Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has achieved a new pinnacle of his craft with the image titled “The Fall of Icarus,” a single-frame photograph that he terms his “most preposterously fake-looking real photo.” This remarkable piece of work captures skydiver Gabriel C. Brown in perfect silhouette against the blazing, highly detailed surface of the Sun’s chromosphere. The extraordinary success was the result of a multi-month effort involving complex calculations to ensure the skydiver’s 3,500-foot jump was precisely aligned with McCarthy’s hydrogen-alpha solar telescope, positioned 1.5 miles away. Ultimately, the photograph represents the triumph of six rigorous attempts to achieve the necessary alignment, setting a new bar for precision, timing, and creativity in both high-altitude acrobatics and telescopic photography.