Sunday 30 September 2012

Saturdays Sun - 29th September

south west quadrant by Mark Townley
south west quadrant, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

My last view of the sun for the month of september, and what a view greeted me through the eyepeice: A huge prominence on the limb and 2 huge single sunspots, both larger than Earth. Taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with a DMK31. This is a mosaic of 6 individual panes.

AR11579 & AR11582 Closeup 29th September

ar11579 ar11582 by Mark Townley
ar11579 ar11582, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

These two are huge spots and are shown in closeup taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with the DMK31.

Big Diffuse Prom - 29th September

big prom by Mark Townley
big prom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

A close up of the big prom that was visible...

AR11575 & AR11577 Departing 29th September

ar11575 ar11577 by Mark Townley
ar11575 ar11577, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

As this pair of active regions pass over the solar limb there is a wealth of looping and snaking plasma.

Flame Prom 29th September

flame prom by Mark Townley
flame prom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

I love these delicate little flame proms!

Bird Prom 29th September

bird prom by Mark Townley
bird prom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

This one reminded me of a bird gliding over the solar surface...

Small Loop Prom 29th September

small loop prom by Mark Townley
small loop prom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Filament 29th September

filament by Mark Townley
filament, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

An interesting filament graced the centre of the solar disk on saturday...

ar11580 29th September

ar11580 by Mark Townley
ar11580, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Sunday 23 September 2012

Equinoctial Mega-Prom 22nd September

Big Prom Closeup colour by Mark Townley
Big Prom Closeup colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Using the 127mm solar scope at 2250mm fl the suns surface really starts to taking on a sense of depth with an almost 3D appearance and this image shows this well. A huge mega-prom is visible on the limb aswell as numerous filaments and also emerging active regions. A great days solar observing on the autumn equinox!

ar11575 22nd September

ar11575 by Mark Townley
ar11575, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Taken with the 127mm PST mod at 2250mm fl with the DMK31.

AR11576 22nd September

ar11576 by Mark Townley
ar11576, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Taken with the 127mm @ 2250mm fl with the DMK31.

South Western Quadrant 22nd September

Big mosaic colour by Mark Townley
Big mosaic colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Zooming into the southwestern quadrant of out star there was plenty to see using the 127mm PST mod at 1900mm fl with the DMK31 camera. This is a mosaic of ~9 panes.

Ha Overview 22nd September

Ha Colour by Mark Townley
Ha Colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

A lovely disk on the last gasp of summer as the sun slips into the southern side of the celestial equator. Taken with the DS40 @ f16 with the DMK31.

AR11575 22nd September

AR11575 cak by Mark Townley
AR11575 cak, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Zooming in with the 100mm frac at f14, there is plenty to be seen around AR11575 at CaK wavelengths.

CaK Full Disk 22nd September

CaK colour by Mark Townley
CaK colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Despite a lack of sunspots, the white froth indicative of strong magnetic fields indicate that activity is just beneath the suns surface...

Taken with the 70mm @ f9 homemade CaK filter, DMK31.

White Light Overview 22nd September

WL by Mark Townley
WL, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Apart from the large spot group all is quiet at this wavelength...

ar11575 22nd September

ar11575 wl by Mark Townley
ar11575 wl, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Taken with the 70mm frac and 2.5x powermate, Lunt solar wedge and baader continuum filter.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

Full Disk Trio 19th September

full disk trio by Mark Townley
full disk trio, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

As active regions 11569 & 11571 slowly head towards the suns western limb and out of view in the days ahead, they are replaced on the eastern limb by AR11575, however this is just the first of many and in the days ahead solar activity will increase significantly with flaring and auroral activity all definite possibilities. Now, all we need is clear skies to appreciate it...

Ha Full Disk 19th September

Ha Full Disk by Mark Townley
Ha Full Disk, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Quiet at the moment, but not for long! Taken with the DS40 @ f10.5 DMK31.

CaK Sun 19th September

CaK full disk by Mark Townley
CaK full disk, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Things are going to get busy at these wavelengths in the days ahead!

White Light Full Disk - 19th September

WL full disk by Mark Townley
WL full disk, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

A quick shot before sunset with the 70mm at f6, Lunt solar wedge and Baader Continuum Filter.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

What's That Coming Over The Limb? Solar Activity Increasing 18th September

eastern limb by Mark Townley
eastern limb, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

After a week with solar activity levels being at very low to low, things are about to change: With a large as yet undesignated large single spot just rounding the limb with what appears to be minor flaring activity. There is a forest of prominences which is the tell tale sign of magnetic field lines associated with active regions holding solar plasma aloft. In the days ahead we can expect lots more to see on our star!

Taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with the DMK31 CCD camera.

AR11569 & AR11571 Departing - 18th September

western limb by Mark Townley
western limb, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

For the past week the only real features of note has been this spot pairing; as they get nearer the limb they still put on a photogenic show, especially as they are now joined by a nice prominence!

Sunday 16 September 2012

AR11569 & AR11571 16th September

ar11569 ar11571 by Mark Townley
ar11569 ar11571, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Only the briefest patch of blue sky this sunday morning, however fortunately was able to capitalise on it: Solar activity is currently at very low levels, but taking a closer look at active regions 11569 & 11571 shows there is plenty going on at the small scale. Taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with a DMK31 camera.

