Did you know? A photographer captured an incredible moment when a skydiver appeared to fall across the face of the Sun, creating the stunning photo “The Fall of Icarus.”

On November 8, 2025, in the Arizona desert, astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy captured an incredible image called “The Fall of Icarus.” The name refers to the Greek story of Icarus, who fell after flying too close to the Sun.

The photograph shows McCarthy’s friend, Gabriel C. Brown, a skydiver, YouTuber, and musician known as BlackGryph0n, appearing to fall in front of the Sun during free fall.

Brown jumped from about 3,500 feet while McCarthy was positioned roughly 8,000 feet away. McCarthy used a hydrogen-alpha telescope to photograph the Sun’s chromosphere, the layer of the Sun’s atmosphere that can be seen with this type of telescope.

Getting the perfect shot was not easy. The two had to carefully plan and coordinate the jump. McCarthy, Brown, and the pilot stayed connected through three-way communication so they could know where everyone was and when to make each move.