This small active region is crackling with activity with ropes of plasma leaping along magnetic field lines. Could well be one to watch developing further in the days ahead. Taken with the 100mm PST mod @ 2000mm fl with DMK31 camera.
Sunday, 30 June 2013
Solar Western Swathe 30th June
Seeing was very turbulent today on what was the hottest day of the year so far, the area around the limb is quite soft, but it was nice after so long to get some imaging in. Taken with the 100mm PST mod @ 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera.
Saturday, 29 June 2013
Some Quick Sun Between the Clouds - 29th June
I had my scope setup for sometime this saturday in the optimistic hope of a break in the clouds. I got one, and admittedly only one and managed to get this quick shot of departing active region AR11777. This was taken with the 70mm PST mod at f11 with a DMK31 camera.
Flaming June?!?!?
June has been an absolutely awful month from my perspective for solar observing, since mid month the weather has been cloudy or raining, and just to torment me even further often sunny when i'm at work! The sun has typically been quite busy, with a large cluster of active regions transiting the disk in the 3rd week, and on the 28th active region AR11777 threw off a C-class flare and in the process produced this lovely coronal mass ejection seen above as imaged by the SOHO space probe. In addition a large coronal hole has been throwing off a steady stream into space that was squarely Earth directed and produced a large geomagnetic storm with a Kp of 7. This has produced aurora visible down to latitude 50 degrees north, however, as might be expected cloud cover across much of the UK prevented any observations of it. The only glimmer of hope is that tomorrow is forecast to be sunny, so may just yet get another observation in before the month is out. I can only hope that July offers more in the way of clear skies, though looking at the long range weather forecast this does not seem likely...
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Needle Prom 16th June
A long thin needle prom stood proud on the Suns south-eastern limb today. This shot taken with the 70mm PST mod at 1000mm focal length shows just how large it was; if you look carefully you can see a scaled overlay of the Earth - Moon system superimposed over the top. Pretty big!
ar11770 ha 16th June
The collection of new active regions that have rounded the limb can be seen well in this picture taken with the 70mm PST mod at 1000mm focal length with a DMK31 camera.
ar11768 Ha 16th June
Taken with the 70mm PST mod at 1000mm fl ar11768 will be passing over the western limb of our star in the next couple of days. It is quite possible the large filament above it will turn into a lovely prominence as it rounds the limb.
Ha Full Disk 16th June
Taken with the Coronado DS40 scope at f20 this 6 pane mosaic shows just how much was happening on our star today. The bright plage on the eastern limb surrounds numerous new active regions, However the proms were the feature that really stood out today, in particular the long needle prom in the southern hemisphere.
cak full disk 16th June
taken with the 40mm scope at 400mm focal length and homebrew filter, there is all of a sudden a lot happening on the suns disk. Look carefully at the 7 o'clock position and you can see the long needle prom visible in this one shot.
WL Full Disk 16th June
After a spell of inactivity on the Earth side of the solar disk there is finally a return of numerous active regions on the eastern hemisphere of the sun. Taken with the 40mm @ 400mm fl with baader continuum filter and DMK31 camera.
Solar Article In July Sky at Night Magazine
I was lucky enough to have my first article published in the BBC Sky and Night magazine July issue on choosing a narrowband solarscope. I was initially approached about writing for the magazine in april, and was given my first article with a May deadline to be published in the July issue. Imagine my surprise when not only did I have my double page article published, but also had a promo for it with my mugshot on the inside front cover as can be seen above. The article can be seen below, and hopefully many more to come!
Sunday, 9 June 2013
cak proms 9th june
A slightly unusual view of our star; taken with the 40mm at 400mm focal length, I combined a disk shot of the sun in CaK light, then exposed for the thin and wispy proms.
Ha full disk 9th June
Our sun is quiet at the moment, but with the DS40 there is still a decent amount to see!
ar11765 Ha 9th June
Poor seeing today softened the image up a bit with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm fl DMK31 camera.
White Light full disk 9th June
Our sun is quiet at the moment! Taken with the 40mm @ 400mm fl DMK31 & solar continuum filter.
Saturdays Cak Sun - 8th June
I took this shot with the 100mm Tal refractor and focal reducer to give me f5 with the DMK31. I exposed this during processing to try and bring out the proms, however these are very faint, and you have to look very hard to see them. The easiest is a small surge prom at the 2 o'clock position.
AR11765 White Light 8th June
I used the 127mm refractor to get this closeup shot of AR11765 at a focal length of 3500mm using the DMK31. Using the Lunt solar wedge without any additional neutral density filtration, when used with a UV/IR cut and a Baader solar continuum filter I was able to use an exposure time of 1/5000th second to freeze the seeing. I'm pleased with this shot as it is just beginning to show the polygonal shape of the granulation cells caused as a result of convection on the sun. The long focal length was achieved by stacking barlows, however the extra glass does have a subtle effect of reducing some contrast and this approach can be plagued with dust bunnies if not careful. However, all this aside i'm pleased with what is one of my best whitelight shots for a while.
