The clouds finally cleared on thursday to reveal a hazy layer rather than clear blue skies, however looking through the scope the layer was at least homogenous in its density and as a result meant I stood at least half a chance of getting an image in. I had to crank up the gain from the usual default 260 all the way upto 425 which meant the resultant image is a little noisier and lacking in contrast than I like when it comes to post processing, however presented at this scale it has turned out ok. This was taken with the Coronado DS40 at f20 with the the DMK31 camera and is a 6 pane mosaic assembled in photoshop CS4.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Monday, 19 August 2013
Ar11823 18th august
I love the detail that is visible in this shot of AR11823 and surrounding solar surface - it is churning with the intense magnetic field lines. Taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera.
south west square 18th August
The southwestern quadrant of the sun was absolutely teeming with activity, including a huge prom on the limb, no doubt one of the many filaments we have had lately that has gradually rotated round and presented us with a different view of itself. 100mm PST mod at 2000mm fl with DMK31 camera.
surge prom 18th august
Just at the end of this observing session, a small surge prom took off on the suns eastern limb.
filament and emerging active region 18th august
An emerging active region and a lonely filament were the only features of note in the northern hemisphere of the sun on sunday 18th august. 100mm 2000mm fl DMK31.
plage and filaments 18th august
A close up of the plage and filaments that are currently riding the solar southern jet stream. Taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm fl DMK31 camera.
Double Stack Disk 18th August
The solar southern hemisphere is still alive with activity - spots, plage, filaments, filaproms, proms - you name it, it's there. This 6 pane mosaic taken with the DS 40 records this well.
AR11817 10 minutes of Fame
Another 10 minutes of fame for this active region, and again, alas no fireworks. It does show some small scale crackles in the plage around the spot, and small, dark, rope like filaments flowing around the magnetic field lines. I think my favourite is the dance of spicules on the solar limb. This animation was made with the 100mm PST mod at 3200mm focal length with the DMK31 camera.
10 Minutes In the Life of AR11818
south western strip 16th august
AR11818 shows some minor flaring in this mosaic taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length with the DMK31 camera.
south eastern square 16th August
lots going on in this southern square of our star! This is a mosaic taken with the 100mm pst mod @ 2000mm focal length with the DMK31 camera.
Double stack full 16th August
There's lots to see on this full disk taken with the double stacked 40mm coronado scope and DMK31 camera!
ar11818 ar11817 CaK 16th august
This south western strip was taken with the 100mm @ 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera.
Sunday, 18 August 2013
ar11823 ar11822 caK 16th August
The south eastern strip taken with the 100mm at 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera and homebrew filter.
CaK Full Disk 16th August
CaK disks are great! They show so much activity on the sun. This one was taken with the 100mm @ f5 with the homebrew filter.
ar11818 16th august
This huge active region has been the star of the show over the past week on the sun, and in the process has thrown off a couple of M-class flares. The image was taken with the 100mm refractor, Lunt solar wedge, baader continuum filter and DMK31 camera.
ar11817 16th August
This is a complicated little active region with entwined magnetic field lines making it unstable. This shot was taken with the 100mm @ 3200mm fl with the DMK31.
AR11820 16th August
Somewhere between a pore and spot - maybe the magnetic field strength isn't enough to generate a proper penumbra? 100mm @ 3200mm fl DMK31.
White Light Full Disk - 16th july
It seems to have been a while since I did a white light full disk, mainly because there has been so little on show, but the southern hemisphere seems to be finally waking up and presents us with some spots to photograph. This image was taken with the 100mm scope at f5 with the DMK31 camera and baader continuum filter.
Saturday, 17 August 2013
Southern Hemisphere Swathe - 13th August
I saw a gap in the endless walls of cloud that were blowing over Anglesey on tuesday morning. Unfortunately was only long enough to grab 2 frames to make this mosaic of the southern hemisphere, however it was worth it. Lots to see in this shot, active regions, filaments, filaproms, prominences and bright plage regions. This image was taken with the Coronado DS40 at f20 with the DMK31 camera.
AR11817 Post Flare 12th August
These 2 sunspot groups grew rapidly in the Suns southern hemisphere from the week beginning 12th august. NASA was concerned and issued a warning of a 30% chance of M-class flares from these. Sure enough on the morning of 12th august AR11817 erupted with a M1.5 class flare. Unfortunately I didn't have clear skies as it went off, however later that afternoon I managed a single shot from between the clouds, the region had subsided somewhat but there was still signs of magnetic loops of plasma from the footprint sunspots.
This image was taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm focal length using a DMK31 camera.
Monday, 12 August 2013
AR11818 Closeup 11th August
This active region is crackling with activity, with small loops and ribbons of solar plasma held aloft by magnetic fields. Judging by the jet spicules on the limb there is more activity going to be rounding into view in the coming days. In order to get this shot I upped the focal length to 3200mm using the 100mm PST mod and DMK31 camera. It's just on the limits of the seeing conditions but I reckon this image works!
North West Prom 11th August
A large prominence was visible on the limb, and rope like rivers of plasma can be seen on the disk in this shot taken with the 100mm PST mod at 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera.
North East Prom 11th August
A lovely prominence was visible on the north eastern limb of the sun on saturday. I love the detail in the spicules that is visible! Taken with the 100mm at 2000mm fl with the DMK31 camera.
ar11809 11th august
There's not a great deal of activity left in this active region as it draws ever closer to the western limb, however the filament should turn into and interesting prominence as it rounds the edge of our star. Taken with the 100mm at 2000mm fl with the DMK31.
