirling Eruptive Flame in Motion – Photo & Time Lapse
Captured on Jan 17, 2021, from Dark Sky® Alqueva region, Portugal, with a Solar Ha telescope – at the wavelength of Hydrogen-Alpha, the high-resolution image features a gigantic solar prominence visible in great detail around the sun´s limb due to an exceptional seeing conditions (very good atmospheric stability). The time lapse sequence of close-up captures were taken between UT 12h56 and UT 14h24 (Universal Time) to help reveal very interesting changes in shape, intensity and detail, with spicules and supergranulation in motion on the sun´s surface, as well as spicules and minor eruptive prominences appearing around the limb´s disc. The video also highlights in slow motion a spectacular fast swirling eruptive prominence visible in the upper right edge, while not faraway, a nice plume of fire was flown up and vanished as a smoke ring.
PT: Captada a 17 de Janeiro de 2021, a partir da região do Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, com um telescópio Solar Ha – no comprimento de onda do Hidrogénio Alfa, a imagem de alta resolução apresenta uma gigantesca promeminência solar visível em grande detalhe ao redor do limbo do sol, graças a condições de seeing excepcionais (excelente estabilidade atmosférica). A sequência de captações em close-up foi feita entre UT 12h56 e UT 14h24 (Tempo Universal), para assim permitir revelar mudanças muito interessantes na forma, intensidade e detalhe, com espículas e supergranulação em movimento na superfície solar, bem como espículas e pequenas proeminências eruptivas aparecendo ao redor do limbo. O vídeo também destaca em slow motion uma espetacular proeminência eruptiva em forma de espiral e que faz um redemoinho rápido visível no extremo superior direito, não muito distante, é ainda possível ver uma pluma de fogo erguer-se e desvanecer como um “anel de fumo”.
Above – from left to right – is possible to appreciate a singular portrait of a still shot taken at UT 13h07, and the BW and Color version of a stacked image comprising a sequence of 1h30 minutes of solar motion with dragged prominences. To help reveal the prominence flames in motion, I made a time lapse compiling 105 shots processed, each one as result of a stack of the best 250 frames from each raw video. The final result is a 2K high resolution time lapse movie comprising 1h30 of images. Due to vimeo algorithms it may shows a little compression, which is not visible in the .mov master file..
PT: Acima – da esquerda para a direita, é possível apreciar uma versão singular estática em modo retrato, captada às 13h07 (UT) e uma imagem a preto e branco e a cores, de um stack em sequência que compreende 1h30 minutos de movimento solar com o arrastamento das protuberâncias. Para ajudar a revelar as chamas da proeminência em movimento, fiz um time lapse compilando 105 captações processadas, cada uma como resultado de um stack dos melhores 250 frames de cada vídeo raw. O resultado final é um filme time lapse de alta resolução de 2K que compila 1h30 de imagens. Devido aos algoritmos do vimeo, o video poderá mostrar alguma compressão, que não é visível no ficheiro master original .mov. Não se esqueça de colocar o som ligado.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | ASI174MC | ZWO AD | Powermate 4x | Stack of 250 frames for each single image, captured in very good seeing conditions (average of 1″ arcs) from Dark Sky® Alqueva territory, Portugal.
BUY THIS PRINT | COMPRAR ESTA IMPRESSÃO
Buy a Fine Art Print or Wall Decor of this Image – Make your order Now!
You can choose the best style of print do you preffer to decorate in a fashion way your walls. Metal Prints with durable and vivid colors, Acrylic, Canvas or the highest quality Gallery Print – a 6 colour UV direct printing on acrylic glass (2mm) including light colours and reinforced by an aluminium dibond plate (3mm). Those type of Prints can highlight the final work in an artistic way, showing the photograph as a piece of art. I work with two high quality specialized Labs in US and in Europe, using Kodak Professional Endura Premier Metallic papers and Fujifilm Crystal Archive DP II Professional. You can select the image above or freely navigate to more than 800 photographs available in my gallery – each one with their own story and magic – and choose the photograph you would love to have in your home or office.
