Sunspots Across the Sun

Brief Observing Window

I've waited two months for a suitable day for solar imaging. The dawn sky on August 9th was completely clear. Cloudless conditions promised to hold for a while, so I hurriedly set up equipment to take advantage of this rare opportunity. The temperature was in the low 70's when I began capturing images at 8:42 am EDT. There was no wind and seeing conditions were initially excellent.

My first task was to gather enough images to construct a mosaic showing features across the solar disc. On the following 19-panel mosaic seven significant sunspot umbras are visible along with a few white active areas and some filaments. (Click on the  image for an enlarged view.)

The major sunspot complex near the right limb contains sunspots 4165 and 4168. You can see complicated structure around this pair along with several white flare areas which were active during image capture. Examine other active areas in the enlarged image to see magnetic arches and a split umbra in sunspot 4169 left of center.

A beautiful prominence display added to the solar scene this day. The previous image was processed to make prominences more visible in the next image below. On the enlarged image you can see a small filaprom, the transition between prominence and filament, on the left limb above center. A double spike prominence on the lower left limb was changing while I gathered images. Several smaller spikes are on the right limb. 

After completing the disc mosaic above I made prominences brighter by increasing the camera's gamma value. The next four-panel limb mosaic shows prominences more clearly. In particular, notice the linear segment suspended high above the double spike prominence in the lower left.

The magnified image below shows the suspended prominence more clearly. When I first imaged this portion of the Sun only one spike was present. The next time I came to this spot there were two spikes. So these explosive emissions were happening on the scale of 10 minutes or so. Clouds prevented returning here to make a time lapse video of the eruption.

Another four-panel mosaic shows prominences on the Sun's right limb. 

While capturing the last image for the previous limb mosaic I noticed thin clouds encroaching from the west. Clouds and haze began to quickly build thereafter. The clear observing window had lasted only 41 minutes! Seeing also deteriorated drastically, so it was time to shut down. Such is life in southeastern Virginia. 

 

Hot, Humid July Nights

Globular Cluster Pairs

July in southeastern Virginia brings steamy cloudy nights. There's little opportunity for celestial observing, especially near full Moon. Brief clearing on July 23rd and 25th allowed only a few hours to employ my Seestar50.

Over the past year I've used Seestar to image almost all relatively bright dramatic objects within its range. It's time to try something different. Lately, I've been using Seestar's mosaic mode to capture more than one object in the field of view. One example below is a globular cluster pair in Sagittarius captured on July 23rd with a 40-minute exposure. Enlarge the next image and scroll around to see large globular cluster M22 on the bottom and small, undistinguished globular cluster NGC6642 near the top. An attractive five star group near the right edge contains colorful 5th magnitude red supergiant star, 24 Sagittarii. The crowded Milky Way star field provides a busy background. M22 is separated from NGC6642 by 67 arc minutes. 

What explains the remarkable apparent size difference of these two globular clusters? Answer: M22 is both intrinsically larger and closer than NGC6642. M22 is 97 light years in diameter and 10,400 light years away. NGC6642 is 45 light years in diameter and 26,700 light years away.

Mosaic mode was not required to capture another globular cluster pair in Sagittarius separated by only 16 arc minutes. In the next 10-minute exposure NGC6522 on the right and NGC6528 on the left appear in front of Milky Way stars and some dark nebulosity. The brightest star at the bottom is Alnasl, the 3.6 magnitude star at the tip of Sagittarius' teapot spout.

These disappointing clusters have modest diameters and are relatively far away. NGC6522 is 25,000 light years away and has a diameter of 69 light years. NGC6528 is 26,000 light years away and has a diameter of 37 light years. The sky became increasingly hazy on July 23rd, so I had to stop imaging after obtaining the previous two images. The observing window was open for only about two hours.

At twilight on July 25th the sky seemed nicely clear so I attempted to capture both nebula M17 and open cluster M18 together in mosaic mode. The upper portion of the next 58-minute exposure shows M17, The Omega Nebula, together with open star cluster M18 in the bottom right. M18 is 56 arc minutes from M17. I was disappointed that M18 is only a modest grouping a few stars. I was also disappointed by the sky's increasing milky haze which caused me to limit exposure time and quit early. Once again, the observing window was only about two hours long. 

