June Sun

Near the Solstice

Two months have passed since my last solar imaging session - two months of cloudy days, missed opportunities, and featureless Sun. On June 18th a brief observing window opened. Morning temperature hovered in the mid-70's, one or two scattered clouds floated by, and occasional gusty breezes made conditions good enough for hauling out my solar telescope. Some nice solar features were on display. The first image below is a 17-panel mosaic showing most of the sunspots and filaments present.In the upper hemisphere, from right to left, are sunspots 3030, 3032, and 3034. In the lower hemisphere, on the right, is sunspot 3031. A long filament stretches up to the left from sunspot 3032. The previous image shows disc features but not prominences around the solar rim. The next version, with different processing, is colored pale yellow. It overexposes the disc but allows prominences to be visible.

Lots of prominences were visible this day! Next is a 4-panel mosaic showing prominences on the Sun's eastern limb.

The next image is a 6-panel mosaic showing prominences around the Sun's western limb. 

The best, most detailed image from this session is the next 2-panel mosaic showing sunspots 3030, 3032, and 3034 with accompanying filaments. Each panel was made by stacking the best 400 frames from 4,000-frame videos. This picture achieves about the best resolution my equipment can produce. Enlarge the image by clicking on it in order to see all the detail present. In fact, all the images here should be clicked and enlarged for the best view.

Finally, here's a close view of sunspots 3030 and 3032 with filaments and neighboring prominences. 

I began recording videos at about 9:40 am. Less than an hour later clouds began increasing. Brief observing windows like this are typical here in eastern Virginia.