How to Order – Simple and easy, just “copy and paste” the link of this page or the image you choosed and fill it in the form below, with the size you want and any detail you wish to include on the message, like your country, name and postal address. Free Shipping included to all prints (except frames). For US and Europe the delivery is 4-8 working days, while to Portugal and Spain is normally 2-6 working days. After submitting the order through the form, I will contact you for the payment method (Paypal available or bank transfer) and with other questions related to your print(s) or requests. Once payment is confirmed, your order is shipped within 24h. In case you wish, I can send you separtely with no additional cost, a postcard autographed and numbered of the same image you have just bought, as a seal and proof of art work authenticity from the author. Let me know what is your wish.
Moon Earthshine and Sun´s Corona in All of It´s Glory – Total Solar Eclipse 2019 in Chile
One of the most beautiful things about viewing and photographing a total solar eclipse, is the light from the inner corona which reveals fine structures and curved lines by the strong magnetic fields, as well as the faint white light that extends far out into space, known as the Sun´s outer corona. On 2nd July, 2019, thousands of people located in some parts of Chile and Argentina had the incredible opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc showing also some prominences visible around the limb and a phenomenon known as the Moon Earthshine, even not being visible with our naked eyes during an eclipse due to the huge differnce of light, is the reflected light from our planet Earth that illuminates with a faint light, the moon´s dark disc and it can be revealed during a photographic long exposure. The image above is a result of a series of shots taken with different exposures over the course of 2 minutes and combined together to reveal a dramatic high dynamic range. The sequence was captured in Lambert, 30km northeast of La Serena, Chile, using a Nikon D850 with a 600mm lens and a Star Adventure portable mount.
Also interesting to know: “The maximum temperature inside of our star is about 16 million degrees (Celsius). The photosphere – the visible surface of the Sun – has a temperature of about 6000 degrees C. However, the temperature increases very steeply from 6000 degrees to a few million degrees in the corona, in the region 500 kilometers above the photosphere.”
PT: Uma das coisas mais bonitas sobre ver e fotografar um eclipse solar total, é a luz da coroa interna que revela finas estruturas e linhas curvas pelos fortes campos magnéticos, bem como a fraca luz branca que se estende até o espaço, conhecida como a coroa externa do Sol. A 2 de Julho de 2019, milhares de pessoas localizadas em algumas partes do Chile e da Argentina, tiveram a incrível oportunidade de testemunhar o momento único e inesquecível em que a própria Lua bloqueia completamente o disco solar, revelando também algumas proeminências visíveis ao redor do limbo e um fenómeno conhecido como Moon Earthshine, que mesmo não sendo visível a olho nu durante um eclipse devido à enorme diferença de luz, é a luz refletida do nosso prórpio planeta Terra que ilumina com uma luz ténue, o disco escurecido da lua, que se torna assim visível durante uma longa exposição fotográfica. A imagem acima é o resultado de uma série de fotos captadas com diferentes tempos de exposição ao longo de 2 minutos e combinadas para revelar uma dramática gama dinâmica. A sequência foi captada em Lambert, 30 km a nordeste de La Serena, no Chile, usando uma Nikon D850 com uma lente de 600 mm e uma montagem portátil Star Adventure.
Também é interessante referir que: “A temperatura máxima dentro da nossa estrela é de cerca de 16 milhões de graus (Celsius). A fotosfera – a superfície visível do Sol – tem uma temperatura de cerca de 6000 graus C. No entanto, a temperatura aumenta drasticamente de “simples milhares” para a alguns milhões de graus na região denominada coroa solar, localizada a proximadamente 500 quilómetros acima da fotosfera “.
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Inner and Outer Corona Shinning during a Total Solar Eclipse 2019 in Chile
One of the most beautiful things about viewing and photographing a total solar eclipse, is the light from the inner corona which reveals fine structures and curved lines by the strong magnetic fields, as well as the faint white light that extends far out into space, known as the Sun´s outer corona. On 2nd July, 2019, thousands of people located in some parts of Chile and Argentina had the incredible opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc showing also some prominences visible around the limb. This image above is a result of a series of shots taken with different exposures over the course of 2 minutes and combined together to reveal a dramatic high dynamic range. The sequence was captured in Lambert, 30km northeast of La Serena, Chile, using a Nikon D850 with a 600mm lens and a Star Adventure portable mount.
