Amazing Eclipse Timelapse Shows the Sun's Chromosphere

By Nancy Atkinson - May 21, 2012 at 6:45 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy

We've added loads of images and videos to our

eclipse gallery

from last night annular solar eclipse, but this one stands on its own. An amazing timelapse video by

Cory Poole

was made from 700 photographs taken with a Coronado Solar Max 60 Double Stack telescope. Usually, the chromosphere can't usually be seen due to the overwhelming brightness of the photosphere, and to see it requires special equipment. Thankfully, Poole has it: "The Telescope has a very narrow bandpass allowing you to see the chromosphere and not the much brighter photosphere below it," Poole wrote on YouTube. Additionally, the special hydrogen alpha filter Poole used "only allows light that is created when hydrogen atoms go from the 2nd excited state to the 1st excited state."

The chromosphere is the red circle around the outside of the Sun; its red coloring is caused by the abundance of hydrogen. Watch how the chromosphere appears along the outline of the Moon, too!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com