The Starset SocietyAstrophotographer Andrew McCarthy captures a SpaceX rocket streaking across the Sun’s surface, unveiling dramatic shockwaves in the solar atmosphere.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has made history — not just for its payload, but for the way it appeared crossing the Sun in a breathtaking image unlike any captured before. The photograph, taken by astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy, shows the rocket transiting the Sun’s chromosphere — the turbulent, superheated layer just above the solar surface. Reported by PetaPixel, the image is believed to be the first-ever of its kind, and it’s already sparking awe across the scientific and photography communities.
The Kind Of Shot You Don’t Get Twice
It happened on September 6, 2025. While most people were focused on the Starlink 10-57 launch from Cape Canaveral — a fairly routine mission involving the deployment of 28 satellites to low Earth orbit — McCarthy had his eye on something else entirely. Positioned roughly eight miles west of the launch pad, deep inside a Florida wildlife refuge, he set up two camera systems: one was a Canon R5 with a solar filter, and the other, far more specialized, was a telescope tuned to hydrogen-alpha light.
Now, for those unfamiliar with H-alpha, it’s a narrow slice of the red part of the spectrum, ideal for solar imaging because it reveals the Sun’s chromosphere — the boiling, violently active layer just above its surface. It’s not something you can observe with the naked eye, or even with your average backyard telescope. And that’s what made this image so powerful. It was a rocket streaking through a dynamic sea of solar plasma, caught in a wavelength that most people never even think about.
McCarthy said the shot wasn’t easy. “Getting in the right spot was a challenge,” he told PetaPixel, adding that he leaned heavily on the wisdom of fellow rocket photographers who helped him figure out where exactly to set up. There’s no app for this sort of thing. You’ve got to understand timing, angle, sun position, rocket trajectory, and a dozen other variables — and then, on top of it all, hope for clear skies.
The Chromosphere, Disrupted
What makes this photo so captivating — and frankly, a bit eerie — is the way the rocket’s plume seems to tear through the Sun’s surface. Of course, it doesn’t actually disturb the Sun (we’re still 150 million kilometers away), but in the image, the wake of the spacecraft creates what look like shockwaves in the plasma. The light in the H-alpha spectrum scatters through this turbulence, giving the photo a kind of surreal, high-drama texture. The Sun appears alive, molten, restless — and right there in the middle of it is this crisp, jet-black Falcon 9 cutting across like it owns the place.
McCarthy later shared a version of the photo taken with the Canon R5 — same moment, same launch vehicle, but in white light. The difference is striking. That second photo, while technically fine, lacks the intensity and depth of the hydrogen-alpha image. The solar disk looks pale, almost flat. Without the chaos of the chromosphere visible, it just doesn’t hit the same way.
Not Just A Photo — A Scientific Artwork
Andrew McCarthy’s photograph of a Falcon 9 rocket transiting the Sun’s chromosphere is a rare intersection of science and art. As McCarthy himself put it, the image offers “a different perspective on space,” one that aims to spark curiosity by blending aesthetic beauty with technical precision. His use of hydrogen-alpha light revealed features of the solar atmosphere never before seen in such a context, and according to McCarthy, this may be the only image of its kind ever captured.
Getting the shot wasn’t without risk. McCarthy had previously lost equipment placing cameras too close to a launch pad, but this time, from a safer distance, everything came together. Capturing a space vehicle in front of the Sun’s chromosphere requires near-perfect alignment of countless variables — timing, trajectory, angle, weather, and luck.
As McCarthy’s effort shows, photographing such an event is as much a feat of planning as it is one of perseverance — something like “throwing a dart through a keyhole from across the street, while riding a bike, blindfolded.”
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