There are a lot of clouds in July! They obstruct astronomical observing, but often bring late afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Sometimes, conditions are right for rainbows! On July 27th the Sun was still high above the horizon and the rainbow in the next image was correspondingly low. This rainbow was unique because its left end extended down in front of trees about a quarter mile away. I had never seen a rainbow this close to my observing spot before.

Four days later on July 31st a partial rainbow appeared under clouds almost in the same location as the previous rainbow. In the next image you can see its left end behind the trees this time.

I hope for fewer clouds in September and October.
 

 

Seestar at the Seashore

Dark Skies!

Our annual vacation trip to Southern Shores, NC from June 20-27 took place near the time of new Moon. I decided to bring Seestar along in case skies happened to be clear. Wow! I hit the jackpot! Our new rental house included a great view of the southern sky from one of the elevated decks. That deck location is marked in the next photo.

A small table happened to be available to raise Seestar above the deck railing. The next two pictures show the setup looking south on June 20th.

A red glow comes from battery level indicator lights on Seestar's side. In the next picture you can see the "teapot" of Sagittarius in the center, the Milky Way by the teapot's spout, and the constellation Scorpius on the right. Unfortunate light pollution from a major shopping center ruins the view on the southern horizon, but the horizon in the east, west, and north was much darker than my usual backyard observing location. Distant house lights were relatively weak.

The next panorama, taken in daylight, shows few nearby houses. The road one block south is a public beach access road with no houses, so the view to the southwest on the right is light free!

The unobstructed southern view presented a good opportunity to capture all seven remaining Messier objects needed to complete my collection. These seven, all within constellations Ophiuchus and Sagittarius, were low in the south. Six of these objects were globular clusters, none particularly spectacular, so I'll display only the nicest one here. Globular cluster M62 is shown in the following 8-minute exposure. You can see good cluster detail by clicking on the image and enlarging to full size. 

The 7th and last remaining Messier object was M24 in Sagittarius. M24 is an oddball member of the Messier catalog. It's not a galaxy, nebula, open star cluster, or globular cluster. Instead, it's called a "star cloud". The 14-minute exposure of M24 below reveals two prominent dark interstellar dust clouds at the top and another dark cloud at the bottom. These foreground dark clouds block starlight coming from behind.

With these last seven objects in the bag, my quest to capture all 110 Messier objects with Seestar is complete! 

Many dark clouds like the ones pictured above exist in other locations. One particularly nice one in Ophiuchus is called Barnard 68 (also known as LDN57). The following 20-minute exposure shows Barnard 68 in the center as well as a dramatic s-shaped dark cloud to the left. Other small dark clouds are below center.

The final target on June 20th was giant globular cluster M13 paired with small, dim galaxy NGC6207 in Hercules. I used mosaic mode to fit both objects in the field of view. The galaxy was a disappointing tiny smudge below M13 as you can see in the next 23-minute exposure. 

June 20th was quite a day! After arriving at our rental house in late afternoon, we hauled our stuff into the house and unpacked. The house was absolutely beautiful inside! I enjoyed this nice collection of miniature lighthouses.

After finishing unpacking on June 20th, I set up Seestar around 11:00 pm and captured a total of nine images. (Only four are shown above.) Then I collapsed into bed well after midnight. My alarm went off at 4:30 am the next morning so I could run before heat and humidity became too dangerous. Thus began a six day run of sleep deprivation.

Lack of sleep was a problem, but conditions for operating Seestar couldn't have been much better! Seestar's elevated deck position was located only a few feet from the corner of my bedroom, so wireless connection to the controlling tablet was easily established. Access to Seestar was readily achieved by exiting through the bedroom's sliding door and climbing a few stairs outside. I controlled Seestar from a bedside chair and was able to nap on the bed during long exposures. Here's a picture of my bedroom/observatory. Seestar was located just a few feet above the left ceiling corner.