AR11765 ha 8th June
All the Ha images from saturday were taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length using the DMK31 camera. This is the only real active region on the suns disk at the moment, but it is certainly interesting to look at.
ha full disk 8th June
Taken with the Coronado DS40 the sun was quiet in terms of active regions visible, but there is always plenty to see in the tight bandpass that a double stacked scope delivers.
Friday, 7 June 2013
Big Orange Sun - 6th June
Sunny weather reigns supreme here in the UK, with the hottest day of the year so far in many places in the country. Despite the warm temperatures the sun itself is remarkably quiet, most of the activity about to pass over the western limb with only newly developing active region sitting pretty much dead centre on the solar disk. Sadly looking at the STEREO spaceprobe images nothing is about to come round the limb any time soon. Hopefull will pick up again for the weeknd!!
CaK Sun 6th June
Taken with the 40mm scope at 800mm focal length using the DMK31 camera. This is a 6 pane mosaic.
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
ha full disk 4th June
All the activity on the sun at the current time is heading rapidly towards the western limb, and will slowly but surely pass out of view in the next couple of days. Sunspot AR11762 in the sun's southern hemisphere has developed a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbours energy for X-class solar flares. So far, however, the sunspot is producing only low-level B- and C-class eruptions. The calm before the storm? Stay tuned. taken with the DS40 @ f10, DMK31 camera.
ar11762 4th June
This is the only really active part of the sun at the moment. Taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length and DMK31 camera.
wl full disk 4th June
The sun is getting very sparse in terms of sunspots again, though plage on the eastern limb suggests something is on the way over. taken with the 40mm @ f10, DMK31 camera.
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
CaK full disk 2nd june
For sometime now I have been looking to have a 'portable' scope that go on a camera tripod and produce views in 3 wavelengths. I already own a Coronado SM40 scope, however have not really used it as the objective lens displayed quite strong astigmatism, however recently i was able to replace the objective lens, and fortunately the new one is optically as would be expected. I decided to try this scope (by removing the etalons!) with my CaK filters and Baader Solar Continuum filters, this give a near full disk view at the native 40mm aperture 400mm focal length with the DMK31 camera. This setup also works with the focal reducer to give smaller image scale if the setup is not mounted on a tracking mount, or for instance if there is a large prominence lift off that needs to be captured. The 3 full disk images below were all captured with this setup, and for the image scale presented here works really well. Now I just need to get a small portable tracking mount!
wl full disk 2nd june
Taken with the 40mm @ 400mm focal length with baader solar continuum filter and DMK31 camera.
Ar11762 Ha 2nd june
New active region AR11762 shows plasma flowing around the magnetic field lines very well in this shot taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length with the DMK31.
ar11762 Ha 100mm f20 2nd June
This active region has plenty of plasma flowing around in it. Taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length DMk31 camera.
Sunday, 2 June 2013
DS40 Ha Full Disk 31st May
The sun continues to put on a fiery face in the summer like weather we are currently having here in the UK and this shown well in this full disk shot taken with a double stacked Coronado SM40 scope. This has recently had a bit of a 'rejuvenation' following the replacement of its objective lens and the original displayed astigmatism. I've also finally been able to release a allen stud on the hinge plate on one of the etalons to allow me to adjust it and in the process get a tighter bandwidth and resultant image with plenty of detail. The picture above was taken at f20, 800mm focal length using a DMK31 camera, and is a mosaic of 6 individual panes.
ar11760 wl 31st May
New active region ar11760 seems nice and quiet with only a few small spots and pores and limited plage visible. Taken with the 100mm frac at 3200mm focal length.
ar11757 wl 31st May
Taken with the 100mm frac at 3200mm focal length using Baader continuum filter and Lunt solar wedge with a DMK31 camera.
ar11756 Ha 31st May
I've really enjoyed following this active region over the past couple of weeks, there has always been plenty going on it with it and presenting a different view each day. Now as it nears the limb the choppy waves of plasma just take on a more 3D appearance. Taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length with a DMK31 camera.
ar11755 Ha 31st May
Nothing but a choppy sea of plasma for this active region that is slowly dying away. Taken with the 100mm PST mod at f32.
ar11757 cak 31st May
Another small and quiet active region. Taken with the 100mm frac at 2000mm focal length.
ar11755 CaK 31st May
This 'former' active region has died away to nothing more than a patch of plage with a few very small spots / pores.
AR11760 CaK 31st may
A new but relatively unimpressive active region drifts over the solar limb. Taken with the 100mm frac at f20.
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