If you’re like me, you probably thought the surface of the sun was, I don’t know, just a bunch of fire, I guess.

It turns out, however, that the sun (and most other stars) are a frenzy of activity, with bursts of flames being pushed out and sucked back in. I don’t really understand why this happens, but it’s super cool!

I keep seeing my sun footage from this video shared without context, so figured I’d post it again so you can ask questions to me directly!

No AI or CGI was used in the creation of this video- just the raw power of the sun and a solar telescope in my backyard! pic.twitter.com/p243diDqpP

— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) July 8, 2025