During our beach stay the entire region was under a heat dome. Although daytime temperatures were uncomfortably high, an atmospheric high often made nights completely cloud free. On June 23rd I spent another night running Seestar until after midnight. Two images from this night were notable. First, a nice pairing of diffuse globular cluster NGC6366 with bright star 47 Ophiuchi can be seen in the next 8-minute exposure.

June 23rd's best result came from using mosaic mode and a light pollution filter to capture two spectacular Sagittarius nebulae in one field of view. The following 50-minute exposure shows the Lagoon Nebula, M8, (bottom) and the Trifid Nebula, M20, (top).

While my family roasted on the beach during boiling hot daylight, I stayed inside working on this year's version of our beach house jigsaw puzzle. It happened to have an astronomical theme.

On the evening of June 25th our family took a traditional stroll on the Duck boardwalk where we saw colorful sunset scenes.

As you can see above, the cloudy sunset sky didn't look promising for later observing on June 25th. Nevertheless, it became wonderfully clear again near midnight. I devoted this night to capturing two nebulae in Scorpius. Initially, I hoped to fit them both in one field of view, but, even in mosaic mode, this was impossible. Instead, I imaged both separately using Seestar's light pollution filter. Both these nebulae are low on the southern horizon and difficult to capture from my backyard. A 70-minute exposure captured NGC6334, the Cat's Paw Nebula, seen in the next image.

A 51-minute exposure of neighboring nebula NGC6357 is shown in the next image.  

On June 26th, our final night before leaving, the sky was clear yet again! Although I badly needed a full night's sleep at this point, I couldn't pass up one more night of wonderful dark conditions. Initial targeting misfires unfortunately used about 20% of Seestar's battery charge. Eventually, I decided to let Seestar expose as long as possible on spectacular nebula M16, the Eagle Nebula, in Sagittarius.

My body was screaming for sleep after midnight, so I climbed into bed next to my tablet, closed my eyes, and quickly fell asleep. I thought I would surely wake up before Seestar's battery died. Sometime later I woke with a jolt and quickly checked my tablet for Seestar's status. Yikes!! Battery charge had dropped to 3%!! A disaster was about to occur because Seestar automatically shuts down when battery charge gets very low.

When Seestar shuts down the telescope arm lowers and tucks away facing vertically down. This cannot happen when Seestar's dew cap is attached! The dew cap prevents Seestar from achieving the downward pointing shutdown position, so an internal motor would grind away trying to move the stationary blocked telescope arm. The sound of a straining motor and possible internal damage were things I didn't want to experence, so I rushed outside in bare feet, unsteadily climbed the stairs, and immediately removed the dew cap. Right at that moment Seestar's automated voice announced it would be automatically shutting down! I didn't even have time to install the lens cap before Seestar shut down! Fortunately, all was well in the end, and I had captured a 95-minute exposure of M16, the Eagle Nebula, which is shown below.

It was quite a productive span of four clear, moonless observing nights during this beach stay! This vacation story ends with one last view of the setting Sun's red reflection stretched across water in Duck. 

The Sun Through Haze

Nice Filaprom!

Observing conditions have been awful for the past five weeks. When clouds finally cleared, and winds diminished in early June, it looked like a clear window might open for a few days. Unfortunately, Canadian wildfire smoke drifted overhead making the sky milky white and hazy. On the afternoon of June 3rd some version of blue sky seemed to develop, so I rushed outside with my solar telescope. The smoke plume had moved mostly east of my location (red dot) as you can see in the following satellite view.

Normally, I prefer to use my telescope before noon when temperatures are mild and seeing is best. On June 3rd I didn't begin imaging until 4:00 pm when it was near 90 uncomfortable degrees. Seeing was surprisingly good in spite of the heat.

Only two substantial sunspot groups were present near the Sun's western edge as you can see in the next 4-panel mosaic. 

