Best Solar Images - Part 3

Prominences!

My solar imaging activities are coming to an end. I've spent 15 years happily watching the ever-changing solar chromosphere and capturing images with my solar telescope. Now is a good time to look back at some highlights and gather my best images together in one place. In this third post I'll present images of solar prominences silhouetted along the limb. In two upcoming posts I'll present other examples of solar features and action.

All images presented here were made with a Lunt 100mm single-stacked hydrogen-alpha solar telescope. Each image will indicate the camera and Barlow lens used. Often, single image fields of view were combined to include larger portions of the Sun. These separate panels were later stitched together into a single combined image using Photoshop.

The Sun's color seen by eye through the Lunt telescope's eyepiece is not yellow but rather a deep hydrogen-alpha red. The cameras I used are monochromatic cameras which produce only black and white images. I have arbitrarily added yellow color to the original grayscale images below. These added colors have no physical significance. I merely liked them better than grayscale.

Finally, these images are best viewed at full size on a monitor, laptop screen, or projected on a TV. Smart phone viewing is a disappointing experience. Click on the images to get the full-size version.

When dark disc filaments are eventually carried to the solar limb by the Sun's rotation, they are displayed there in outline against the background sky. Then they are seen as prominences - flame-like features on the solar limb. In all the images below I've created an artificial eclipse where the Sun's disc is black and only the prominences themselves are visible around the limb. I've also changed these grayscale images to yellow because yellow looks nice and seems to stand out on screens. When viewing full circumference mosaics enlarge to full size and then move systematically around the limb to see the best detail.

My first prominence portrait is a portion of the limb on June 15, 2013, with a tall spiky prominence. The image is a 7-panel mosaic made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. 

On July 16, 2013, a fan-shaped prominence can be seen at bottom as well as another spiky prominence midway along the limb. This 3-panel mosaic was made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. 

The next full circumference 18-panel mosaic from August 24, 2013, shows delicate prominences and spicules. Scroll around the full-sized image to see them best. It was made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. 

Next is an image of two prominences from September 14, 2013. This is a 2-panel mosaic made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. 

A variety of prominence shapes are present in the next 19-panel full-circumference mosaic made on May 4, 2014, with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. 

Another full circumference mosaic from May 23, 2015, is shown next. It is composed of 17 panels and shows a number of prominences as well as spicules in some areas. It was made using a ZWO ASI174MM camera with a 3X Barlow lens.

The next picture is not a mosaic. It's just a single image from May 16, 2016, made using a ZWO ASI174MM camera with a 5X Barlow lens. It features a nice prominence and spicules along the limb.

Several delicate prominences are present in the next image from May 7, 2019. This 5-panel mosaic was made using a ZWO ASI174MM camera with a 3X Barlow lens.

Scroll around the full-size perimeter of the following 16-panel mosaic from August 19, 2023. A beautiful prominence collection is revealed by a ZWO ASI174MM camera with a 3X Barlow lens. Ignore the slight imperfection of the eclipsing black disc. 

No matter how dramatic solar disc features might be, it's always a thrill to roam around the limb inspecting the prominences on display. My next post will feature special events on the Sun.

Best Solar Images - Part 2

Inverted Filaments

My solar imaging activities are coming to an end. I've spent 15 years happily watching the ever-changing solar chromosphere and capturing images with my solar telescope. Now is a good time to look back at some highlights and gather my best images together in one place. In this second post I'll present images that portray the floating cloud-like character of solar filaments. In three upcoming posts I'll present other examples of solar features and action.  

All images presented here were made with a Lunt 100mm single-stacked hydrogen-alpha solar telescope. Each image will indicate the camera and Barlow lens used. Often, single image fields of view were combined to include larger portions of the Sun. These separate panels were later stitched together into a single combined image using Photoshop.

The Sun's color seen by eye through the Lunt telescope's eyepiece is not yellow but rather a deep hydrogen-alpha red. The cameras I used are monochromatic cameras which produce only black and white images. I have arbitrarily added color to the original grayscale images below. These added colors have no physical significance. I merely liked them better than grayscale.

Finally, these images are best viewed at full size on a monitor, laptop screen, or projected on a TV. Smart phone viewing is a disappointing experience. Click on the images to get the full-size version. 

Many solar images include narrow dark shapes called filaments scattered around the Sun. These are regions of relatively cooler plasma suspended above the hotter chromosphere by magnetic fields. Filaments appear dark against the background because they are cooler than the background. When ordinary solar images are inverted positive to negative, the dark filaments appear as bright white clouds floating above the chromosphere. Image inversion highlights the cloud-like nature of filaments.