Also interesting to know: “The maximum temperature inside of our star is about 16 million degrees (Celsius). The photosphere – the visible surface of the Sun – has a temperature of about 6000 degrees C. However, the temperature increases very steeply from 6000 degrees to a few million degrees in the corona, in the region 500 kilometers above the photosphere.”
PT: Uma das coisas mais bonitas sobre ver e fotografar um eclipse solar total, é a luz da coroa interna que revela finas estruturas e linhas curvas pelos fortes campos magnéticos, bem como a fraca luz branca que se estende até o espaço, conhecida como a coroa externa do Sol. A 2 de Julho de 2019, milhares de pessoas localizadas em algumas partes do Chile e da Argentina, tiveram a incrível oportunidade de testemunhar o momento único e inesquecível em que a própria Lua bloqueia completamente o disco solar, revelando também algumas proeminências visíveis ao redor do limbo. A imagem acima é o resultado de uma série de fotos captadas com diferentes tempos de exposição ao longo de 2 minutos e combinadas para revelar uma dramática gama dinâmica. A sequência foi captada em Lambert, 30 km a nordeste de La Serena, no Chile, usando uma Nikon D850 com uma lente de 600 mm e uma montagem portátil Star Adventure.
Também é interessante referir que: “A temperatura máxima dentro da nossa estrela é de cerca de 16 milhões de graus (Celsius). A fotosfera – a superfície visível do Sol – tem uma temperatura de cerca de 6000 graus C. No entanto, a temperatura aumenta drasticamente de “simples milhares” para a alguns milhões de graus na região denominada coroa solar, localizada a proximadamente 500 quilómetros acima da fotosfera “.
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Skywatcher Observing the Largest and Strongest Sunspot in a Decade
On this carefully planned single shot taken on September 7 with a telephoto lens at 600mm, 2,1km away from the Castle of Noudar Park, in Portugal, a skywatcher can be seen observing with its filtered binoculars the majestic group of sunspots (AR 2679; AR2674 and AR2673) well visible in the Sun´s disk just a few minutes before the sun going down behind the castle. On Sept. 6th at 1202 UT, the sunspot AR2673 – so large and wide as our entire planet Earth – (seen at the right side of the man´s silhouette) unleashed a major X9.3-class solar flare, the strongest solar flare in more than a decade. X-rays and UV radiation from the blast ionized the top of Earth’s atmosphere, causing a strong shortwave radio blackout over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. The debris from Wednesday’s monster X9-class solar flare reached Earth last night, and its impact produced a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm.
Included in the great Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve – first site in the world to receive the “Starlight Tourism Destination” certification – Noudar Natural Park is located in a farm estate called Herdade da Coitadinha spreads across 1000 hectare, near the village of Barrancos (Alentejo, Portugal) and in the border with Spain. The road from the Park’s entrance to the Noudar Castle goes through an extensive holm oak grove (‘montado’) area, ending with a majestic view over the water lines. In Noudar, life presents itself in a state of wilderness and absolute purity.
The Castle of Noudar and the church of Nossa Senhora do Desterro is located between the Múrtega and the Ardila rivers which flow towards the West. Its construction was finished in 1307, during the reign of Don Dinis. The place was chosen because of its natural defenses, easy access and the closeness of a water spring of excellent quality. This medieval fortress was very important for border defense against the kingdom of Castile during the early 14th Century.
