It’s Not the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

I took this picture a year ago. Sometimes names just come to you and this one came quickly. It seemed the perfect Halloween portrait of the sun. I sent the photo to APOD but they didn’t use it. Thanks to astro visionaries Jason Major and Phil Plait, the picture wound up getting a fair share of attention… even an interview on the TODAY show. I spent a week following hundreds of blogs and reblogs of my sun, reading the comments (good and not so good), getting nothing else done in the meantime.

I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was so special about this picture that it could tempt a quarter million visitors from 150 countries to journey back to my website for more. After all, there are a ton of fantastic sun pictures being taken from the earth and incredible ones from a few satellites with an even better view. Maybe Wired magazine put their finger on it. With all the prepared mind food just a thumb’s reach away, DIY has real romance. Doing it myself is still a thrill and sharing the view - maybe getting a few OMGs in the process -is even better. 

Hopefully this big orange sun is still fresh enough to enjoy a second time.