For example, consider the first image pair below from April 7, 2012. The upper image with dark sinuous filaments is a normal positive image with arbitrary color added. The lower image (shown in a different color) is the inversion of the upper one. White inverted filaments show a strong floating effect in the lower image. The positive image is a 9-panel mosaic made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and a 2X Barlow lens. 

Another example comes from September 4, 2013. The upper positive image contains several dark filaments scattered across the disc. The lower inverted image, again in a different color, portrays these filaments as bright white clouds above the chromosphere below. Be sure to click on the images to view detail at full size. The positive image is a 9-panel mosaic made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens.

Three nearly parallel filaments appeared on the bottom right solar quadrant on March 21, 2014. The next positive image is a 26-panel mosaic made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. The immediately following inverted image shows the three floating filament clouds, especially when viewed at full size.

On February 11, 2015, a spectacular long filament stretched almost entirely across the bottom of the Sun! I captured the 32-panel positive disc mosaic shown first below with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. The inverted image underneath reveals the long white filament cloud quite well. View at full size.

Filament inversion images were often quite striking when I used the DMK41 camera. After switching to a ZWO ASI174 camera, inversions never equaled their previous glory for some reason. Consequently, I made very few inverted images after 2015. The one exception was a 12-panel disc mosaic made with a 3X Barlow lens on July 12, 2022. The positive/inverted pair follows. View at full size.

My next post will feature solar prominences.

Best Solar Images - Part 1

Disc Mosaics

My solar imaging activities are coming to an end. I've spent 15 years happily watching the ever-changing solar chromosphere and capturing images with my solar telescope. Now is a good time to look back at some highlights and gather my best images together in one place. In this first post I'll present thirteen of my best solar disc mosaics. In four subsequent posts I'll present different examples of solar features and action.  

All images presented here were made with a Lunt 100mm single-stacked hydrogen-alpha solar telescope. Each image will indicate the camera and Barlow lens used. Single image fields of view were always too small to include the entire solar disc. I carefully covered the solar disc with overlapping single images called panels. Afterward I was able to stich these separate panels together into a single combined image using Photoshop.

The Sun's color seen by eye through the Lunt telescope's eyepiece is not yellow but rather a deep hydrogen-alpha red. The cameras I used are monochromatic cameras which produce only black and white images. I have arbitrarily added color to the original grayscale images below. These added colors have no physical significance. I merely liked them better than grayscale.

Finally, these images are best viewed at full size on a monitor, laptop screen, or projected on a TV. Smart phone viewing is a disappointing experience. Click on the images to get the full-size version.

This first image shows the Sun on July 4, 2014, when it had several sunspots and white active areas. This 22-panel mosaic was made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. 

Next is a 36-panel mosaic made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens on December 1, 2014. This time I was able to display prominences around the limb.

Another nice image was produced on December 17, 2014. The following 16-panel mosaic shows lots of sunspot activity. It was made with a DMK41AU02.AS camera and 2X Barlow lens. Moving ahead to September 4, 2017, the next disc mosaic was constructed from 48 constituent panels made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 5X Barlow lens. 

Some dramatic dark filaments were present on July 12, 2022. They are seen in the following 12-panel mosaic made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens. 

Display the next image at full size and notice the eruptive activity of an emerging sunspot in the upper left limb! This 15-panel mosaic made with a ZWO ASI174 camera and 3X Barlow lens was made on July 11, 2023.

Prominences adorn the limb of the next 36-panel mosaic made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens on August 19, 2023. 

More prominences and a triple sunspot array were present on November 23, 2023. Below is a 37-panel mosaic made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens. 

The next 9-panel mosaic was made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens on July 28, 2024. There's a small bright white flare to the left of sunspots.

An interesting sunspot array was present on October 9th, 2024. The 9-panel mosaic below was made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens.

An impressive complex sunspot group can be seen in the lower left of the next 9-panel mosaic made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens on October 25, 2024.

View the next image at full size to see magnetic loops connect sunspot pairs. This 12-panel mosaic was made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens on January 17, 2025.

The full-size version of the next 9-panel mosaic shows a nice complex sunspot group in the lower left. It was made with a ZWO ASI174MM camera and 3X Barlow lens on August 27, 2025.

The solar chromosphere is magnificent! My next post will present floating filaments.