Andrew McCarthy planned and timed a photograph showing a skydiver silhouetted against the Sun, calling the result "absolutely preposterous (but real)." After six failed attempts, McCarthy and skydiver Gabriel C. Brown succeeded on 8 November 2025, with Brown exiting a propeller plane at 1,070 m (≈3,500 ft). The image required exact coordination of Sun angle, jumper position, exit altitude, aircraft glideslope and telescope placement, and captured Brown roughly 2 km from the camera as he crossed the Sun.
Skydiver Silhouetted Against the Sun in an "Absolutely Preposterous (But Real)" Photograph
Andrew McCarthy planned and timed a photograph showing a skydiver silhouetted against the Sun, calling the result "absolutely preposterous (but real)." After six failed attempts, McCarthy and skydiver Gabriel C. Brown succeeded on 8 November 2025, with Brown exiting a propeller plane at 1,070 m (≈3,500 ft). The image required exact coordination of Sun angle, jumper position, exit altitude, aircraft glideslope and telescope placement, and captured Brown roughly 2 km from the camera as he crossed the Sun.
09:41 PM, 11/18/2025Science
Skydiver Silhouetted Against the Sun in Rare, Carefully Planned Photograph
Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy captured the precise instant a skydiver crossed directly in front of the Sun, producing what he called an "absolutely preposterous (but real)" silhouette against the Sun's detailed, fiery surface.
McCarthy, who is based in Arizona, said the shot required "immense planning" on X (formerly Twitter) and suggested it may be the first photograph of its kind. The team had to synchronize a long list of variables — solar angle, jumper body position, aircraft exit altitude, ground distance and telescope location — all at the exact same moment.
"This might be the first photo of [its] kind in existence," McCarthy wrote, describing the months of preparation that preceded the successful attempt.
After six failed alignment attempts, McCarthy and his collaborator, skydiver and musician Gabriel C. Brown, achieved the planned image on Sunday, 8 November 2025 at 09:00 local time. Brown leapt from a small propeller aircraft at an altitude of 1,070 meters (about 3,500 feet).
Brown described the logistics on Instagram: they selected the optimal location and time, chose the right aircraft and distance for a clear view, accounted for the plane's power-off glideslope to obtain the correct solar angle while maintaining a safe exit altitude, and used the aircraft's opposition effect to line up the shot — crediting pilot @jimhamberlin — with the jump coordinated via three-way communications.
In McCarthy's image the skydiver was only about 2 kilometers from the camera, giving the photographer only a few fleeting seconds to capture Brown's silhouette crossing the Sun's disc. The resulting photo juxtaposes extremes of scale — a human figure mere kilometers away framed against the Sun some 150 million kilometers distant.
Context: McCarthy's Track Record
McCarthy is well known for highly detailed solar and lunar photography. In 2022 he photographed a coronal mass ejection stretching roughly a million miles from the Sun. Working with planetary scientist Connor Matherne, he also produced a Moon mosaic made from roughly 200,000 images compiled over nearly two years, revealing the fine nooks and crannies of the lunar surface.
Earlier this year McCarthy captured the fine structure of a solar flare as it briefly photobombed the International Space Station — a useful comparison that highlights distance scales: the ISS orbits at about 400 kilometers above Earth, while the Sun is roughly 150 million kilometers away.
Fans and followers are already eager to see what McCarthy will produce next. You can follow his work on Instagram, X, Facebook and his website for updates and behind-the-scenes details of this carefully choreographed project.