Photo of skydiver falling past the Sun goes viral: 'The Fall of Icarus'

A striking photograph taken by Arizona-based astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has gone viral after social-media users marvelled at the sight of a skydiver appearing to plunge in front of the solar disc. The image, titled “The Fall of Icarus”, shows Gabriel C. Brown, a YouTuber and amateur skydiver, seemingly free-falling in front of the Sun during a meticulously planned shoot.

Captured on November 8 in the Arizona desert at around 9 am MST (11 am EST), the shot required the skydiver to jump from a small aircraft at approximately 3,500 feet (1,070 m) while McCarthy positioned his telescopes about 8,000 feet (2,440 m) away. In hydrogen-alpha light, which is used to reveal fine detail on the Sun’s surface, the jumper’s silhouette aligns perfectly with swirling solar textures, creating the i