Incredible Images of the Sun

shelterit writes "A new swedish telescope facility in La Palma uses a new technology to remove the blurriness of the atmosphere to snap new and astonishingly sharp images of the sun. Want to have a closer look at the surface of it? Reminds me of paintings I did as a kid."

GIFs???

[ergo98 (9391)]

What in the world are they thinking putting them up as 3MB GIFs? I understand the need for super accuracy for some purposes, hence the need for lossless TIFFs, but there should be JPEGs for people who don't need perfect reproductions: The smooth gradients lend themselves to JPEG compression.

Re:GIFs???

[teridon (139550)]

Here's [nasa.gov] a JPEG.

Look at art!

[WhiteBandit (185659)]

Well now the fun with these super detailed pictures is to see if we can pick out images!

If you scroll down to the "bottom" of that image, line yourself up with the very top of that monstrous sunspot and then cut directly left, you can see a nearly perfect image of a face.

*sigh*
Now I guess we sit back and wait for the conspiracy theories to fly.

Re:Look at art!

[The Original Yama (454111)]

...cue for some fanatic to proclaim, "It's the face of {Jesus|Mary|Muhammad|Buddha|etc.}!!!", followed by some cheesy explanation like "God is light, and He creates life. Just like the Sun!!!"

It's a miracle!!!

Re:Look at art!

[JimPooley (150814)]

Of course there's a face in the sun. Have you never seen 'Teletubbies'?

Seriously though, this is just another example of how the human brain is hot-wired to see faces in everything - even a colon, a dash and a bracket.

Pictures in the flames

[Thornae (53316)]

If you scroll ... you can see a nearly perfect image of a face.

It's a phenomenon known as pareidolia [skepdic.com], and is quite a fascinating subject in its own right. Briefly, the human mind tends to seek patterns that it recognizes. When faced with a chaotic input, the mind creates patterns where none exist. Carl Sagan argues that faces in particular are hardwired into our recognition centres.

Incidentally, I can't see the face you're talking about there. (I'm probably not tired enough, as I find I'm very prone to seeing faces everywhere after an all-nighter.)
I did find a yin/yang symbol, though...

Re:GIFs???

[The Fun Guy (21791)]

OH MY GOD!!!!! LOOK AT IT, JUST LOOK AT IT!!!!!!!

You can see all the horns at the top! Just above the central blackness! It's Satan and his minions! Reverend Bobby was RIGHT! It's the SCIENTISTS and all of their TECNOLOGY have finally!!! opened the DOOR TO HELL!!!!! He said they put DAEMONS in our computers, and on the InterNet, but I didn't believe!

Oh, JESUS, I am heartily sorry for the sins I have committed, and I reject the **EVIL** TECNOLOGY of the SCIENTISTS and their DAEMONS! Have Mercy On ME, oh LORD, and on my brother, Willum Jeffry Scraggins, who now lives in New York under the name of Will Craig, and also on his wife Rachel (though she is an Unbeliever, if you know what I mean).

Re:GIFs???

[Fishstick (150821)]

Heh, thought the same thing in about .0001 second from seeing that image.

But, when I loaded it up, the color is just too intense. I tend to like softer blue patterns for my desktop (NT/W2k "Soap Bubbles" usually does the trick).

I used to have one that was rendered in blue (think it was an x-ray image or something) of the whole sun, made a nice soothing wallpaper on my CDE desktop. Wonder if I can find that one again (think it was originally linked from Blues News).

Re:GIFs???

[Fishstick (150821)]

er, sorry to reply to my own post...

APOD: January 6, 1997 - Blue Sun Glaring [nasa.gov]

Explanation: The Sun is a bubbling ball of extremely hot gas. In this false-color picture, light blue regions are extremely hot - over 1 million degrees, while dark blue regions are slightly cooler. The camera filter used was highly sensitive to the emission of highly charged iron ions, which trace the magnetic field of the Sun. The rich structure of the image shows the great complexity of the Sun's inner corona. A small active region can be seen just to the right and above center. This picture was taken in ultraviolet (extremely blue) light by the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, which is orbiting the Sun just ahead of the Earth, at the L1 point. SOHO was launched in 1995 and will continually monitor the Sun for several years.

I just think that's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. I'll use that for my desktop again, now that I've found it again.

GIFs quite common in sat imaging

[CharlieO (572028)]

From my days doing Earth Observation Science (EOS) I recall that a lot of satellite imaging, whether astronomical or remote sensing, seemed to follow a de-facto standard of a 512 x 512 x 8bit image tile per channel on the instrument.

GIFs were often used because it is a very stable way of doing lossless compression at 8bit, stable as in almost any image program can read them.

This is not the case with TIFFs as there are a number of variants and options in the file format.