PT: Este disparo único cuidadosamente planeado, captado no Parque de Natureza de Noudar a 2,1 km de distância do Castelo e onde podemos ver a silhueta humano de um amigo (Fernando Formiga), enquanto observava com seus binóculos filtrados o majestoso grupo de manchas solares (AR 2679; AR2674 e AR2673) bem visíveis no disco do Sol enquanto este se punha atrás do castelo. No passado dia 6 de setembro, a mancha solar AR2673 – tão grande e ampla quanto o planeta Terra – (vista à direita da silhueta) desencadeou um grande Flare Solar de classe X9.3, a explosão solar mais forte em mais de uma década. Os raios-X e a radiação UV da explosão ionizaram o topo da atmosfera terrestre, causando um forte apagão de rádio de ondas curtas sobre a Europa, África e o Oceano Atlântico. As partículas carregadas decorrentes da explosão solar da passada quarta-feira chegaram à Terra na noite passada, e seu impacto produziu uma tempestade geo magnética de classe G4, classificada como grave. Isto é, auroraras boreais muito intensas que poderão ser visíveis até de Nova Iorque.
Um pequeno “behind the scenes” feito com o iphone foi partilhado na minha página pública e pode ser visto aqui.
Poster and Sequence of Total Solar Eclipse
On August 21, 2017, millions of people across the United States had the opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc. The poster above is a composite result of a series of shots taken in sequence from Stanley Lake, Idaho, from the beginning of partial phase (right opaque listed disc) up to the totality (in the center) and the final stage of partiality (opaque listed disc at left). During totality, the moon´s dark disc completely covers the entire disc of the sun, what give us the unique opportunity to watch the Solar Corona (the most outer atmosphere of the sun), visible in the image above as the background faint white light, although, due to the tremendous variance of brightness in the dynamic range between the surface of the sun and Corona, is not possible to see both of them at the same time. In this this final composite poster of the entire sequence, we are able to safely appreciate the sun´s surface with two group of Sunspots – known as Active Regions (AR) AR2672 and AR2671 mixed with the inner and most outer Solar Corona only visible during totality event.
Shadow of Moon Projected in the horizon during Total Solar Eclipse
One of the most beautiful and deeply things that we can experience in nature, is viewing a total solar eclipse. When the diamond ring appears for the first time and the Baily’s beads phenomenon turns on, we start to listen people screaming and crying…immediately after that, the beautiful light from solar corona becomes visible, and the daytime becomes twilight, it´s really impressive! On August 21, 2017, I and millions of people across the United States had the opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc.
The image above, was captured in the beautiful Stanley Lake, Idaho, few seconds in the end of Totality, and when it seems to me that I have catch the similar phenomenon of Earth Shadow, but this time produced not by the shadow of Earth itself, but by the shadow of moon to be in front of the sun, and maybe intensified by the fact that the sun was starting to appear a little bit which means that could have projected well the shadow of the moon disc and due also the fact that in the ground the light was yet faint like twilight, allowing to be more well seen with naked eye. I also would like to add, that I only noticed this because I took another shot with the same setup and position, just few seconds later and the pink shadow near the horizon have vanished.
Baily’s beads shinning during America´s Solar Eclipse
One of the most beautiful things about viewing the solar corona during a total solar eclipse is the light from the corona itself with the fine structures and lines coming from magnetic fields. On August 21, 2017, I and millions of people across the United States had the opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc. The image above was captured in Stanley Lake, Idaho, a beautiful scenario with an amazing atmosphere of happiness vs stress, for being controlling all the equipment.
The Baily’s beads effect, or Diamond ring effect, is a feature of total and annular solar eclipses. As the moon “grazes” by the Sun during a solar eclipse, the rugged lunar limb topography allows beads of sunlight to shine through in some places, and not in others. The name is in honor of Francis Baily who provided an exact explanation of the phenomenon in 1836. The diamond ring effect is seen when only one bead is left; a shining diamond set in a bright ring around the lunar silhouette.
Diamond Ring shinning during America´s Solar Eclipse
One of the most beautiful things about viewing the solar corona during a total solar eclipse is the light from the corona itself with the fine structures and lines coming from magnetic fields. On August 21, 2017, I and millions of people across the United States had the opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc. The image above was captured in Stanley Lake, Idaho, a beautiful scenario with an amazing atmosphere of happiness vs stress, for being controlling all the equipment.
The Baily’s beads effect, or Diamond ring effect, is a feature of total and annular solar eclipses. As the moon “grazes” by the Sun during a solar eclipse, the rugged lunar limb topography allows beads of sunlight to shine through in some places, and not in others. The name is in honor of Francis Baily who provided an exact explanation of the phenomenon in 1836. The diamond ring effect is seen when only one bead is left; a shining diamond set in a bright ring around the lunar silhouette.
