Sol, the Nearest Star

The 1994 Partial Solar Eclipse.

Here is an unprocessed photo I made using eyepiece projection of the bright image of the sun onto white cardboard. The camera was then aimed and focused on the cardbaord to obtain the image. It is a little soft on focus, but digital processing can bring out the details which are in the negative.

Notice the dark sunspots scattered across the surface. There are five distinct groups. The groups are actually clusters of three or more. Below is a closeup of the lower group:

Next is a closeup of the sunspot groups near the Moon's edge from the above photo. Image sharpening has been used to improve contrast and detail. The filter leaves some unwanted shadow like effect at the sun's edge, but accurately brings out the detail of the sunspots.

Digital techniques such as unsharp masking can be a great aid to studying photographs.

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