Veteran space photographer Mark Johnston, who lives in Arizona and is NASA’s ambassador for the solar system, captures the sun from his garden. Photographing the sun is an area of interest for space photographers, especially during periods of high solar activity such as the current one. Johnston explained how he captures these phenomenal images with his specially designed large aperture solar telescope.
How did Mark Johnston photograph the Sun?
Johnston is a space photographer who has been imaging the sun for years and specializes in this field. His solar photography adventure began during the Covid era, when he used a PC to project telescope images onto a TV at public events.
He progressed further with the images he accumulated in the process. “I’ve recently built a special large-aperture solar telescope and I couldn’t wait to put it to the test. These images were all taken in July 2024,” says Johnston.
Equipment and methods used to photograph the sun:
– 160mm refractor telescope: protected from the sun by an energy-reflecting filter.
– Two hydrogen alpha etalons: Used to isolate the 656.28 angstrom wavelength.
– High-speed monochrome astronomy camera: Used to acquire high-resolution images.
– 2000 x 10 millisecond frame capture: Software selects and merges the best 200 frames.
– Post-processing: Images are sharpened, noise reduced and adjustments made.
Johnston uses special techniques to capture the sun in this detail, resulting in high-resolution images. In these images, many details such as the sun’s chromosphere, edge-on prominences and spicules, surface filaments and sunspots, and active plasma motions are clearly visible. These details help us understand magnetic phenomena on the surface of the sun and their effects on our planet.
According to Johnston, imaging the sun is very interesting because it offers a different view in every shot. “The moon, planets, galaxies and star clusters are usually all the same, except for rare events like supernovae. But the sun can suddenly launch a prominence within 30 minutes,” he says.
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Arizona is an ideal place for space photography. Good weather conditions and clear night skies, combined with mountains that allow you to rise above the thick layer of atmosphere, make for a perfect observing and photographing environment.
Johnston advises those who want to photograph the sun to be comfortable using astronomical equipment visually: “Reach out to photographers whose work you like and ask for advice”.
What do you think about solar photography? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
