For as these clouds of solar matter whirl around on the fiery star 93 million miles away, they are under the keen eye of astronomer Paul Andrews, who is simply standing by his back door in St Margaret’s Bay, near Dover, in Kent.
Thanks to a special solar telescope costing thousands of pounds, Mr Andrews can take photographs almost as clear as the world’s best observatories"
Stunning detail: Paul Andrews can capture solar emissions from the comfort of his home in Kent
93 million miles away - but just down the lens: Paul's telescope can pick up details of sun spots and solar flares
Mr Andrews, 58, said: 'I can get an amazing amount of detail now. The bigger the telescope, the finer the detail that can be seen.
'I think the amount of detail you can actually see on the surface of the sun now is fantastic. I love watching the jets of gas that have been thrown off the surface. It can change from minute to minute.'
He added: 'That is one of the most exciting things about this kind of photography. Only the other day I saw a big flare go up. It only lasted a couple of minutes before burning up and fading away.'
Mr Andrews’ new telescope has a six-inch diameter lens which filters out the sun’s harmful rays.
Its photographs, taken from his back garden, depict strands of hydrogen gas sticking out from the sun's profile.
Filaments of gas shoot out millions of miles from the sun's surface, before falling back down onto the surface of the star
Another filament takes off from the sun, as a sun spot - a relatively cooler patch - swims across the surface
In the front-on images, they appear as dark lines or strokes and are known as filaments.
Mr Andrews, a professional photographer, added: 'I try and get out as early as possible in the morning, around 9am.
'As the day goes on the earth’s atmosphere becomes very turbulent and you can actually degrade the image of the sun.
'Photographs taken in the morning tend to be a lot clearer and sharper.'
Paul Andrews in his garden observatory, which - ignoring the clouds - allows him to capture the spectacular images
Mr Andrews, who is married to wife Claire, is the founder and president of his local astronomy society and has been taking images of the sun for around five years.
The father of one added: 'These photos have been taken over the last two months, since I got my new specialised solar telescope.
'It’s just about the biggest commercial telescope you can get, and filters out the harmful white light, heat and ultra violet light that would damage your eye sight.
'Now I can see the hydrogen gas bubbling and will dash out when the sun comes out between the clouds.'
Mr Andrews will take thousands of images and then uses computer software to select the best shots and merge them together.
His recent upgrade from a smaller solar telescope marks the culmination of a hobby that began when he was 11.
Mr Andrews said: 'My interest in astronomy started when I was about 11 and read a book by Patrick Moore.
'That really got me hooked on astronomy and I’ve been keen ever since.
'It’s very much a passion of mine. I’ve got a couple of mini observatories set up in the garden now.'
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