AR12403 in Ha 19th August

This little active region as appeared on the limb has developed very rapidly, and at the time of this post has been crackling away with C-class flares and also a small M class flare.  Certainly one to keep an eye on in the coming days ahead.  This image was taken in poor conditions with variable transparency caused by high clouds, but, given the conditions has come out better than expected.  Taken with the 125mm scope at 3.8m focal length with the Baader Solar Telecompressor and the PGR Blackfly gigE IMX249 camera.

AR12401 Ha 19th August

A quick closeup of this small active region taken in rather poor conditions with the 125mm scope, Quark and PGR Blackfly.

Ha Full Disk 19th August

Unexpected clearish (read hazy) skies allowed me a brief window in what has been a poor summer of solar with the weather to capture a few shots.  The full disk here was taken with the Coronado DS40 at 650mm focal length with the PGR Blackfly IMX249 GigE camera.

Ha Full Disk 8th August

The sun seems to be covered in filaments at the moment, and for a change some big proms, even if they were faint.  It was a nice looking disk that I was pleased to get a picture  of.  Taken with the DS40 at 650mm focal length with the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.

CaK Full Disk - 8th August

It was an interesting full disk taken on saturday with the 40mm scope at 650mm focal length with the homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.

AR12396 in CaK 8th August

The seeing didn't really allow the clarity I would have liked with this image, but it was nice to be able to get a shot of it.  Taken with the ED60 at 1900mm focal length with the homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.

AR12394 in CaK 8th August

Seeing and transparency were disappointing on saturday morning despite a forecast of grandeur from the weatherman.  This little active region is fairly quiet as it heads towards the limb in this shot taken with the ED60 at 1900mm focal length with the homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.

AR12396 Compared to Earth - 7th August

This really is a large active region, not the biggest we've had this solar cycle but a big one never the less.  There was just enough gap in the endless clouds this afternoon to get a capture of this turbulent maelstrom of plasma and magnetism with the 125mm scope with the Daystar Quark, Baader Solar Telecompressor and the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.  I've included a scale of Earth on the image to show just how large these features on the sun actually are.  Here's a black and white version of the active region taken at a similar time:

AR12396 in Ha - 6th August

I was worried with a new huge active region appearing this would destine the British weather to be appalling for weeks, well yesterday I got a brief gap late in the afternoon so decided to get out and observe it.  Seeing was all over the place as I was imaging in tight gaps in between bands of clouds. By taking dozens of imaging runs, and then stacking these, I was able to pick the sharpest from that session which is the image above - lucky imaging!  The shot was taken with the Skywatcher ED80 refractor, Daystar Quark, Baader Solar Telecompressor giving a 0.75x reduction factor, and the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.  Stacking done in Autostakkert, with post processing done in IMppG and Photoshop CS6.

AR12394 in Ha - 6th August

A quick look at this active region as it heads towards the suns western limb, taken with the ED80, Daystar Quark, Baader solar telecompressor and the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.  There was haze appearing when the shot was taken which meant a bit more work in post processing to recover some of the details and contrast.

Ha Full Disk 6th August

A lot going on and a lot to see on the sun again at the moment.  Just about every solar feature you can think about.  This shot taken with the Coronado DS40 at 650mm focal length with the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.

CaK Full Disk 6th August

The new active region is a monster when seen in context with the rest of the suns disk like this, activity seems to be on the rise with potentially more active regions on their way around the eastern limb.  I took the shot above with the 40mm at 650mm fl, and the shot below with the 60mm at 1050mm focal length.  Both with the homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.

AR12396 in CaK - 6th August

It's about time we had a decent active region, and this one has developed nicely over the past couple of days.  The clouds cleared for long enough to get a view of it, but poor seeing didn't help detail levels.  Taken with the ED60 at 1900mm focal length with the homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.  Hoping conditions are slightly better today for another view as this active region has now started flaring.

AR12394 in CaK - 6th August

The seeing conditions weren't really up to the 1900mm focal length I used with the 60mm scope for this shot, but after such a cloudy summer any shots will pass at the moment.

CaK Full Disk 2nd August

The proms were just about visible in this CaK full disk from the 2nd august,  seeing wasn't great at all, and even with the 40mm scope at 650mm focal length the resulting image is not as sharp as I know it can be.  Still, better than no sun at all!  

Ha Full Disk 2nd August

Sunday offered challenging conditions to try and capture the sun, with despite warm temperatures lots of passing clouds and few decent gaps.  This image was taken with the DS40 at 650mm focal length with the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.

AR12394 in Ha - 31st July

These active regions that had recently rotated into view were captured using the 125mm refractor, Daystar Quark, Baader Solar Telecompressor operating at a reduction factor of 0.75x and the PGR Blackfly gigE IMX249 camera.

AR12391 & AR12393 in Ha - 31st July

The 125mm scope did not like the seeing conditions and this image is a bit soft viewed at native size, but i'm really pleased with the image scale I get with it and the Daystar Quark in conjunction with the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.

AR12389 in Ha 31st July

Despite it looking quite dramatic, this little active region really is quiet and hasn't really done very much on it's journey across the face of the sun.  Taken with the 125mm scope, Quark and the PGR Blackfly IMX249.

Filaments in Ha - 31st July

The dark snaking filaments are cooler clouds of plasma held aloft the surface of the sun by intense magnetic field lines.  This image was taken with the 125mm scope, Daystar Quark, Baader solar telecompressor and the PGR Blackfly GigE IMX249 camera.

AR12391 in Ha 30th July

I finally got round to finishing a mod off I started some time ago, sorting out the objective on my Meade 127mm refractor.  I have it stopped down to 125mm and is sporting a Beloptik Tri-band ERF internally to cut back energy levels so I can use it with the Daystar Quark safely.  These are the first images from it and have to say i'm pretty pleased.  I have a nice range of focal lengths and apertures I can use now depending on seeing to go all the way from full disk to hi-res closeups like this.  The Baader solar telecompressor was used to reduce the image scale back a bit.  This is slightly off band but still a nice result I think.

AR12390 in Ha 30th July

A closeup of this active region as it heads towards the western limb taken with the newly rejuvenated 125mm frac, Daystar Quark, Baader Solar telecompressor and the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.

AR12389 in Ha 30th July

A closeup of this little active region taken with the 125mm frac, Daystar Quark and the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.

Closeups With The Quark 30th July

A couple more closeups here taken with the 125mm scope and Daystar Quark with the PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.