December Sun

Anomalous Warmth

Winter is approaching. The Sun ignores Earthly seasons.

I've never used my solar telescope in cold December, but, on this December 1st, it was 65 degrees, warm enough to observe in a t-shirt! At my previous home in Lynchburg the Sun was hidden behind trees and houses in December. At my new home Sun-blocking obstacles don't interfere. The seeing was surprisingly decent in spite of persistent southerly wind. Sunspots, filaments, and prominences were on display.

The following 36-image mosaic shows most of the solar features visible on December 1st. The western edge of the Sun (on the right) has many filaments, some small sunspots about to rotate out of view, and large prominences on the rim. Single sunspot 2218 is above center, and large sunspot 2222 is below center. All these features show up particularly well in a larger view. (Click on the images below for larger views.)

The previous image was constructed from the best 40 frames of individual 400-frame videos. The next image was constructed from the best 100 frames of individual 1,000-frame videos. Details are slightly sharper in the following 16-image mosaic.

I was pleased with the fine detail in the following close view of sunspot 2222.

Finally, I attempted a 17-image mosaic of prominences. Unfortunately, this mosaic is imperfect. Brightness is uneven around the circle because my best mosaic-making software, for some reason, refused to construct a circle from the 17 separate images. Photoshop Elements was able to make the circle, but did a poor job blending pictures of different brightness.

The weather has turned ugly since December 1st. Even if I'm unable to observe again in 2014, I've had my best observing year so far.