Sun Near Equinox

Perfect Morning Conditions

I used my Seestar telescope during late evening on September 18th and continued into predawn hours of September 19th. Clear skies and very comfortable observing conditions persisted after sunrise on September 19th. The morning Sun presented a nice collection of sunspots! So, in spite of fatigue from the overnight session, I hauled out my Lunt 100mm solar telescope to take advantage of the only good solar observing opportunity for September. Not one cloud appeared in the blue sky while I worked, wind was calm, and temperature ranged from 68 to 74 degrees.

My efforts were rewarded! I was able to construct the following 13-panel mosaic of the entire solar disc, including prominences around the rim. Click on the image to enlarge and see best detail.

The previous image shows five major sunspots. The upper array across the disc has sunspot 4225 on the left, 4221 in the middle, and 4216 to the upper right. The lower two-spot array has sunspot 4217 in the middle, and 4220 on the right. A nice dark filament sits near the lower left rim, and a good number of attractive prominences are spread around the rim. 

I constructed a few different mosaics of varying quality. One particular 9-panel mosaic proved good for isolating interesting portions of the solar disc. The following cropped portion of this mosaic shows prominences and sunspots on the western solar face. 

Enlarge the image above to see the following features: Sunspot 4221 in the lower left has two small dark eruptive features rising from its left side. Complex sunspot 4220 near bottom has a major umbra on the right, a ring of tiny umbras on the left, and a bright active area joining the two. Sunspot 4216 in the center has two dark arching filaments to its left. A small white active area in the upper right near the limb produced modest magnetic arches rising slightly above the surface. Finally, three major prominences sit on the solar rim!  

Shown next below is a different cropped portion of the 9-panel mosaic which displays features in the southeastern solar region.

Once again, enlarge the above image to see the following features. A dark filament is near the limb on the bottom. Double umbra sunspot 4217 on the right sits below sunspot 4221 which also appeared in the previous image. On the left is the elongated, segmented umbra of sunspot 4225. I've never seen an elongated umbra quite like this one! It resembles fossilized remains of an extinct sea creature who might have shared the ancient seabed with trilobites! 

Finally, I cropped and colorized the next image to highlight prominences on the northeast limb. The enlarged image shows some fine detail in the upper prominence. 

I'm glad I made the effort to use the solar telescope this day. It was the last clear day in September.