TIFFs are however a better medium for storage of composite images, either spatially or spectorally (montages or multichannel pseudo colour in english).

Due to its general lack of use as a data storage format most of the tools I used/wrote to proccess image data files generally did not have JPEG support or other common 'display' options as the file is regarded as data, not an image - its a subtle difference but explains the mindset.

When I published stuff on the web I'd run our raw large images through Photoshop to get pleasing images but compact file sizes.

It may not have occured for them to do this, and anyway they may regard this as publishing data for other interested parties to download and process themselves.

Re:GIFs???

[The Original Yama (454111)]

At the very least they could've used PNGs. GIFs are evil [burnallgifs.org].

The sun?! Where?!

[Henriok (6762)]

I live in Sweden and I haven't seen the sun for ages. If my calendar is correct.. i might see the sun again in 3-4 months time. I really don't know if I can stand it that long.

Re:The sun?! Where?!

[Myco (473173)]

Not only do you live in Sweden, but you post on Slashdot. No wonder you never see the sun.

Of course, I also live in Sweden and post on Slashdot, so I know that of which I speak.

Also on MSNBC

[Alcazar (207930)]

MSNBC posted this article last night http://www.msnbc.com/news/834647.asp [msnbc.com] It might be more reachable...

Re:Also on MSNBC One Question from article.

[drudd (43032)]

Yes, it's that big. Many sunspots are twice the diameter of the earth.

The real reason they are "dark" is that they are cooler than the gas aronud them. Not that they are cold of course. From one of my astro textbooks:

Temperature of sunspot: 3900K
Temperature of surrounding photosphere: 5780K

Resulting in approximately 1/5 the flux (bolometric flux goes as T^4).

Doug

re Paintings as a kid

[Sad Loser (625938)]

you obviously didn't live in the UK then. My paintings always had that 'grey sky' look.

Buried in the site

[dubbayu_d_40 (622643)]

Took me awhile to find out how it works. In a nutshell: "The adaptive mirror actually changes shape 1000 times a second in order to adjust for the rapidly changing blurring of the image. Finally, we are using techniques to further sharpen the images after they have been captured by electronic cameras. In the best images the resolution is close to 0.1 arcseconds. This is a factor of 1200 better than 20/20 vision."

Re:Buried in the site

[Daniel Dvorkin (106857)]

Well, I think the size of the mirror used might make it impractical for a soldier to carry one of these things around in a pair of goggles. ;) Also, it's a lot harder to apply adaptive optical techniques to lenses than to mirrors -- I work for a microscopy company [intelligent-imaging.com] (not as an optical engineer, granted, but that's what a lot of my coworkers do, and I hear them bitching) and we've had a hell of a time applying adaptive optical techniques to anything -- we have one product based on this idea that's only started shipping this year. I suspect the problems with lens-based telescopes and binoculars would be even worse, since the lenses in question are so much bigger.

That being said, I would be very surprised if there weren't military spy satellites, and perhaps reconnaisance planes, already using this.

I see

[djweis (4792)]

You can't fool us, that's really one of van Gogh's sunflower [vangoghgallery.com] paintings.

Appology

[InsaneCreator (209742)]

Sunset will be canceled tonight, due to the slashdotting of the sun.

Re:Appology

[deego (587575)]

> sunset canceled due to slashdotting

No problem. Mirrors available: here [uoregon.edu]

Summer Fun

[nukey56 (455639)]

If you look real close on that image, a little to the left of the giant black spot, you can just about see the Old Navy crew in their cargo shorts. Glad to know that advertisement worked.

another link

[tanveer1979 (530624)]

In case the above site gets roasted, space.com also has pics and article.
This article [space.com] has the links.You can also zoom in and use the viewer.

Just what we need

[91degrees (207121)]

We've been to the moon, and Mars will be next, followed by Venus, but what will we do when we've run out of planets? Clearly the option is the Sun.

Photos like these will show us where the potential landing sites are. Very useful since the lander will have to find somewhere that's not only flat but free of excessive RF noise so that we can communicate with Earth.

So, obviously, someone will ask - How can we possible build something to get to the sun? Well, this is quite simple, Firstly we use regrigeration devices. These will require some considerable energy, as well as a decent fusion power source to keep them going. Secondly, we avoif reflective surfaces. The other thing to remember is that we only need to travel during the night. During the day is when the sun is hottest, so travel at night should help cool us considerably. This will require better propulsion mechanisms that can do the bulk of the travelling in the 12 hours of night.

Mirror

[by Anonymous Coward]

The images are slashdotted, so I've provided a mirror. Go outside (that's through the door over there, pale face) and look up.

Do you have a screen wipe?

[91degrees (207121)]

The image looks a bit cloudy. I think there's something on the monitor.

