CaK Full Disk 27th March

It was the briefest of windows on Saturday morning before the clouds rolled in, but I managed to get a quick CaK full disk at 60mm f16. Nice to see the spicule ring around the edge, double click for a full size view!

AR12811 in Ha 21st March

It's nice to see activity ramping up on the sun, and the DS90 is a great setup for showing this activity, seen in this shot taken at f25 with the IMX174 camera. These new active regions have rounded the limb and are looking rather nice with plenty to see. I was fighting the seeing at this aperture, but lots of frames seemed to work. Just need the weather to improve a bit now we have moved into spring with the sun higher in the sky!

Filaments! 21st March

As the suns magnetic fields start to build up in strength as it slowly ramps up activity in this new solar cycle, the boundary of these magnetic fields is marked by darker filaments, clouds of cooler plasma held in place by magnetic fields. Taken with the DS90 at f25 with the IMX174 camera.

Ha Full Disk 21st March

Quite pleased to have got this full disk on Sunday, as it looked like the clouds weren't going to budge at all, but by late afternoon they suddenly shifted. Taken with the DS50 setup it was nice to see some activity starting to brew up on the sun.

CaK Disk Through The Clouds - 20th March

Saturday was predominantly cloudy, however diffuse shadows appeared late in the afternoon so I decided to see what could be seen through the clouds. I had to use 2x2 binning and have the camera gain 3/4 the way up to get an image on the screen, but this just about worked! Including the cloud haze around the disk the new active region and it's attendant spot can be seen that has just rounded the limb. Taken with the Coronado sm40 with a 2x Cemax barlow. I think I will be lucky if I get any cloud breaks on the Sunday too!

CaK Full Disk 17th March

I was able get home slightly earlier than usual from work on the 17th, and fortunately the endless grey skies had cleared earlier in the afternoon to reveal the blue above. The sun was only 4-5 degrees above the horizon when I took this image and as a result atmospheric extinction was a problem, however, 2x2 binning with the camera came to the rescue of the light levels, even if the resultant image is under sampled. Still, it shows the larger main features well, and also hints at the plentiful proms that were easily visible as a result of good air transparency. It was just nice to get some sun in!

Ha Full Disk 17th March

No time for the Quark to heat up for a double stack view, instead just using the Lunt 50 etalon for a single stack view of the sun that was only a few degrees above the horizon when this image was taken. Despite being only single stack the main features and activity came out quite nicely. It was a good day for the proms!