Skip to main content
NIH Intramural Research Program, Our Research Changes Lives

Navigation controls

  • Search
  • Menu

Social follow links

  • Podcast
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • What Is the IRP?
    • History
    • Honors
      • Nobel Prize
      • Lasker Award
      • Breakthrough Prize
      • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
      • Presidential Medal of Freedom
      • National Medal of Science
      • Searle Scholars
      • The National Academy of Sciences
      • The National Academy of Medicine
      • The National Academy of Engineering
      • The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
      • National Medal of Technology & Innovation
      • Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals
      • Crafoord Prize
      • Fellows of the Royal Society
      • Canada Gairdner Awards
    • Organization & Leadership
    • Our Programs
      • NCI
      • NEI
      • NHGRI
      • NHLBI
      • NIA
      • NIAAA
      • NIAID
      • NIAMS
      • NIBIB
      • NICHD
      • NIDA
      • NIDCD
      • NIDCR
      • NIDDK
      • NIEHS
      • NIMH
      • NIMHD
      • NINDS
      • NINR
      • NLM
      • CC
      • NCATS
      • NCCIH
    • Research Campus Locations
    • Contact Information
  • Our Research
    • Scientific Focus Areas
      • Biomedical Engineering & Biophysics
      • Cancer Biology
      • Cell Biology
      • Chemical Biology
      • Chromosome Biology
      • Clinical Research
      • Computational Biology
      • Developmental Biology
      • Epidemiology
      • Genetics & Genomics
      • Health Disparities
      • Immunology
      • Microbiology & Infectious Diseases
      • Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
      • Molecular Pharmacology
      • Neuroscience
      • RNA Biology
      • Social & Behavioral Sciences
      • Stem Cell Biology
      • Structural Biology
      • Systems Biology
      • Virology
    • Principal Investigators
      • View by Investigator Name
      • View by Scientific Focus Area
    • Accomplishments
      • View All Accomplishments by Date
      • View All Health Topics
      • The Body
      • Health & Wellness
      • Conditions & Diseases
      • Procedures
    • Accelerating Science
      • Investing in Cutting-Edge Animal Models
      • Creating Cell-Based Therapies
      • Advancing Computational and Structural Biology
      • Combating Drug Resistance
      • Developing Novel Imaging Techniques
      • Charting the Pathways of Inflammation
      • Zooming in on the Microbiome
      • Uncovering New Opportunities for Natural Products
      • Stimulating Neuroscience Research
      • Pursuing Precision Medicine
      • Unlocking the Potential of RNA Biology and Therapeutics
      • Producing Novel Vaccines
    • Research in Action
      • View All Stories
      • Too Much of a Good Thing
      • Turning Face Perception on Its Head
      • Safeguarding a Second Chance at Life
      • A Biological Betrayal
    • Trans-IRP Research Resources
      • Supercomputing
    • IRP Review Process
    • Commercializing Inventions
  • NIH Clinical Center
    • Clinical Center Facilities
    • Advancing Translational Science
    • Clinical Trials
      • Get Involved with Clinical Research
      • Physician Resources
  • News & Events
    • In the News
    • I am Intramural Blog
    • Speaking of Science Podcast
    • SciBites Video Shorts
    • The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
    • Events
  • Careers
    • Faculty-Level Scientific Careers
    • Trans-NIH Scientific Recruitments
      • Stadtman Tenure-Track Investigators
        • Science, the Stadtman Way
        • Earl Stadtman Investigator Frequently Asked Questions
      • Lasker Clinical Research Scholars
      • Independent Research Scholar
    • Scientific & Clinical Careers
    • Administrative Careers
  • Research Training
    • Program Information
    • Training Opportunities
    • NIH Work/Life Resources
The NIH Catalyst: A Publication About NIH Intramural Research

National Institutes of Health • Office of the Director | Volume 25 Issue 5 • September–October 2017

Photographic Moment

Total Eclipse of the Sun

TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE; SUN IS BLACK CIRCLE WITH LIGHT EMANATING FROM ALL SIDES

While most NIHers enjoyed seeing a partial solar eclipse on August 21, 2017, James Yang had a spectacular view of the total solar eclipse in Newberry, South Carolina. Yang, an astronomy buff as well as an amateur photographer, took this photo using a Nikon D800 on an equatorially mounted five-inch refractor telescope. He put a homemade Mylar sun filter over the lens and then removed it at totality. The camera was programed to take one image a second throughout totality.