The upper collection of four umbras, now numbered 4100, was a long-lasting sunspot group now nearing the end of its third trip across the Sun's Earth facing disc! It was first seen in late April when it was given the number 4055 during its first appearance. On the second trip across it was numbered 4079. So this is quite a long-lasting sunspot! Below 4100 is the double umbra of sunspot 4099. Both groups can be seen in good detail when you enlarge the next cropped image.

In addition to sunspots a magnificent "filaprom" was present on the northeastern limb. Dark filaments on the solar disc float above underlying surface and appear as prominences when viewed on the limb. This "filaprom" shows the transition from prominence to filament as solar rotation brings it around the eastern limb.

The next inverted image highlights the floating, cloud-like filament. 

Other prominences appear on the eastern limb in the next 5-panel mosaic.

I darkened background level in the previous image to make the sky look uniformly black. Unfortunately, this always removes fine detail from limb activity. You can see this increased detail in the next image which includes the bothersome background noise as well.

I always regret losing limb detail when removing background noise. You can see the effect in the next two images of a prominence on the lower western limb. The darkened image is first, and the unaltered image is second.

By the end of this somewhat frantic imaging session I was sweating heavily and exhausted. Heat drains me. Looks like persistent clouds  will move in again for the next weeks ahead.

 
 
 

Magnificent Morning Run

The Beautiful Greensprings Trail

Morning running conditions on May10th were perfect! Temperature ranged from 58 to 62 degrees, humidity was low, and pleasant gentle breezes ruffled leaves. The smell of honeysuckle lingered in the air and patches of sunlight danced on the trail and trees.

I'm so fortunate to have the beautiful Greensprings Trail only a short distance from my front door. As you can see above, the trail surface is hard-packed crushed stone. It's nearly as fine as beach sand, but not as soft.

The trail runs through generally low-lying land, and includes several short wooden bridges over damp sections. 

The Greensprings Trail is also the largest portion of Jamestown High School's cross country course where Jamestown's powerful district and regional championship teams compete.

On this lovely morning some deer appeared close by the trail.

Just a few meters to the left along this part of trail was a field of winter wheat ripening in the morning sun.

Back on the trail again after the brief wheat field detour, some holly trees bordered the path.

A bit more than a mile along, the trail enters a drier wooded section.

A short journey on the VA Capital Trail is required to close the Greensprings loop. This long wooden bridge is a favorite spot for birdwatchers and photographers.

About 100 meters along the bridge pictured above the Greensprings Trail exits to the right and heads toward another narrower bridge spanning wetlands. 

Midway along this narrow bridge is a sightseeing location yielding an open view of a pond often home to geese and ducks. The pond is part of a complex created by beaver dams. Part of one dam can be seen in the foreground. Park rangers recently opened this dam near the location of the two vertical posts on the right. I don't know why they thought this was necessary.

On this day some turtles were sunning on soggy logs.

Exiting the sightseeing bridge, the trail turns to the right and  reenters woods.

About a half mile further I came upon a group of birdwatchers enthusiastically pointing telephoto lenses up into the trees. I asked what they were viewing. "There's an owl!", they said. It took me a few seconds to spot the owl through leafy foreground. Can you spot it in the next picture?

During the previous few weeks I saw many birdwatchers stopping near this location. They told me about a nest containing baby owls. Eventually, a generous area beneath the nest was roped off so people wouldn't disturb the nesting site. I never could locate the nest, especially without my glasses. But on this glorious morning I did wear glasses and carried a new phone along on my run. The owl presented a good opportunity to try new magnification capabilities of the phone camera. The next picture was the best magnified owl image, but there's no substitute for a telephoto lens on a DSLR camera. Looks like the owl doesn't approve.

Birdwatchers pointed out another owl nearby which they claimed was one of the "babies". This owl seems to have its head rotated 180 degrees to look at me over its back!

A few steps beyond the owl viewing I came across several tiny black toads hopping across the path. 

Soon the trail entered a drier section.

Another right turn and the trail entered a wide final section heading home towards the end of my run. 

Just a few days after this magnificent morning the annual plague of biting flies began. They make running miserable by bouncing off my head and biting my back, shoulders, head, and neck. Sadly, I won't be able to enjoy this trail again until October when the fly plague ends.