Solar Mosaics

Multiple Sunspots

A variety of interesting features graced the Sun on July 28. Cloudy skies were forecast, but the morning dawned clear and relatively cool. I decided to seize the opportunity and quickly set up my solar imaging equipment. Working rapidly, I managed to capture 35 videos before clouds blocked the Sun. The weather forecast was correct. Clear skies lasted only 33 minutes after I began recording images!

Seeing conditions were fairly good. The first image below shows three sunspots and two filaments. Sunspot 1530 is just to the right of the nearly horizontal filament near center. Smaller sunspot 1529 is at bottom center. Much smaller sunspot pair 1533 is at far right center.

Sunspots 1530, 1529, 1533 and filaments (Click for full detail.)

Large active region 1532 is shown in the next image along with three big prominences arrayed along the solar limb.

Active Region 1532 and three prominences (Click for full detail.)

Here's an image of the three prominences alone.

The three prominences near active region 1532 (Click for full detail.)

My continuing quest to capture major portions of the whole Sun was partially successful. In a previous post I explained how it would take roughly 30 individual images to cover the entire solar disk. In this session I came nowhere near capturing the required 30 images. The mosaic below was constructed by combining just eight individual images. It shows how the sunspots and prominences displayed in the first two images above were arranged on the Sun's disk.

Sunspots, filaments, and one of the three prominences (Click for full detail.)

By combining a different variety of individual images, seven this time, I constructed a slightly different mosaic spanning nearly the entire solar diameter. This mosaic displays a nice U-shaped filament on the left and significant portions of the Sun's curved limb. I'm disappointed about my failure to obtain images for the missing segments of the limb! Imaging the sunspots and filaments was my first priority. There wasn't enough time to get good images for the missing pieces. I'm still striving for better results.

Mosaic nearly spanning a solar diameter (Click for full detail.)