A Sharp View of the Sun

Here is one of the sharper views of the Sun ever taken. This stunning image shows remarkable details of a dark sunspot across the image bottom and numerous boiling granules which appear like kernels of corn across the top. Taken in 2002 , the picture was made using the Swedish Solar Telescope operating on the Canary Island of La Palma . The high resolution image was achieved using sophisticated adaptive optics , digital image stacking, and other processing techniques to counter the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere. Currently a sunspot group is crossing the Sun that is so large it can be easily seen by the cautious observer even without magnification.