Re:Mirror

[hexxx (546462)]

Your comment is too US-centric. It's already dark here.

mirror!

[caveat (26803)]

well, at least the closeup of a sunspot [dnsalias.org] and one of the filaments [dnsalias.org]. but please be nice, it's a new powermac, i don't want it melted just yet :P

extra link.

[budalite (454527)]

Also available at APOD - Astronomy Picture of the Day [nasa.gov]. Enjoy.

Site is slow -- here's the content

[by Anonymous Coward]

Here are the images from the site -- a picture of the Sun:

____
/ \
| |
| |
\____/

Hope that helps to beat the Slashdotting.

Wow...that went fast.

[Mac Degger (576336)]

site's burnt already...looks like that's what you get for staring into the sun.

Adaptive Optics

[Hawaiian Lion (411949)]

The technology used by this telescope to counter the effects of the atmosphere in measurements is called adaptive optics. This is the first application I know of for adaptive optics on a solar telescope.

This technology has been around for awhile, and was first seriously developed by the military at the Starfire Optical Range [af.mil].

Recently it has been used in such telescope projects as the WM Keck Observatory [hawaii.edu] and Gemini Project [gemini.edu]. I know AO is also used for measurement of eye aberrations, with projects being conducted at several Universities. For more information about Adaptive Optics, I suggest the Center for Adaptive Optics [ucolick.org]

My personal experience with AO was as an intern for Gemini this past summer. I helped write parallel code for a program that simulates current and future adaptive optics systems planned for the next generation of extremely large telescopes.

Re:Adaptive Optics

[CharlieO (572028)]

And the most fun to be had with an Adaptive Optics system is if it uses a laser generated guide star.

Then you can chuck a frisbee like object through the beam and watch it get zapped :)

Did I say this was seriously frowned on, I think I should :)

Adaptive Optics in a Nutshell:

1) You use a single point source as a reference.
2) You know the aberation caused by the atmosphere will spread the point image when you receive it.
3) You know that as your source is a point source, then the resultant spread in your image is entirely due to aberation, so use the image to calculate the Point Spread Function
4) Using the PSF apply a correction to the light path by altering something in the imaging system, usually a mirror.
5) Repeat several hundred times a second

Of course the great side effect is this also removes distortion caused by the imaging system itself, allowing you to use bigger mirrors with a lower tolerance than you otherwise might be able to do.

Originally point sources were strong and predictable stars in the field of view that you wanted - hence the term 'guide stars'

With a laser generated guide star you project a spot onto the upper surface of the atmosphere with a powerful laser of an appropriate frequency - close to your obsering frequency, but far enough out that you don't effect the observation. The subtlety here is to account for the fact that the point source will be spread twice, once on the way up and once on the way down.

Anyone working in AO I apologise to for the somewhat oversimplification - follow the links in the parent to better details if your interest is fired.

Cooling question

[forged (206127)]

How does the cameras sensors not melt and achieve good accuracy by staring into the sun ? Surely they must be cooled off, but how ? The overclocking crowd here must have some insights !

Btw, I tried to stare at the sun once when I was a kid, that was stupid. I was told too late that one can go blind for doing that -- that must explain the glasses today...

Re:Cooling question

[Squeak (10756)]

Increasing the aperture of a telescope has two effects:
More light is collected. (Since astronomical telescopes are usually used to look at dim objects this is normally considered an advantage.)
To reduce the diffraction effects and so increase the spatial resolution.

When observing the sun, the second of these is still required but the first is a problem. The sun provides too much light, especially in the infrared, to observe safely.
The solution is to place a filter over the front of the telescope which cuts down the amount of light entering the scope. This reduction generally needs to be of the order of 1:1,000,000.
Filters at the back end of the telescope, directly in front of the eyepiece/camera, are not safe. All the heat from the sun passes the scope through and is focused through this small filter. They can then easily crack or melt.

Safety notice: The only safe filters for observing the sun are those designed for the job. They are usually thin plastic, sometimes glass, with a metal coating on both sides. Always check the filter is firmly fixed in place and has no scratches or pinholes. It is this filter type which was used in the eclipse safety glasses a few years back. When observing by eye, with no telescope, binoculars or other magnification, welder's No 14 glass or fully exposed and developed black and white film negatives are also safe. (Not colour film or b&w film developed with a colour process - it is the deposited metallic silver used in the b&w process which provides the protection.) NOTHING else is considered safe.

You can get cooled CCD cameras, and the astrophotographical community has been using them for years. (Well, those than can afford them anyway.) The cooling is required to reduce the 'dark current' within the camera itself during long exposures, not to remove incoming heat.

Slashdotted

[Cinnibar CP (551376)]

Apparently, staring at the sun isn't healthy for your eyes OR webservers.