Yang took his son to Columbia, South Carolina, to see the eclipse, but on the day of the event, they drove about an hour west to avoid predicted clouds. “We found the scenic little town of Newberry, South Carolina, where there was an eclipse festival. We picked a spot where the eclipse would occur over the Newberry Opera House,” said Yang. “Coincidentally, it turns out that the path of the May 28, 1900 total eclipse also went through Newberry (there was an exhibit in the town library).”

“It was great to be with so many people—you heard the entire town react at the same instant when the last light disappeared,” said Yang. “For those who have never seen totality, 100 percent is very, very different than even 99 percent. As the last pinpoint of light is about to disappear, you can see atmospheric turbulence sharply projected on the ground by the point light source, and the light seems to move like the surface of the ocean.”

Yang is senior investigator in the National Cancer Institute’s Surgery Branch and studies the immune response to tumor-associated antigens. He conducts clinical and scientific studies of T-cell adoptive therapy and other immunotherapies to treat melanoma and other cancers. He has initiated clinical protocols that expand these modalities to renal, lung, and pancreatic cancers. In the laboratory, he is developing novel antigen receptors for T cells to treat cancers.

MORE IMAGES

From beginning to end (left to right): Time-lapse depiction of the whole eclipse. In Newberry, South Carolina, the eclipse event went from 1:12 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. EST; the total eclipse was from 2:40 p.m. to 2:43 p.m. EST and lasted 2 minutes and 32 seconds.

cameras on tripods; one has a telescope lens attached covered by a Mylar filter, the other a Mylar filter.

The photographic equipment Yang used to take the photos during the eclipse.

SUN IS BLACKED OUT IN THIS TOTAL ECLIPSE BUT THERE ARE THREE PINK PROTRUSIONS THAT LOOK LIKE TINY FLAMES

Solar prominences: The close-up of the total eclipse is exposed to show three solar prominences, which are explosions of hydrogen plasma from the sun’s surface. Ionized hydrogen emits one photon in the near-infrared, so the camera sees the prominences as pink.

This page was last updated on Friday, April 8, 2022

  • Issue Overview
  • Features
    • Specialized Neurons Play a Unique Role in Pain
    • Nine New Stadtman Investigators Take on the Scientific World
    • Daniel Reich, M.D., Ph.D.: Imagining Brain Imaging
    • Fibroid Link to Miscarriage Now in Doubt
  • Departments
    • From the Deputy Director for Intramural Research
    • News Briefs
    • News You Can Use
    • Colleagues: Recently Tenured
    • Research Briefs
    • The Training Page
    • Photographic Moment
    • Announcements: Kudos
    • Announcements
  • Issue Contents
  • Download this issue as a PDF

Catalyst menu

  • Current Issue
  • Previous Issues
  • About The NIH Catalyst
  • Contact The NIH Catalyst
  • Share Your Story
  • NIH Abbreviations

Catalyst links

  • Follow The NIH Catalyst

Subscribe Today!

Subscribe to The NIH Catalyst Newsletter and receive email updates.

Subscribe

Get IRP Updates

Subscribe

  • Email
  • Print
  • Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • What Is the IRP?
    • History
    • Honors
    • Organization & Leadership
    • Our Programs
    • Research Campus Locations
    • Contact Information
  • Our Research
    • Scientific Focus Areas
    • Principal Investigators
    • Accomplishments
    • Accelerating Science
    • Research in Action
    • Trans-IRP Research Resources
    • IRP Review Process
    • Commercializing Inventions
  • NIH Clinical Center
    • Clinical Center Facilities
    • Advancing Translational Science
    • Clinical Trials
  • News & Events
    • In the News
    • I am Intramural Blog
    • Speaking of Science Podcast
    • SciBites Video Shorts
    • The NIH Catalyst Newsletter
    • Events
  • Careers
    • Faculty-Level Scientific Careers
    • Trans-NIH Scientific Recruitments
    • Scientific & Clinical Careers
    • Administrative Careers
  • Research Training
    • Program Information
    • Training Opportunities
    • NIH Work/Life Resources
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • National Institutes of Health
  • USA.gov

Footer

  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • IRP Brand Materials
  • HHS Vulnerability Disclosure
  • Web Policies & Notices
  • Site Map
  • Search