See the 'clearest photo ever' of the Sun

Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has shared his 'clearest ever' photo of the Sun.

Andrew McCarthy combined 150,000 individual images of the Sun to capture all the stunning details of the Solar System's largest star. The result is a huge 300-megapixel photo that's 30 times larger than a standard 10-megapixel camera image.

 150,000 individual photographs were combined to obtain the most stunning picture of the Sun. 

At the closest perspective, the naked eye can also see swirls and feather-shaped patterns, along with mysterious black spots.

The photography process is really difficult and requires a specialized telescope with two filters to avoid fire and affect the photographer's eyes.

 Close-up image of the largest star in the Solar System
 This clear image shows swirls and feathery patterns, along with mysterious sunspots.
 The dark spots in the image were inverted during the shooting process. In fact, they are very bright high-energy regions of the burning star. 

'It was only when I finished processing the photo that I really saw what it looked like. This is a very special photo. I've always been interested in photographing the Sun, it's really exciting because it's always different,' Andrew said.

'To create the maximum magnification I used a modified telescope. Combining multiple images allowed me to see the Sun in incredible detail,' added photographer Andrew.

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is 1.39 million km in diameter and has a mass 330,000 times the mass of the Earth. Three-quarters of the Sun is made of hydrogen, followed by helium, oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.