Now THAT'S a sunny garden! Amazing images of solar flares are captured by an amateur photographer in his back yard



Dave Tyler, from a village near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire used a five inch refracting telescope with specialist filters to take the images

72-year-old captured violent solar flares and spots on the sun’s surface, which is 5,505°C and 93million miles (150million km) away from Earth

The images show solar flares as the sun goes through its ‘solar maximum’ – a period when it is most active that occurs approximately every 11 years




Most people are content with spotting birds and butterflies in their garden.



But a British amateur photographer has set his sights a lot higher and has taken incredible images of the sun’s raging surface from his back yard.



The 72-year-old managed to capture violent solar flares and spots on the sun’s surface, which is 5,505°C and approximately 93million miles (150million km) away from Earth.



This incredible image of a violent solar flare was taken by a British amateur photographer from his back garden in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Dave Tyler, from a village near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire has spent the last 40 years scouring the skies using an array of powerful telescopes, which have set him back over £2,000.



His latest images are spectacular and show solar flares as the sun goes through its ‘solar maximum’ – a period when it is most active, which comes around every 11 years.



‘The sun is a star 10 times as close to us as the planet Saturn - a thought I always find sobering,’ Mr Tyler said.



The 72-year-old managed to capture violent solar flares (pictured) and spots on the sun¿s surface, which is 5,505°C and approximately 93million miles (150million km) away from Earth

Dave Tyler (pictured), from a village near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire has spent the last 40 years scouring the skies using an array of powerful telescopes

‘Right now solar activity is at its maximum, but not its most spectacular.'



‘My favourite image is the solar flare with an associated outburst, just inside the solar limb [‘edge’ of the sun]. Its position gives a nice 3D effect.'



He added: ‘I also like the wide horizon shot showing general surface activity.’



The small black areas are sunspots, which are a little cooler than the surrounding surface of the star

The amateur astronomer and photographer has spent 40 years scouring the skies and used specialist equipment to capture the swirling surface of our star, including solar flares (the white flash) and dark sun spots (also pictured)

Mr Tyler captures the images by replacing the eyepiece on his telescope with a miniature charged-coupled device camera, a gadget often used for deep-sky, planetary, lunar and solar photography.



He can take thousands of frames before using computer software to piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle.



Mr Tyler said: ‘Sometimes the image is as much art as science and the image is often coloured to best serve the original wow factor from the live view.’



The amateur photographer's latest images are spectacular and show solar flares as the sun goes through its 'solar maximum' - a period when it is most active, which comes around every 11 years

Mr Tyler captures the sun's violent surface (pictured) by replacing the eyepiece on his telescope with a miniature charged-coupled device camera, which are often used for deep-sky, planetary, lunar and solar photography. This is one of his favourite images

Mr Tyler has been a keen astronomer for the last 40 years and built his first telescope when he was 29. He has been fascinated ever since. Here the sun's swirling gaseous surface is pictured

Solar flares are created when magnetic energy builds up and is suddenly released. They extend out to the layer of the sun called the corona – the outermost atmosphere of the sun.



The small black areas are sunspots, which are a little cooler than the surrounding surface of the star.



Mr Tyler has been a keen astronomer for the last 40 years and built his first telescope when he was 29. He has been fascinated ever since.



Mr Tyler captures the images by replacing the eyepiece on his telescope with a miniature charged-coupled device camera, a gadget often used for deep-sky, planetary, lunar and solar photography. His current telescope set-up is pictured

The father-of-one usually uses a five inch refracting telescope equipped with a hydrogen-alpha solar filter to take his images of the solar flares (pictured)

A flare (pictured) occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. This image is the photographer's favourite as he thinks the solar flare, just inside the solar limb ['edge' of the sun] gives the image 'a nice 3D effect'

The father-of-one usually uses a five inch refracting telescope equipped with a hydrogen-alpha solar filter to take his images.



Despite being millions of miles away from the sun, he always urges caution when trying to capture it.



‘You have to be careful. Never look at the sun through anything other than equipment specialised for direct solar viewing or it will blind you,’ he warned.

Solar flares (pictured) extend out to the layer of the sun called the corona, which is the outermost atmosphere of the star and is made up of highly rarefied gas

WHAT IS A SOLAR FLARE AND WHY DOES IT OCCUR?

A flare is defined as a sudden, rapid and intense variation in brightness and occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released.

Radiation is emitted across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from long wavelength radio waves to x-rays and gamma rays.

The amount of energy released is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time, according to Nasa.

The first solar flare was recorded in 1859 by two scientists - Richard C. Carrington and Richard Hodgson, who were independently looking at sunspots at the same time and saw a large flare.

Solar flares extend out to the layer of the sun called the corona, which is the outermost atmosphere of the star and is made up of highly rarefied gas.

This gas normally has a temperature of a few million degrees Kelvin, but inside a flare, the temperature typically reaches can reach as high as 100 million degrees Kelvin.

The frequency of flares coincides with the sun's eleven year cycle and at its maximum – approximately every 11 years – solar flares are more common and larger.