The Sun

I take photographs of the Moon quite often, but I haven’t captured an image of the Sun in over a year. I decided to attempt some astrophotography for today’s blip. Unfortunately, it was overcast most of the day. At about 5:30pm EDT, it finally cleared enough that I could see the Sun through the clouds, and I managed to get this image showing a few small sunspots and surface granulation.

DO NOT ever look directly at the Sun through an unprotected camera lens, or a telescope even for an instant. You MUST use a proper solar filter. Focused, unfiltered sunlight will almost immediately destroy your camera, and it will cause permanent eye damage, or blindness.

Please note that I used a high quality thread-on white light solar filter to safely photograph the sun. I originally purchased my filter for use during the solar eclipse in 2017. I got it directly from Thousand Oaks Optical, a well known and trusted brand, to ensure that it is genuine and safe to use.