A self-taught astronomer from the coastal city of Netanya is mesmerizing viewers around the world with his close-up images of the sun.
Deddy, a pseudonym for David Dayag, has been showcasing his 30 Seconds of the Sun films on social media, providing fierce glimpses of the star that few have seen.
The sun has been captured on camera by astrophotographers before Dayag, 39. But he has been one of the first to capture images with this perspective and depth.
Dayag was informed by other astronomers that he might not photograph the sun on his excursions to the Negev desert to observe the heavens.
However, Dayag doesn’t usually take no for an answer.
Dayag explained his telescopic activity by saying that “people tend to do as they are told.” “I have to know why,” he said.
And he continued: “Many people do not want to travel alone.”
Finally, Dayag was able to disprove the detractors by examining his telescope and experimenting with the amount of light and the speed necessary to obtain pictures of the sun.
It all depends on how much light gets through the telescope’s filter, he said.
Without the right tools, trying to capture photos of the sun might ruin lenses or damage your eyes, but specialized filters and other accessories aren’t hard to find.
The first photos of Dayag were taken using a 150mm Cosmos refractor, a Daystar quark H-Alpha filter, a Celestron AVX mount and a ZWO asi178mm camera. In the first video, taken in January 2021 and 30 seconds long, two gigantic sunspots are clearly visible.
It blew everyone away, Dayag said.
Dayag was not the first person to photograph the sun; the practice dates back some 150 years. However, he claims that he was the first to achieve it with a time delay.
He replied: “People take pictures of the sun. He needed to know why it might only be done in a certain way. He was trying to find out if there was another way.”
The quality of Dayag’s images, which provide a close-up of sunspots and filaments, depends on the amount of light passing through the telescope’s filter and whether a longer telescope is used for higher and better resolution of the image. sun. Early in the day, when the sun is most active and shows more sunspots and texture, is when he prefers to photograph it.
When he looked at all those filaments and sunspots, he said, “I fell off my chair” and found that the telescope was capable of handling it.
Dayag has always been an amateur astronomer and is open to learning new skills.
Dayag has spent most of his 39 years on earth trying to come to his own conclusions, especially when it comes to astronomy.
When he was little, his grandfather found a book roughly translated into Hebrew from another language that described how to build a telescope.
Dayag commented, “I read it regarding thirty times,” but even so, he was unable to build his own telescope because some of the necessary components were not readily available in Israel at the time.
In addition, his family lacked the funds to enroll him in expensive following-school programs or buy him the tools he needed, and he had no prior experience making something as complicated as a telescope.
However, he was still looking at the night sky and reflecting on the heavenly bodies. He was especially fascinated by supernovae and he wanted to know what caused the star to explode and what was happening inside the superheated mass.
Even before he had a telescope, he recalled, “I was just looking at the sky.”
By agreeing to purchase a lens for him, the Dayag institute was able to build his own telescope out of plumbing components and the new lens, allowing him to see the stars above.
He would put it on his bed or a chair and point it out the window, perhaps focusing on a line of clouds or a flash in the sky.
He admitted that it really affected him.
Dayag considered himself a lover of science, especially biology, chemistry, and physics, but found it difficult to stay motivated in school unless the material itself was interesting.
He admitted that “I only attended 10% of my classes and I was late, but I did well in the classes that I enjoyed.”
Dayag ended up having enough money to buy his first telescope only following he left the army, when he started working in software development for various companies without having a college degree.
Now, near his office and music studio in Netanya, he has a small collection of them meticulously shelved.
Dayag, who taught himself to play the guitar and drums at school, says that “music focuses me emotionally”. My hobby is stargazing.
He continues to work in the tech field, playing in two progressive rock bands and traveling to the desert regarding once a month with a solar-powered trailer to power all of his astronomy gear.
Dayag is considering a Ph.D. in physics, but is worried regarding the demands of academia. Other nightmares involve being alone on Mars and traveling to another star.
Dayag would not think twice regarding leaving Netanya and packing up his telescopes if the spacecraft manufacturer SpaceXby Elon Musk, gave him work.
He said, “I would do it without thinking.”
