Why use huge space telescopes for astronomy when you can blast an astronaut with a Nikon into space – new research paper suggests

Total solar eclipse revealing F corona surrounding the Sun. .

Instead of relying solely on billion-dollar space telescopes, NASA should also consider using pictures taken by astronauts with commercial handheld cameras to study the cosmos. That’s what astronomers at Tokyo City University, Japan, have suggested in a new research paper.

The paper has revealed how an image taken by one of the astronauts during the recent Artemis II lunar mission has improved understanding of the F corona – scattered light from cosmic dust forming part of the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere.