AR12818-21 in Ha - 26th April

This active region has really developed over 24 hours, spawing a number of new spots, and AR designations from NOAA too. I was racing high cloud for this image which I took after work. Stacking 64 out of 4000 images gave a usable result, even if the image had to be chewed a bit in ImPPG. Taken with the Coronado DS90 and the ZWO290mm camera which i'm very much liking as a system that appears to have a real synergy. Looking forward to using it more in the weeks ahead as we move forward in the new solar cycle.

AR12818 in Ha - 25th April

This active region looks quite fiery in this image, and certainly developed nicely in the days ahead. Taken with the Coronado DS90 and the ZWO290mm camera.

AR12817 in Ha 25th April

Not much life left in this little active region as it headed towards the suns western limb, but after so long with nothing to see it's nice to have activity even if it is small scale. Taken with the Coronado DS90 and the ZWO290mm camera.

AR12816 in Ha 25th April

A quick shot of this active region and it's filaments taken before it passed over the suns western limb, taken with the Coronado DS90 and the ZWO290mm camera which i'm quite liking with this setup!

CaK Full Disk 24th April

Taken at 50mm f20 this disk is a bit soft when looking full size, 40mmm f20 would have probably been better, but given the awful seeing conditions on Saturday afternoon this is better than nothing and i'll certainly take it!

Ha Swathe 24th April

Took most of the day for the high cloud and haze to clear, by which time the seeing really was appaling. This shot came out well and shows todays activity in Ha nicely. Taken with a Lunt50 etalon on the 60mm/f6 frac, with a Coronado Cemax 2x barlow and the ZWO ASI290mm camera. The camera is new to me and i'm enjoying exploring using it, I can see it will likely work well with the Coronado SM90 in either single stack or double stack mode, just need the clear skies to try this combination!

AR12818 in CaK 24th April

I was keen to test out my new ZWO ASI290mm camera this morning, alas weather conditions were not in my favour with an ever increasing haze hindering transparency and contrast, and poor seeing meaning I had to stop the scope down to 90mm in an attempt to work within the constraints of the conditions. This image was taken at f40, which with the 290mm is most definitely oversampling. However exposure time was still short with little gain which is testament to the sensitivity of this camera at 393nm, which has got to be a good thing. Hoping the haze clears soon so I can explore it's capabilities some more.

Filaprom! 16th April

These regions are easy with double stacked Ha as the contrast is increased as a result of reduced contiunuum leakage.

AR12815 16th April

This new little active region was bursting into life nicely when these images were taken. 120mm Cak and 127mm Ha.

AR12816 16th April

Taken at 120mm in CaK and 127mm in Ha with a double stacked Daystar Quark this active region has a number of decent sized spots to it! Camera used was the PGR IMX174.

AR12814 April 15th

Taken at 120mm in CaK and 127mm in Ha, this active region is putting on a nice show and giving a real taste of what we an expect in this new solar cycle!

CaK Full Disk 15th April

It makes a real difference to contrast when the CaK filter is tuned properly and continuum leakage is kept to a minimum. The inverse granulation is darker, and the bright plage are brighter - relative to each other, quite noticeable on screen when tuning.

AR12816 15th April

New active region just as it's rounding the limb.

AR12814 April 15th

Catching up on getting the website up to date here! AR12814 just before it started heading over the limb...

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.

AR12813 in Ha & CaK - 4th April

Seeing was unusually good firth thing on the morning of the 4th of April and I was able to catch this small active region in both Ha and CaK at 120mm f26 using a Daystar Quark, homebrew CaK filter and the PGR Grasshopper IMX174 camera.

Ha From 3rd April

Using the DS90 I was able to get some closer views of what little activity there was in Ha. Taken at f25 with the PGR Grasshopper IMX174 camera.  Processed using NAFE software, something i'm currently exploring the use of.

Calcium Shots From 3rd April

Seeing was far from great but I did manage to get some CaK shots at 60mm f28 with the IMX174 camera.