The sun is one of the most constant forces in our lives. From being included in myths, to legends, poems, films, and stories, to the very real sector of astronomy, heliophysics and more, the sun is something that has drawn endless fascination.
With how essential the sun is to the functioning of the very planet, and the strides mankind has made in the study of space, there is still a long way to go before someone can actually make it to the sun and live to tell the tale.
The subject has been highly viral these days, as a photo of a person skydiving through the sun has set the internet on fire.
A breathtaking photograph showing a silhouetted figure swooping directly across the Sun’s fiery surface has taken over the internet. But while the image resembles a scene from a mythic tale, or a sci-fi fantasy, it is very much real.
Titled “The Fall of Icarus,” the shot is the product of months of painstaking planning, perfect timing, and extraordinary technical precision, captured by an astrophotographer aiming to blend art and science in one frame.
What Is This Viral Photo?
On November 13, 2025, photographer Andrew McCarthy posted on his X/Twitter page the now viral image with the caption “Immense planning and technical precision was required for this absolutely preposterous (but real) view. I captured my friend @BlackGryph0n transiting the sun during a skydive. This might be the first photo of it’s kind in existence.”
The image captured by McCarthy on November 8, 2025, features his friend Gabriel Brown, a YouTuber and skydiver, mid-free fall during a skydiving jump. What makes this an absolutely unreal experience, even as a still photo, is that this is not AI-generated, nor has it been heavily edited.
The photo, besides its ethereal composition, also took a level of skill, timing and dedication seldom seen.
The image is very aptly titled “The Fall of Icarus”, referring to the mythical story of Icarus, who was given a pair of wax wings by his father but faced tragedy when, while flying, he went too close to the sun, and fell back to land when his wings melted from the heat of the sun.
Read More: Floating Astronaut Over Earth! Photograph Captures Mankind’s Faith In Technology
This photo, however, took months of planning, during which the timing of the plane, the exact field of view, reviewing safety conditions, coordination with the jump, and the camera’s shutter release were all carefully decided.
The idea came up months ago when McCarthy and Brown met for breakfast after a routine skydiving session.
The two discussed how they could combine skydiving with astrophotography and eventually reached the final plan, that Brown would jump from a plane at a specified time and point in place, while McCarthy would be on the ground ready to capture it and the Sun using high-precision solar equipment.
McCarthy, speaking with IFLScience, revealed, “It took six attempts to get the jumper lined up with the sunspots.”
He also explained that this shot was taken using a solar telescope with hydrogen-alpha filters, which had its own issues they needed to work around. Basically, this telescope’s field of view is very narrow, meaning the plane’s path, the jumper’s fall, and the Sun’s position had to match in this field of view exactly at the moment of the jump.
The hydrogen-alpha filters also isolate a specific red wavelength of light that reveals the Sun’s chromosphere, the dynamic, fiery layer just above its visible surface.
According to reports, this technique enabled McCarthy to capture fine solar structures such as sunspots, prominences, and active regions, all while Brown’s silhouette passed precisely across one of those regions.
The setting of the photo was in the Arizona desert, and McCarthy said, “When the time was right, I told him to jump.”
It was decided that Brown would jump at approximately 3,500 feet (1,070 m) while McCarthy positioned his telescopes some 8,000 feet away to capture the action.
The execution was also tightly choreographed. McCarthy monitored a live feed from his telescopes and communicated with Brown and the aircraft pilot via three-way radio.
Gabriel C Brown, on his Instagram, wrote, “We had to find the right location, time, aircraft, and distance for the clearest shot, while factoring in the aircraft’s power-off glideslope for the optimal sun angle and safe exit altitude.”
Adding that, “And then we had to align the shot using the opposition effect from the aircraft and coordinate the exact moment of the jump on three-way comms!”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Firstpost, The Economic Times, Hindustan Times
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Sun, Sun photo, Sun viral photo, viral photo, icarus, icarus viral photo, skydiving man Sun photo, Astrophotographer, skydiver, skydiver sun photo, skydiver sun, the Fall of Icarus, The Fall of Icarus photo, solar photography
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