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.