Solar Radiography – Sun´s Corona Shinning bright during a Total Solar Eclipse
One of the most beautiful things about viewing the solar corona during a total solar eclipse is the light from the corona itself with the fine structures and lines coming from magnetic fields. On August 21, 2017, I and millions of people across the United States had the opportunity to witness the unique and unforgettable moment when the Moon itself completely blocks the sun´s disc. The image above was captured in Stanley Lake, Idaho, a beautiful scenario with an amazing atmosphere of happiness vs stress, for being controlling all the equipment.
A corona (Latin, ‘crown’) is an aura of plasma that surrounds the sun and other stars. The Sun’s corona extends millions of kilometres into space and is most easily seen during a total solar eclipse, but it is also observable with a coronagraph. The word “corona” is a Latin word meaning “crown”, from the Ancient Greek κορώνη (korōnè, “garland, wreath”).
The maximum temperature inside of our star is about 16 million degrees (Celsius). The photosphere – the visible surface of the Sun – has a temperature of about 6000 degrees C. However, the temperature increases very steeply from 6000 degrees to a few million degrees in the corona, in the region 500 kilometers above the photosphere.
International Space Station Crossing a Solar Prominence
Our Sun is now entering in a relatively quiet cycle of 11 years, featuring only a small sunspot, but an interesting group of prominences in the upper limb of suns disk, this image shows some extra activity, with the dark silhouette of ISS crossing the sun´s disc at a distance of 426km from us and a speed of about 28,000km/h, the International Space Station (ISS) completes an entire orbit around Earth each 90 minutes. This large artificial satellite with a width of 108.5 meters seems although very small when compared with the Solar disc with an angular size of 31.5′ is actually 29.2 times larger than the ISS in the moment of the passage. Hard to see it even with a special telescope equipped with Ha filters, only the camera shutter of a fast sequence of shots could capture this rare moment that happens in a blink of an eye, as it was seen from Mourão, Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve, Portugal, on June 14, 2017, at 13h53m10s with a total duration of only 0,54 seconds. Its very interesting to recognise on the picture the ISS structure with the solar panels and main body well distinct, remembering that this celestial object have astronauts on board permanently, with a privileged view from our beautiful “Pale Blue Dot”.
PT: O nosso Sol encontra-se agora mum ciclo relativamente calmo de 11 anos, com apenas uma pequena mancha solar visível mas um interessante grupo de protuberâncias no limbo superior do disco, esta fotografia revela-nos alguma atividade incomum, com a silhueta escura da ISS atravessando o sol a uma distância de 426km de nós e uma velocidade média de cerca de 28,000 km/h, a Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS) completa uma órbita em torno da Terra a cada 90 minutos. Este grande satélite artificial com uma envergadura de 108,5 metros parece muito pequeno quando comparado com o disco solar com um tamanho angular de 31,5 ‘ é na verdade 29,2 vezes maior do que a ISS no momento da passagem. Difícil de observá-la mesmo com um telescópio especial equipado com filtros de protecção Ha, só o obturador da câmara fotográfica numa sequência de disparos rápidos tem a capacidade de captar e eternizar este momento raro que acontece num um piscar de olhos, com a curta duração de apenas 0.54 segundos, como foi visto a partir de Mourão, Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal, em 14 de junho de 2017, às 13h53m10s. Na fotografia é possível reconhecer a estrutura da ISS com os seus painéis solares e o corpo principal bem distinto, lembrando que este objeto celestial tem astronautas a bordo em permanência com acesso a uma visão privilegiada do nosso “Pequeno Ponto Azul”.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | Nikon D810a (DX) | F/7 | ISO1600 – Exp. 1/6400 | Median Sum of 80 images Disk + 80 images Solar Flares. Mourão, Dark Sky® Alqueva, Portugal. 14/06/2017 13h53m10s.
