APOD: Sunspots and Silhouettes (2012 Jul 04)

APOD Robot · Post by **APOD Robot** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:13 am

Sunspots and Silhouettes

Explanation: What stands between you and the Sun? Apparently, as viewed from Paris last week, one visible thing after another. First, in the foreground, is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, built in the late 1800s and located on the highest hill in Paris, France. Next, well behind the basilica's towers in the above image, are thin clouds forward scattering sunlight. Finally, far in the distance and slightly buried into the Sun's surface, are sunspots, the most prominent of which is sunspot region AR 1512 visible near the disk center. Since the time that this sunset image was taken, the sunspot region on the far left, AR 1515, has unleashed a powerful solar flare. Although most particles from that flare are expected to miss the Earth, sky enthusiasts are on watch for Sun events that might cause bright auroras in an invisible thing that stands between you and the Sun: the Earth's atmosphere.

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nstahl · Post by **nstahl** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:19 am

A nice shot. The sun looks very bulging; 3-dimensional.

Ann · Post by **Ann** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:39 am

That's a very interesting shot. I like how the Sun is extremely reddened and seemingly "squeezed" out of shape. This is of course caused by atmospheric phenomena. I like how the picture brings home the idea that the Sun is huge (and it is, certainly in comparison with the Earth). The Basilica of the Sacred Heart looks very picturesque but also very small against the disk of the Sun.

It's interesting to see a sunspot and know that it is about to have an outburst!

Ann

Case · Post by **Case** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 5:42 pm

It took me a few seconds to realize that the Basilica of the Sacred Heart is the same as Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. I don't recall any signs in English, when I was there. It was just a French name to me, until I saw this translation...

The white building is usually well lit by powerful lamps after dark, so the black silhouette threw me off as well.

Awesome to see sunspots in this image! And the clouds do add a lovely atmosphere, in both senses.

owlice · Post by **owlice** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:23 pm

I knew immediately this had to be Sacre Coeur! I love Montmartre; it's one of my favorite places of all time. I was in Paris in November after not having been there in decades (so long, so terribly long...), and was so glad to have a day free to walk to and around Montmartre. I like coming upon things like this:

I am so so SO glad I made the trip; it was lovely.

As is this image; I really like this APOD. Between yesterday's and today's, I might be swooned out!

neufer · Post by **neufer** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 7:56 pm

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

owlice wrote:
I knew immediately this had to be Sacre Coeur!

Sacrebleu!

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 8:05 pm

It is a really nice picture!

Very peaceful!

codenamelegion · Post by **codenamelegion** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 10:03 pm

All though this is a beautiful image, is APOD sure it is not a fabrication? The odd shape of the sun coupled with the somewhat pixelated sunspots lead me to believe this may be fabricated. After a closer look at other images on the submitters flickr that are clearly fabricated I wonder if this image is fabricated as well. Likewise, if it is, it is a beautiful image and a great artist rendering of a scene. But it should be worded as such.

Sorry for being a killjoy, I just want to believe.

geckzilla · Post by **geckzilla** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 1:34 am

It's a real photo. Some of the processing VegaStar does to his photos gives them a fantasy (unrealistic, if you want to say that) kind of style to them that can make them seem more like something from one's imagination, though.

neufer · Post by **neufer** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:43 pm

: [b][color=#0000FF]The Beta Lyrae binary in the sky of an airless planet, after the 1964 painting by Chesley Bonestell.[/color][/b]

geckzilla wrote:
codenamelegion wrote: The odd shape of the sun coupled with the somewhat
pixelated sunspots lead me to believe this may be fabricated.
It's a real photo. Some of the processing VegaStar does to his photos gives them a fantasy (unrealistic, if you want to say that) kind of style to them that can make them seem more like something from one's imagination, though.

It is remarkably undistorted (i.e., smooth) for being naturally oblate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stars_and_planetary_systems_in_fiction#Sheliak_.28Beta_Lyrae.29 wrote:
<<Among the star systems commonly appearing in science fiction, Sheliak (Beta Lyrae) is the second most distant (at 900 ly), even though as the beta of the constellation Lyra it has an appreciable apparent magnitude of 3.52. Only Delta Orionis in Orion's belt (Mintaka, 900 ly, ~5 references, mag 2.23) and hyperluminous Deneb (1400 ly, ~25 references, mag 1.25) can compare. Why the attention? Beta Lyrae is an eclipsing binary system in which mass is being transferred from the brighter primary to the more massive secondary star in a presumably spectacular accretion disc. Because of this, it has inspired the imaginations of artists and authors alike across the years.>>

geckzilla · Post by **geckzilla** » Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:51 pm

neufer wrote:It is remarkably undistorted (i.e., smooth) for being naturally oblate.

True. I do get defensive when someone claims an APOD is somehow fake. It would be nice to have an explanation from Vega.

Starship Asterisk*