I love the images of the Sun taken by astrophotographer Alan Friedman. I love pareidolia. And I love cryptozoology.
So of course I love love love this:
[Click to sasquatchenate.]
Pareidolia is the trait of seeing recognizable objects in random patterns (usually, but not always, faces). Cryptozoology is the study of fabled creatures like Nessie, or the chupracabra, or… I don’t know, for a totally random example, let’s say Bigfoot.
Still not sure what I mean? Maybe this’ll help:
Ha!
OK, I’ll be a pedantic dork for just a sec, and say that this is actually just a prominence, an eruption of ionized gas off the surface of the Sun, guided by the twisting and churning solar magnetic field. Prominences can take all sorts of shapes — even angels and dragons — as they launch upward and fall back down to the Sun’s surface.
Alan Apeman — urp, sorry, I mean Friedman — takes simply amazing pictures of the Sun which I feature here all the time; see the Related posts section below for many more. And you should keep an eye on his pictures. Who knows what you’ll find in them?
Image credit: Alan Friedman
Related posts:
- Seriously jaw-dropping picture of the Sun
- The boiling, erupting Sun
- The delicate tendrils of a solar dragon
- For your viewing pleasure: Active Region 1302
October 9th, 2011 at 11:19 am
As always, Alan’s work fascinates me! Especially ones featuring such PROMINENT cryptozoological personalities.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
That can’t be Bigfoot because Bigfoot ain’t real. It’s clearly a colossal alien space ghost from Counter-Earth.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:19 pm
Wait… do Bigfoot sightings increase with solar activity? OH MY GOD IT ALL MAKES SENSE.
October 9th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Ok NOW I see it. My first thought was “a baseball picture shaking off signs from the catcher”.
October 9th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Cryptopareidolia – The trait of seeing fabled creatures in random patterns.
October 9th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
I’m amused that this post, of all posts, is tagged under “Skepticism”.
October 9th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
First thing I thought when I saw that was “My god, they’ve found Mewtwo!”
What does that say about me?
October 9th, 2011 at 2:28 pm
So that’s where he went to. Nessie can’t be far away then.
October 9th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
David Brin was right!
October 9th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Hmm. I first thought of a Y or partial X chromosome.
Guess I’m a bit too earthbound to see the light.
October 9th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
That’s not BigFoot – it’s obviously Gumby.
October 9th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Idgits! It is OBVIOUSLY the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man.
October 9th, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Pareidolia. We just saw hawks, a dog, a bird, a butterfly, a spider, a triceratops, a man and a dog, a man sitting, and more all in the sky whilst sitting on a countryside eyes skyward watching the Sun do its daily dance throughout the landscape. Above us the sky was darker blue and the blue got brighter the further out you could see.. We also noticed clouds literally forming and strengthening very quickly right in front of our eyes. Seeing shapes in clouds with family is cool. Pareidolia . . . ok, have to check it out, but it sounds bad.
October 9th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
I also thought it looked more like a chromosome than a hominid, but I saw a dandy puppy in the clouds the other day.
October 9th, 2011 at 7:34 pm
It looks like that frog from Fringe.
October 9th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
How about a spirit hovering over a figure.
October 9th, 2011 at 10:21 pm
OK, Phil, you’re going to “be a pedantic dork for just a sec”, huh? Only that long? That’s rather a short time for you…
Just kidding, as I’m pedantically dorky enough to know better than to seriously call anyone else out on being so…
October 9th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
I see a mermaid breaking up through the water’s surface. The dark spot where Phil sees Bigfoot’s left shoulder is where i see the mermaid’s right nipple. Top left dark pattern is the hair.
Just sayin’…
October 10th, 2011 at 12:34 am
I’ve got a couple of Alan’s photos saved on my computer. His photography is always fascinating to me. Time to add to the collection!
October 10th, 2011 at 1:53 am
Phil, off-topic but did you hear about the astrology company shutting down a server used to synchronize time across the internet?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/07/unix_time_zone_database_destroyed/
October 10th, 2011 at 6:44 am
I was at AstroFest 2011 , in downstate NY , Vestal . Alan Friedman was there , among others . Alan Showed this photo , with a few chuckles and comments , and then we all had a great laugh . But if anyone ever get the opportunity to go and see him , Please do so ~ his slides and photos are so stunning. Alan is such a great person to talk to , discuss anything with him and to just enjoy as a person .
Ron B
October 10th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Chupacabra not Chupracabra
Best regards from Perú ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
October 10th, 2011 at 10:44 am
[...] Bigfoot isn’t real… It’s clearly a colossal alien space ghost from Counter-Earth.[Cheers discovermagazine.com] Categories: Bizarre Tags: bigfoot, chupracabra, fables, myths, nessie, photograph, [...]
October 10th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I think this could be a alien made out of plasma and is prof that there is life on the sun! or maybe Iv’e been watching to munch scifi . Im just kiding but it is a posiablty that aliens life forms could be made of energy many of Star Treks aliens were.
October 10th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Hey … watch out! It looks to me like he has a GUN!
October 10th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
[...] Alan Friedman captured an image of the sun that has Bad Astronomer Phil Plait thinking “sasquatch!” [...]
October 10th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Clearly sasquatch attempted to walk on the sun, but was vaporized, duh. That had to be a hard moment to capture. Good job Mr. Friedman.
October 10th, 2011 at 3:13 pm
[...] Sunsquatch [badastronomy] viaSunsquatch [neatorama] [...]
October 10th, 2011 at 3:38 pm
@ Renee, I thought he was pointing at something that he wanted everyone to see. Anyway, I’m still waiting to see the Phoenix rise again; the Phoenix does come from the sun, right? Tell me this; how dark does your telescope / camera lens have to be to take a close-up picture of the sun and make its fiery surface look so smooth? Not trying to be sarcastic here, just curious.
October 10th, 2011 at 5:06 pm
[...] Bad Astronomy- Ever seen a Sunsquatch? I thought not. Here’s a fun image (details through the link). [...]
October 10th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
That’s not Bigfoot, it’s Buddy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKNwxG-S5uQ
October 11th, 2011 at 12:09 am
[...] en: Sunsquatch, Bad Astronomy, Discover Magazine, 9/10/2011 LD_AddCustomAttr("AdOpt", "1"); [...]
October 11th, 2011 at 3:58 am
OK, I’ll be a pedantic dork for just a sec, and say that it’s chupacabra, not chupracabra.
October 11th, 2011 at 10:02 am
[...] (Bad Astronomy via Neatorama) Categories: Interesting, Pictures Tags: bigfoot, photography, space [...]
October 11th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Maybe it is a Swale
October 11th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
[...] (Bad Astronomy via Neatorama) [...]