Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy used a specially designed solar telescope attached to an astronomy camera to capture a unique image of a SpaceX rocket blasting off into orbit in front of the Sun.
What makes this image so special is that McCarthy captured the Sun in hydrogen-alpha light, revealing amazing details in the star’s chromosphere that cannot be seen in normal white light. The rocket and fiery plume create shockwaves, scattering the light.
“I’ve been dabbling in rocket photography out of Texas and Florida, and I recently spent several days in Florida chasing solar rocket transits, and caught two of them,” McCarthy tells PetaPixel.
“I captured them with two types of cameras, a relatively normal Canon R5 with a solar filter on a telephoto lens, and then a specially designed solar telescope with an astronomy camera. The image I got with the solar telescope is, as far as I know, the only photo of its kind in existence — a photo of a rocket with the sun in hydrogen-alpha light behind it.”
PetaPixel searched for similar photos to McCarthy’s but cannot find any. While other astrophotographers have captured silhouetted airplanes with the sun in H-alpha, McCarthy is apparently the first to capture a rocket.
The rocket McCarthy captured was a Falcon 9, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 6. Its mission was Starlink 10-57, the 27th flight for Booster 1069. It was carrying 28 individual satellites to Low Earth Orbit.
“To capture it, I set up my cameras on a dirt road in a wildlife refuge about eight miles west of the launchpad,” McCarthy explains. “Getting in the right spot was a challenge, and I didn’t have the experience to plan for this well, so I leaned on the expertise of my fellow rocket-chasers who gave me good advice on where to stand.”
Covering rocket launches can be a risky business as McCarthy knows all too well. Earlier this year, he had a lens destroyed after he placed it next to a launchpad.
If you would like to purchase a print of the rocket/H-alpha Sun shot, then head on to McCarthy’s website. More of his work can be found on his Instagram, X, Facebook, and website.
Image credits: All photos by Andrew McCarthy.