Delicate Filament 11th August
Just over the limb, this filament was really easy in the double stack setup, but altogether more tricky in single stack. Still, good seeing and transparency helped to tease out the delicate details in this image taken with the 100mm at 2000mm fl with the dmk31.
Southern Swathe 11th August
The sun finally came out (in between clouds!) on saturday afternoon here in Anglesey, so I was keen to build on the mornings imaging session where I got a lovely full disk. I tried for some time with my double stack system, however now have a dilemma to solve; If I run the optical train with everything flush there are reflections I need to deal with, I have a perfectly on band double stack image, but there is a ghost reflection partially superimposed over the top of the disk. If I tilt the etalon assembly, then apart from creating a 'sweet band' because it is tilted beyond its operational range then it also causes a shift of focus across the field of view as the refocusing optics are also tilted. So, a problem to solve, I think the route I will follow is to try and find a circular polariser to mount between the 2 etalon assemblies, however this is not straight forward and I need to find one that has a high transmission at ha wavelengths... hmmm... Anyway, after much twisting and tilting I decided to resort back to single stack and got this mosaic of the swathe of activity that has suddenly appeared in the suns southern hemisphere. This was taken with the 100mm at 2000mm focal length using the DMK31 camera. I'm pretty pleased with the detail that has come out!
Double Stack Sun 11th August
Sunday morning dawned with low cloud, however after checking sat24.com I realised there was a clear band heading stright for us in Anglesey where we are currently on holiday. I knew I had about 15 minutes at most of clear skies and so opted for the Coronado double stack 40mm knowing I could set it up (and down!) quickly. I was not to be disappointed, the sun was putting on quite a show with great prominences, active regions and a huge filament! I tried a new method of sharpening in post processing in Photoshop CS4 which seems to have recovered some really fine detail. This is a 6 pane mosaic taken with the DS40, 2x barlow and DMK31 camera.
Friday, 9 August 2013
Filament & ar11814 Double Stacked - 8th August
A second run out for the new PST double stack module; a distinct procedure meant setting the etalons up with respect to each other and the OTA was much quicker. The left hand side of these images is out of focus due to some slip in one of the adapters, but have made a new one of these now so should hopefully remedy it. I'm really liking the extra detail double stacking brings out, in particular on filaments as can be seen in this image taken with the 70mm scope, 1.6x barlow and DMK31 camera.
ar11809 & ar11810 Double Stacked 8th August
This shot was taken with the 70mm PST mod double stacked using the 1.6x barlow. I love the way the solar surface has a fluffy almost 3D appearance to it!
Sunday, 4 August 2013
ar11801 Double Stacked - 3rd August
For sometime now I have been planning to make a double stack module for my PST mod. When I recently acquired another etalon, upon amassing all the necessary adapters and bits I was ready to go. I had tried this previously but had been plagued by both reflections and sweetspotting issues. However since then have given the matter much thought and between the 2 etalons had make sure there were antireflective coatings a plenty. It took me some time to get both etalons working as an effective double stack unit, they both have to be rotated to their optimum position relative to the OTA, and then also rotated to optimum position to each other to throw reflections and to achieve an even image. Despite the worst conditions possible to do this - fast passing clouds and rain showers, I was pleased with the results I got. With this in mind the next step is to 'clock' the etalons with respect to each other so that optimum performance can be achieved quickly when setting up. This shot was taken with the 100mm at 1600mm focal length with the DMK31 camera.
ar11812 Double Stack 3rd august
Even though this is a quiet piece of the suns disk the double stacked PST module on the 100mm refractor really does show off the small scale texture on the suns surface. I love the delicate little prominence!
Central Swathe In Double stack - 3rd August
Taken with the 100mm TAL refractor and PST double stack module at 1600mm focal length, conditions meant this image is a little softer than would like, but for a first light with the double stack module i'm pleased.
Double Stack Full Disk With the 70mm - 3rd August
It took a while to get the frame on band and even enough to stack panes for this full disk but got there in the end. Conditions were about as bad as you can get for this - fast moving clouds interrupted the view on numerous occasions and slow moving bands of higher level haze played hell with the transparency. OK, there is banding on this image, but for a first light I don't think has come out too bad. This is 12 panes with double stacked PST mod with the 1.6x barlow lens and DMK31 camera.
Friday, 2 August 2013
ar11809 Closeup 1st August
August started with a 'heat-blip' here in the UK, with the hottest temperatures for several years being recorded. I thought this might have an adverse effect on the seeing conditions but I could not be more wrong. Seeing was very very good and I quickly upped the focal length from 2000mm to 3200mm on the 100mm PST mod, even at this focal length results were very good, and the picture above shows the fiery nature of our star. It should be cloudy for months now, as I finally have all the components I need to do a double stack PST mod. Early attempts were thwarted by reflections from between the 2 etalons, but now I think I (hopefully!) have a solution to this. As soon as the sun returns from behind the clouds I will do a fest light test - fingers crossed!
ar11808 Closeup 1st august
I thought this active region was particularly pretty even if it is not very active.
ar11808 ar11809 Closeup 1st august
The closeup version of this frame is again taken with the 100mm pst mod but is a 6 pane mosaic taken at 3200mm focal length. The full size version on flickr has lots of detail!
ar11808 ar11809 1st August
Taken with the 100mm pst mod at f20 this 4 pane mosaic shows this nice active bit of sun around these 2 active regions.
ar11810 1st august
Still under a sea of plasma as it rounded the limb, this active region looks like could have some promise in the days ahead - assuming the weather allows.
ar11801 ar11807 Closeup 1st August
Zooming in with a bit of colour this pair of active regions were looking good on the limb.
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