Rare space photos show a 200,000 km high wall of plasma erupting from the sun

An astrophotographer has captured a breathtaking image of a burning 200,000 kilometer high wall of solar plasma.

Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau, 50, captured the astonishing sight showing blazing gas erupting from the surface of the sun at 5,600 degrees Celsius.

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The photo, taken on February 18, was described by the Argentinian as “an enormous and rare prominence” that “reached more than 200,000 km above the south pole of the sun.”

Eduardo said: “This is a rare event as most prominences occur near the solar equator.”

He added that the plasma column was “so extensive” that he had to rotate his camera to fully capture it, although he adjusted the image orientation to display it correctly.

Capturing the image was not an easy task for Eduardo and he admitted it was “quite a challenge”.

He said: “Apart from enduring the very high temperatures of our summer, there was frequent significant turbulence and cloud cover which interrupted my work.

“Nevertheless, it was truly a beautiful spectacle, undoubtedly worth seeing.

He added that the biggest difficulty he faced in making a high-resolution image was atmospheric turbulence.

Eduardo said this causes the statue to “move” and sometimes even appear to be “cooking”.

“This turbulence is further amplified when you try to photograph the sun, because it heats not only the surface, but also the different layers of air as it rises above the horizon,” he continued.

“To minimize this problem, I used the technique known as ‘Lucky Imaging’, which involves capturing sequences of videos with numerous frames, hoping to coincide ‘luckily’ with moments of stability.

“I then stacked between 70 and 100 of these frames to reduce the digital noise in the image.”

Eduardo also described how the remarkable photo was not just taken on a whim, but was the result of a lifelong fascination with “the vast universe and its mysteries.”

‘I grew up thinking about the night skyimagining the wonders hidden among the stars,” he said.

The astrophotographer considers it a “privilege” that he can capture “the beauty of the solar system” with his own equipment.

He concluded by saying: ‘Every photography session is an encounter with the sublime, where the immense sunspots, the filaments dancing on the surface and the prominences rising thousands of kilometers away reveal the splendor. current of the sun.”

It comes as the European Space Agency this week waited anxiously for an old satellite to descend back to Earth.

What remained of the ERS-2 satellite eventually crashed into the Pacific Ocean, an event that will become increasingly common as the number of satellites sent into space becomes more common.

Space debris expert Professor John L. Crassidis spoke to The US Sun about the dangers associated with debris and whether falling space junk is an increasing threat.

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