AR12814 in CaK - 12th April

I imaged at 50mm f40 with the IMX174 camera for this image in an attempt to try and work within the less than ideal seeing conditions, seems to have worked ok as this image shows. The SDO has been down and NASA seems somewhat reluctant to designate it as an active region, but there are quite clearly a number of spots within it, and activity has picked up since the day before. Pleased with the scale of this image given comnditions in the late afternoon sunshine.

CaK Full Disk 12th April

I wasn't able to observe today until 5pm, by which time there was cumulus cloud scudding around and having a detrimental effect on seeing. As a result I decided to go for this disk at 50mm f20 which seemed to reign things in a bit and give a reasonable result.

New Sunspot - AR12814 in CaK - 11th April

A new active region is forming on the sun as can be seen in the image above. Taken with the 100mm scope at f40 with the homebrew CaK filter and IMX174 camera. I was able to shoot an animation that spans a period of 4 minutes and shows just how dynamic our sun actually is! Very pleased with how todays images have all come out!

CaK Full Disk 11th April

A new active region is forming on the sun as can be seen on this disk overview. Taken with 60mm f16.

CaK Full Disk 10th April

Things are pretty quiet on the sun at the moment as this full disk overview shows, although the proms and chromospheric fringe can be see well in this image. Taken with the home brew CaK filer with the 60mm scope at f16.

Plage in Calcium Light 10th April

Conditions weren't great but I went for a closeup of this plage on the surface of the sun, the last image looks to be developing into something a bit more active. Taken with the 100mm at f40 with the home brew CaK filter and the IMX174 camera.

Decaying Plage in CaK 6th April

This small area of activity had died down a bit by the 6th April, but a few days before it was sporting a few pores. Sadly it didn't develop into anything more substantial. The seeing was surprisingly better than both I expected or forecast first thing, so I decided to chance it and have a go with the 100mm scope at f46, shooting 6000 frame avis I figured would give me enough raw data to work with, and this is indeed the case. This image shows the fluffy cloud like view that you get with on band closeup CAK views, showing a height somewhere between 1000-2000km up in the chromosphere. I pretty pleased with the results as day to day conditions mean getting hi-res images like this are quite hard to come by.

AR12813 in CaK 6th April

I took a close up view of AR12813 in CaK, this active region is slowly but surely decaying away as it approaches the suns western limb, but it has had some activity over the last several days. Taken with the 100mm at f46 using the homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Grasshopper IMX174 camera.

Plage Activity on The NE Limb in CaK 6th April

I could see a small patch of bright plage forming on the suns north eastern limb so decided to take a closer look at it in Calcium light at 100mm f46 using the IMX174 camera. Sadly the region didn't develop into anything more significant.

CaK Full Disk 6th April

The sun is still very quiet at all wavelengths at the moment all bar a few patches of plage. This disk was taken with the 60mm at f16 using the home brew CaK filter.

CaK Full Disk 5th April

The seeing really wasn't up to muc, but it did give me a chance to play with the setup and tuning of my calcium filter, which gives improved contrast now. Taken at 60mm f16, when the tuning is right on the filter the contrast really pops out, making the surface darker and the bright points brighter. The chromospheric fringe and prominences are also easier to see when the filter is on band.

Ha Full Disk 5th April

The sun is quiet at the moment, a few very samll slightluy active patches and the usual filaments in polar regions. Hopefully things will pick up soon! Taken with the DS50 setup.

CaK Full Disk - 4th April

There were nice views of the suns full disk today in CaK wavelengths taken with the 60mm f16 scope.

Disturbed Plage in The Southern Hemisphere - Ha & CaK - 4th July

Disturbed plage and not much else seemed to be the theme of the sun on the 4th April as these 2 images show. Taken with the 120mm scope at f28 with the Daystar Quark, home brew CaK filter and the PGR Grasshopped IMX camera. I like to be able to image both wavelengths at the same scale as I feel this gives good comparison. Need to be able to do this in Na wavelengths too...

Plage on the Eastern Limb - Ha & CaK 4th April

Both these small areas of plage on the eastern limb never really developed into anything all bar an occasional pore here and there. Taken with the 120mm scope at f28 using a Daystar Quark, home brew CaK filter and the PGR Grasshopped IMX174 camera.