The Big Corona
Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence of the
Sun's corona.
Seeing the
corona first-hand during a
total solar eclipse is best.
The
human eye can adapt to see features and extent that
photographic film usually cannot.
Welcome, however, to the
digital age.
The
above picture is a combination of twenty-two photographs that
were digitally processed to highlight faint features of a total eclipe that occurred in August of 1999.
The outer pictures of the
Sun's corona were digitally altered to enhance dim,
outlying waves and filaments.
The inner pictures of the usually dark
Moon were enhanced to bring out its faint glow from
doubly reflected sunlight.
Shadow seekers need not fret, though, since as
yet there is no way that digital image processing can
mimic the fun involved in
experiencing a total solar eclipse.
The next total solar eclipse will be visible from
parts of Africa on June 21.