A Year in the Sun

Image Description and Details : I imaged the Sun for 365 days between 25 December 2020 and 31 December 2021, missing just six days during this period. The project started with the aim of recording the journey of a single sunspot across the solar disc, but I managed to continue it for a year.

I blended the images to create a single shot, which records the rise of Solar Cycle 25. A total of 127 active regions appeared on the Earth-facing solar disc (AR 12794–AR 12921) during this phase and the image shows all of them. The sunspots create two bands on the solar disc, around 15–35 degrees north and south of the equator and gradually start drifting towards it – a phenomenon known as Spörer’s law.

Post-processing: PIPP, Photoshop

Equipment: Nikon D5600 camera, Sigma 150–600c lens, Thousand Oaks Filter (White-Light)

Exif: f/6.3, ISO 100, 365 individual exposures (1/80-second to 1/500-second), 600mm

Location: Kolkata, India

Copyright: Soumyadeep Mukherjee