His, and your idea of 'simple gear' and my idea of 'simple gear' are different. The pictures are great though. posted by tellurian at 9:50 AM on January 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
That's awesome. posted by potch at 10:03 AM on January 2, 2008
how-to copy here (internet archive) posted by zippy at 10:05 AM on January 2, 2008
ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS, EXCEPT THE SUN. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE, FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. posted by CynicalKnight at 10:05 AM on January 2, 2008 [15 favorites]
Perhaps I'm painfully ignorant, but these say "Solar", but there are a lot of pictures that look more like a moon. Categorizing mistake, or does the Sun shut off at night after all? posted by davejay at 10:14 AM on January 2, 2008
Solar photography always reminds me of:
"Maximillian Cohen: 9:22, Personal note: When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so once when I was six, I did. At first the brightness was overwhelming, but I had seen that before. I kept looking, forcing myself not to blink, and then the brightness began to dissolve. My pupils shrunk to pinholes and everything came into focus and for a moment I understood." posted by basicchannel at 10:17 AM on January 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
I photographed the sun yesterday, well the bit were the fog was slightly lighter than the rest, anyway.
I think the computer is just so he can do tracking and then use registax. If you wanted to take simple photos, the camera + filter should be enough. I dunno what'd you see other than a big white circle, though. posted by DU at 10:49 AM on January 2, 2008
I've managed to look at sunspots using nothing but an amateur telescope + filter. Don't know why photography would be different. posted by shakespeherian at 10:54 AM on January 2, 2008
Can anyone tell how many stops down the pictures are from a naked exposure? Like, is it do-able with a few stacked ND filters and f/32 on a zoom 300mm lens (a dozen stops, say)? Or is it like . . . 50 stops?
I really wish that how-to was navigable.. posted by cowbellemoo at 11:35 AM on January 2, 2008
I tried to photograph the sun but it burned out my retinas.
I like the sun ... sure, sure, I know that one day, what is the estimate now, 6 or 7 billion years I think, it will give up the ghost and vaporise our planet, but really, until then, I'm pretty much OK with it. posted by Relay at 11:37 AM on January 2, 2008
Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of the burning demon in the sky? Not I! posted by blue_beetle at 11:39 AM on January 2, 2008
What I love about these amazing pics is the reminder they provide of just what's up there. I mean, in theory, most everyone has read or heard at least some level of explanation and description of the sun, a ball of gas, hydrogen fusion, sunspots, yada yada, but most of the time, it's just a really big light that comes and goes.
I found it a bit startling to remember that there's a A GIANT WRITHING SUPERHEATED BALL OF FLAMING GAS BOMBARDING US WITH COSMIC RAYS AND UV/IR/VISIBLE LIGHT THAT WILL EVENTUALLY EXPAND AND CONSUME THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM warming my head while I pick my nose and contemplate my utterly pedestrian exisitence. posted by jalexei at 12:25 PM on January 2, 2008
Some of those pictures of the sun look like God's belly. And he's an innie! posted by iamkimiam at 12:35 PM on January 2, 2008
I like pi too, basicchannel. posted by ZaneJ. at 12:51 PM on January 2, 2008
Hello, I am a lawyer from MPAA. We recently bought the exclusive rights to any copy of the image of the sun, image of the moon and image of uranus. Let me remind you that by taking illegal pictures of the sun you are both commiting a federal crime and depriving the astronomers of the funds they need to buy telescopes, hot coffee and chairs to sit on during their long lonely nights. Do you think that expensive telescopes are going to buy themselves ? Don't you know how coffee is expensive these days , look at Starbucks it's almost its weight in gold ! Who do you think is going to finance the health care they need for their fatigued eyes, Stephen Hawkings ?
So without further ado, please send $100 cash for each picture to MPAA : Motion Pictures Association of Astronomers, Milky Way, Solar System, Earth. The proceedings will be used to buy the aformentioned telescopes, coffee, chairs and eye reliefs liquids , after accounting for all the collection, representation, administration, accounting , advertisement , taxes and expenses YOU made us incur into.
Yours Sincerely,
Seewa Hatana Shole , Nigeria, Africa. posted by elpapacito at 12:59 PM on January 2, 2008
The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
where hydrogen is built into helium
at a temperature of millions of degrees posted by psmealey at 1:18 PM on January 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
...although in many of these shots, it somewhat resembles an old platform tennis ball. posted by psmealey at 1:21 PM on January 2, 2008
Damn, these are pretty cool. I'd love to have some of these as a poster.
When I was a little kid my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once when I was six, I did. posted by Jpfed at 1:50 PM on January 2, 2008
Sorry guys, but I'm pretty sure that "simple gear" in this case includes at least one solar Hydrogen Alpha filter, which cuts out something like 99.99% of the light except for that at a specific wavelength about 0.7 Angstroms in width - corresponding to gas in the chromosphere at about 80,000K. Prominences are particularly errr, prominent, at this wavelength.
The orange, detailed pictures are almost certainly done with H-alpha filters, and the purple images are most likely taken through a calcium K-line filter, which shows a layer of the chromosphere slightly lower and cooler than the H-alpha one, which is interesting because it gives you some information about the magnetic fields near the surface. All will have required a telescope.
Ca-K filters retail for (UK prices) about £450, and H-alpha ones can be £1000 or more for one capable of giving this quality of image.
It's odd. I stopped indulging in any kind of recreational chemicals other than the pedestrian legal ones many, many years ago, but just yesterday I was standing out back of our offices here, amongst the trees, under the twisted canopy of dried vines that shelters the picnic tables, and my mind went wahaaaaa. It was maybe 3 or 4 degrees Celsius in the shade, but the sky was unblemished blue, and standing in the slanting wedges of sunlight that cut through the tree trunks, it was pleasantly warm. Even at my advanced age, I was struck with a sense of wonder that reminded me of the opening of the internal vistas of childhood when I was first learning about the world -- that fire is 93 million miles away, and it's too bright to look at, but it warmed my back as I stood there and shivered a bit.
It was just this little awestruck moment that took me out of myself, but damn, those moments make life worth living for me sometimes. posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:59 PM on January 2, 2008 [2 favorites]
Haha! We made Lord Sludge go blind! Now we can make fun of him, as he can't see this insulting text! posted by Mister_A at 6:34 PM on January 2, 2008
That's hot. posted by redteam at 7:22 PM on January 2, 2008
Wow, this guy is using the blink tag. 1337! posted by autodidact at 7:47 PM on January 2, 2008
Ca-K filters retail for (UK prices) about £450, and H-alpha ones can be £1000 or more for one capable of giving this quality of image.
Nowai! Can't I just...ya know...photograph through a tube of maple syrup? Or steal a sunglasses kiosk and tape all the lenses together? posted by cowbellemoo at 8:06 PM on January 2, 2008
there's a A GIANT WRITHING SUPERHEATED BALL OF FLAMING GAS BOMBARDING US WITH COSMIC RAYS AND UV/IR/VISIBLE LIGHT THAT WILL EVENTUALLY EXPAND AND CONSUME THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM
IM IN UR SOL R SYSTEM BOMBARDING UR EARTH! posted by bwg at 12:27 AM on January 3, 2008
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posted by tkchrist at 9:50 AM on January 2, 2008 [5 favorites]