It's amazing how

[rdhill316 (513193)]

the People at Sun get any work done with all that fire and the burning and fusion all going on around them. It's nice that scientists can take pictures of the inside of a leading computer industry company for study, so the rest of the world can see how hard it is to work in the information sector.

What?

Why are you all looking at me like that?

Mom always told you to not look into the Sun..

[sielwolf (246764)]

"Hmmm, neat let me open up these images here..." *Click* "Ahhh! My Eyes!!!!!!"

do it yourself

[bcrowell (177657)]

Sunspot observing is really easy. It's nice because you don't need a big telescope, and you can do it even from the light-polluted city. First stop your aperture down to a couple of inches if you have a bigger scope. (You can cut a hole in a piece of paper and put it over the mouth of the tube.) Then put a sock over your finderscope to avoid burning holes in your toes. Put an eyepiece in, but don't look through it! Point the scope at the sun. Don't use the finder (duh!) --- just watch the tube's shadow on the ground and make it as small as possible. Hold a piece of paper near the eyepiece, and adjust the focus either with the focus knob or by moving the paper in and out, or both. The sun's image is projected onto the paper.

I actually do this sometimes for a whole class of students, and for that I need a big, bright image they can all see, so I use the full aperture of my 8-inch scope. You just have to be careful to limit how long you have it pointed at the sun, because the heat can destroy your eyepiece (melts the glue).

OH NO!!!!

[LoudMusic (199347)]

The Sun is on FIRE!!!! We're doooooooooooommmmeeddd!!!!!

If only we had known this before, maybe we could have done something about it!

11:15) Restate my assumptions

[ajlitt (19055)]

"Personal note: When I was little my mother told me not to stare into the sun, so when I was six I did." [imdb.com]

Sometimes the oldest jokes...

[Mulletproof (513805)]

Imagine a beowold cluster of-- No, wait... That'd be a black hole. Nevermind.

Re:Hmm

[MtViewGuy (197597)]

While this new system works great for the visible spectrum of the Sun's output, you still want a space-based observatory to monitor the Sun's output in the other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. That's why satellites like SOHO are still important.

Re:Hmm

[teridon (139550)]

On the contrary [nasa.gov]:

The filaments' newly revealed dark cores are seen to be thousands of kilometers long but only about 100 kilometers wide. Resolving features 100 kilometers wide or less is a milestone in solar astronomy and has been achieved here using sophisticated adaptive optics, digital image stacking, and processing techniques to counter the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere. At optical wavelengths, these images are sharper than even current space-based solar observatories can produce.

Re:Hmm

[two_ply (610736)]

"these images are sharper than even current space-based solar observatories can produce. "

By using new technology earth based observatories have made an advance over *current* space based observatories. Doesn't it follow that by using the same advances space based observatories will exceed earth based ones once they can be implemented? Also, they're be no need for correcting for the atmosphere ...

Re:Wow

[Jugalator (259273)]

Darn cool, or should I say hot, pictures!

The web server seem to be running "hot" as well. :-)

Re:Slashdotted.

[bluFox (612877)]

You can access the first image here
sunspot [shacknet.nu]
you should do it fast though , it is my home machine and i cant hold on for long.

ill try to put the other page as sun.html

Re:Where is the 1600x1200 version?

[GnomeKing (564248)]

apparently its here [solarphysics.kva.se]...

whoops

Unwarranted

[CharlieO (572028)]

And this is Michael's fault how?

Seriously they chose to put large size images linked from a press release - I mean they're not even deep links, nor is this one near the bottom of the page. Its probably one of the most likely links everyone will click on if they read the story. Its linked from a press release they expect this too be read, its not like we slashdotted a tiny departmental server.

Does moving it from a 2 click (slashdot story - press release image - gif) to 1 click[1] (slashdot story) really justify a personal broadside against the editorial integerity of one the slashdot team?

Comment on the fact that maybe they should be warned so they remove the high res links until the slashdotting is over, maybe comment on the poor web design approach of the academic team involved, any number of these are valid responses to this story.

Your response adds nothing to the story, nor is what I would expect from someone (judging by you name and email) who is experienced at proffesionally critiquing and assess others work in thier career. Or do peer reviews in Academia these days descend to personal attacks, unwarranted sarcasm and flamewars too?

It seems a strange contrast to your statement about stupidity on the site, did you mean the content of the site or the quality and relevance of the posts on it?

[1]1-Click is of course patented by Amazon, so we must be careful...

Re:Hubble?

[teridon (139550)]

Because Hubble is not designed to point at the sun. Thermally, Hubble was designed so that one side of the telescope is always pointed towards the sun. For thermally stability it must always remain that way. Are you going to personally replace Hubble's primary mirror when it cracks due to solar heating?