Aurora Sun Rise, Sunglasses Needed

You can actually damage your eyes if you look directly at the sun. When there are no clouds we rarely look at the sun because it is so bright. When there is an overcast sometimes we can see the outline of the bright white sun. So what is more dangerous – looking at the sun when there are no clouds or when there are clouds?

Just in case you don’t know the answer. You can get more damage looking at the sun when there are clouds. Firstly, clouds do not provide any UV protection, secondly they reduce the brightness thus your eyelids are wide open letting the most UV in. That’s why it is sometimes very important to wear sunglasses even if the skies are overcast.


Well, same applies to the camera, except there are not eyelids for both scenarios. By taking direct photos of the sun can destroy your camera sensor and eyes as well. The lens acts as a magnifier and multiplies the sun’s intensity right on your camera’s sensor. By taking photos of sunset and sunrises is actually okay, however, pointing lens right at the sun is not recommended, something I did that morning.

I really enjoy sun as much as I enjoy photographing the moon. Okay and the clouds as well, they usually form into interesting objects.

That morning I woke up and this big ball of fire was hanging on the horizon, of course it wasn’t that dark. Darkness is due to the settings I used.

As a result I think I captured some sunspots on the bottom and top of the sun. However, on the top there was something else and disappeared in the next photo. I cannot figure out what it was, but may be it was a bird flying by or an airplane.


Unfortunately, with my camera I only captured a small dots, but because they remained in the same area in all images I can only assume that these were sunspots. I know the images here are too small for you too see. Dots are very small. And remember no looking at the sun directly.

Sunspots are areas of disturbance on the sun caused by the extreme magnetic activity. Often if strong enough this magnetic activity sends solar flares and can potentially affect power grids, satellite signals and GPS devices.

Enjoy and never look at the sun like I did via my lens!