Saturday 15 September 2012

AR11566 & Filament 15th September

AR11566 by Mark Townley
AR11566, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

This is my favourite image from the brief run I managed on saturday 15th september, despite being close to the limb AR11566 still shows signs of some activity. On the limb itself there is a lovely little prominence, and on the disk a filament hovvers above the solar surface. All todays images taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with the DMK31.

http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/

AR11569 & AR11571 15th September

AR11569 AR11571 by Mark Townley
AR11569 AR11571, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Lots of fine detail in this image despite both large sunspots being in a state of decay as can be seen by their light bridges crossing their umbra.

Western Prom & Disk 15th September

prom by Mark Townley
prom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Despite a shorter exposure, this image reveals a better image of the prom on the western limb than the previous image. Not much happening on the surface here!

Western Proms - 15th September

western prom by Mark Townley
western prom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Despite doing a longer exposure, haze and poor seeing have failed to reveal any further details in this prominence.

Floaty Filaprom - saturday 15th September

filaprom by Mark Townley
filaprom, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

A cool ribbon on plasma is draped around the solar limb and onto the disk forming this diffuse filaprom.

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun - 9th September


Managed to get my first plane transit of a plane coming into land into Birmingham International Airport on sunday morning just as the sun had cleared the rooftops of the houses.  Despite living under several flight paths here in Brierley Hills this is the first time in several years I have managed to photograph this.  Taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with a DMK31 CCD camera.

CaK western limb 9th September

CaK western limb colour by Mark Townley
CaK western limb colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Tried something completely different on sunday - used the 100mm Tal refractor @ f14 with the homemade CaK filter to do a closeup of todays active regions. This scope seems to perform really well at these wavelengths - will have to use it again!

CaK eastern limb 9th September

CaK eastern limb colour by Mark Townley
CaK eastern limb colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

CaK full disk 9th september

CaK full disk colour by Mark Townley
CaK full disk colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Solar Western Limb in Ha 9th September

Lovely set of active regions heading towards the solar limb! Taken with 127mm @ 1900mm fl DMK31.

Sun Eastern Limb in Ha - 9th September

sun eastern limb colour by Mark Townley
sun eastern limb colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

A nice strip of sun that rotated into view. Taken with the 127mm @ 1900m fl DMK31.

Ha Full Disk 9th September

Ha Full Disk colour by Mark Townley
Ha Full Disk colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Despite a bit of background haze sundays disk still came out. Taken with the DS40 @ f16 with the DMK31, this is a 6 pane mosaic.

Sunday Proms 9th september

prom 5 by Mark Townley
prom 5, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

All prom shots taken with the 127mm SS @ 1900mm fl with the DMk31.

Sunday Prom 9th September

prom 4 by Mark Townley
prom 4, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Sunday Prom 9th September

prom 3 by Mark Townley
prom 3, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Sunday Prom 9th September

prom 2 by Mark Townley
prom 2, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Sunday Prom - 9th September

prom 1 by Mark Townley
prom 1, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Sundays Sun In Whitelight - 9th September

sun western limb wl by Mark Townley
sun western limb wl, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Taken with the 100mm Tal refractor using the Lunt wedge, baader continuum filter and IR/UV cut. 100mm @ f10 DMK31.

Sundays Sun In Whitelight - 9th September

sun eastern limb wl by Mark Townley
sun eastern limb wl, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Departing Sunspots - 8th september

ar11562 ar11564 by Mark Townley
ar11562 ar11564, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

A frustrating day of high cirrus cloud meant the sunshine was milky today with diffuse shadows on the ground. This made solar imaging difficult, but I did manage to get this shot, taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl with the DMK31. It makes for a photogenic grouping on the sun; hopefully sunday will offer clearer skies.

Flame Proms - 8th September

prom 2 by Mark Townley
prom 2, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Couple of nice flame proms around the suns south pole today. Taken with the 127mm @ 1900mm fl DMK31.

Prominence - 8th September

prom 1 by Mark Townley
prom 1, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Wednesday 5 September 2012

Western Sunshine Strip 5th September

western strip by Mark Townley
western strip, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

More autumunal sunshine in this september indian summer we are currently experiencing. A host of interesting features including a transient jet of cooler plasma being shot of micro flaring ar11560. Long may this glorious weather continue!

AR11654 5th September

ar11654 by Mark Townley
ar11654, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

Poor conditions but better than nothing!

Monday 3 September 2012

Indian Summer Sunshine - 3rd September

Ha Full Disk Colour by Mark Townley
Ha Full Disk Colour, a photo by Mark Townley on Flickr.

The British weather is well and truly living up to tradition, and now that we are technically into autumn, warm weather and sunshine finally arrives in the all to familiar sepetember indian summer. The sun is putting on a fiery glow for this, with a whole host of large prominences around the limb, filaments - dark sinuos clouds of cool plasma held aloft by magnetic fields, and bright white regions of hot plasma associated with flaring. This pic was taken with the DS40 @ f16 and DMK31 camera.