A stunning picture of a large solar flare clicked by a Turkish astrophotographer Mehmet Ergün, has won the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023. The picture titled, ''The Great Solar Flare'' was photographed using an H-alpha solar telescope, and was taken in Traisen, Germany, on September 4, 2022.
"Here we see our Sun, photographed using an H-alpha solar telescope. The Sun is moving towards its maximum cycle, and in the photo, we can see a large solar flare. Solar flares are sudden bursts of magnetic energy on the surface of the Sun. These eruptions can be very large, as seen in the image. According to our calculation, this solar flare is about 700,000 km long; Earth has a diameter of about 12,700 km,'' the photographer explained the image.
Royal Museums Greenwich, which holds the annual competition featuring the world's greatest space photography, shared the winning image on its official Instagram account, and wrote, ''Your votes have been counted! "The Great Solar Flare" is the winning image in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year People's Choice category.''
See the post here:
After winning the prestigious award, Mehmet Ergun expressed gratitude towards the people who voted for his photo and shared a note of appreciation.
He wrote, ''We did it! Thanks to your incredible support and valuable votes, I actually won. It's hard to put into words how grateful I am. Every one of you has contributed to making this dream come true. Such recognition for my work means so much to me. About 10 years ago, I could never have imagined this. Knowing that my work excites and inspires you fills me with indescribable joy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.''
Meanwhile, an image of a Full Moon titled, ''A Rocky Rise'' secured the second place.
Photographer Carl Evans explained, ''This is an image of the Full Moon rising over Church Rock in Broadhaven, Pembrokeshire. I stood on the beach at Broadhaven for a couple of hours waiting for the Moon to rise The clouds initially hid the Moon and as I was walking away it appeared among the clouds, adding a nice effect over it. I took two shots for the image: one for the Moon and one with a faster shutter speed to catch a flock of birds flying around the rock.''