ISS Details | Detalhes da ISS:
ISS angular size: 64.80″; distance: 426 km
Angular separation: 1° 09′; azimuth: 196.2°; altitude: 73.5°
Center line distance: In the center; visibility path width: 3.93 km
R.A.: 05h 35m; Dec: +22° 25′; parallactic angle: -16.5°
ISS velocity: 58.1 ′/s (angular); 7.20 km/s (transverse)
ISS velocity: -1.63 km/s (radial); 7.39 km/s (total);
Direction of motion relative to zenith: -31.6°
Sun angular size: 31.5′; 29.2 times larger than the ISS
International Space Station ISS Transiting the Sun´s Disc Over Portugal
Our Sun is now entering in a relatively quiet cycle of 11 years, featuring only a shy group of sunspots AR2661, and a little solar flare in the lower right limb, this image shows some extra activity, with the dark silhouette of ISS crossing the sun´s disc at a distance of 770km from us and a speed of about 28,000km/h, the International Space Station (ISS) completes an entire orbit around Earth each 90 minutes. This large artificial satellite with a width of 108.5 meters seems although very small when compared with the Solar disc with an angular size of 31.5′ is actually 52.8 times larger than the ISS. Hard to see it even with a special telescope equipped with Ha filters, only the camera shutter of a fast sequence of shots could capture this rare moment that happens in a blink of an eye, as it was seen from Corroios, Portugal, on June 6, 2017, at 17h36m11s with a total duration of only 1,05 seconds. Its very interesting to recognise on the picture the ISS structure with the solar panels and main body well distinct, remembering that this celestial object have astronauts on board permanently, with a privileged view from our beautiful “Pale Blue Dot”.
PT: O nosso Sol encontra-se agora mum ciclo relativamente calmo de 11 anos, com apenas um grupo tímido de manchas solares visível no centro da imagem AR2661 e um pequeno flare solar no limbo inferior direito, esta fotografia revela-nos alguma atividade incomum, com a silhueta escura da ISS atravessando o sol a uma distância de 770 km de nós e uma velocidade média de cerca de 28,000 km/h, a Estação Espacial Internacional (ISS) completa uma órbita em torno da Terra a cada 90 minutos. Este grande satélite artificial com uma envergadura de 108,5 metros parece muito pequeno quando comparado com o disco solar com um tamanho angular de 31,5 ‘ é na verdade 52,8 vezes maior do que a ISS. Difícil de observá-la mesmo com um telescópio especial equipado com filtros de protecção Ha, só o obturador da câmara fotográfica numa sequência de disparos rápidos tem a capacidade de captar e eternizar este momento raro que acontece num um piscar de olhos, com a curta duração de apenas 1.05 segundos, como foi visto a partir de Corroios, Portugal, em 6 de junho de 2017, às 17h36m11s. Na fotografia é possível reconhecer a estrutura da ISS com os seus painéis solares e o corpo principal bem distinto, lembrando que este objeto celestial tem astronautas a bordo em permanência com acesso a uma visão privilegiada do nosso “Pequeno Ponto Azul”.
Technical details | Detalhes Técnicos
LUNT LS100T Ha | AZ-HEQ5GT | Canon 6D | F/7 + Barlow2x | ISO1250 – Exp. 1/500 | Median Sum of 27 images. Corroios, Almada, Portugal. 06/06/2017 17h36m11s.
ISS Details | Detalhes da ISS:
ISS angular size: 42.32″; distance: 771 km
Angular separation: 7° 12′; azimuth: 277.3°; altitude: 29.3°
Center line distance: Close to; visibility path width: 7.67 km
R.A.: 04h 28m; Dec: +23° 00′; parallactic angle: -48.7°
ISS velocity: 26.1 ′/s (angular); 5.85 km/s (transverse)
ISS velocity: -4.47 km/s (radial); 7.36 km/s (total);
Direction of motion relative to zenith: -47.9°
Sun angular size: 31.5′; 52.8 times larger than the ISS
A natural sundial
The megalith menhir of Bulhoa projecting its shadow in the lands of Telheiro, against a sunlight, which seems to function as a natural sundial. 18/06/2015. Telheiro | Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve – Portugal
