Arizona astrophotographer Mark Johnston captures human-shaped solar prominence from backyard
Arizona astrophotographer Mark Johnston spotted something wild in the sky, a massive plasma shape above the sun that looked just like a giant person.
He caught this rare moment from his backyard using a special hydrogen-alpha filter on his telescope, which lets you see details most people miss.
Solar prominences are huge, cooler clouds of plasma held up by the sun's magnetic fields, and depending on where you look, they can show up as bright loops or dark streaks.
Johnston clarifies solar plasma and magnetism
Johnston shared that these shapes aren't moved by wind or gravity: they're actually guided by the sun's powerful magnetic fields.
He also cleared up a common misconception: the sun isn't burning in flames; it shines because its super-hot hydrogen plasma gives off light and heat.
This human-shaped prominence happened just days after another dramatic event on May 22, when material was shot into space as coronal rain, pretty epic for anyone into space weather!