Morning Session

Better Seeing

During the past few years I've noticed solar observing conditions are best in the morning between 8am and 11am. The atmosphere seems steadier then, before significant daytime heating occurs. On April 10th I was able to set up equipment for a morning session and, for the first time at my new site, there was almost no wind. I began recording at 8:44am EDT. Seeing was about 7/10 compared to the 5/10 conditions present on previous afternoon sessions. Unfortunately, I had some trouble with mount alignment which caused poor tracking later in the session. Also, for some unknown reason, my DMK41 camera had poor communication with its controlling computer causing video capture times to be twice as long as normal. Consequently, tracking and communication problems cancelled some of the advantages of good seeing.

Most of the interesting solar features were near the east limb. The following mosaic, made with a 2X Barlow lens, is a combination of 10 individual images. The three-umbra sunspot group 2032 can be seen in the upper right. Some nice prominences decorate the limb. A few dark filaments are scattered about. Details are fairly good because the atmosphere was relatively steady. (Click on the images below for enlarged views.)

Next is a closer look at sunspot group 2032. A white burst of energy is located just to the right of the tallest prominence.

The next image is a magnified view of the sunspots made with a 5X Barlow lens. At high magnification the sunspots were slowly drifting due to poor tracking while the video was recorded. In spite of poor tracking there is a good amount of detail in the picture.

The only other sunspot, 2030, was located near the western limb as shown below.

Episodes of good seeing allowed fine details to be visible in this picture of swirling spicules on the Sun's disc.

Finally, an arching prominence was present on the southwestern limb.

I'll have to work on mount alignment and camera communication problems in my next observing session.

Erupting Prominence

Surprise Explosion!

A warm afternoon of solar observing preceded the nighttime session I wrote about in my previous post. The April 2nd afternoon Sun displayed a nice variety of sunspots and filaments, but seeing was not very good. Consequently, the images below aren't as sharp as I'd like. I'm still waiting for a day with good seeing. Maybe morning sessions will have steadier air than afternoons.

The first image below is an imperfect mosaic of 18 individual images taken with a 2X Barlow lens. At top left are sunspots 2027 and 2022. Below them on the left are sunspots 2028 and 2026. Large sunspot group 2021 is just below center to the right. Some nice filaments stretch over the right half of the Sun. The lower left portion of the image is missing because I sometimes lose track of where I am on the disc while moving the telescope to capture patches of the Sun's surface.

My goal for the day was to test a newly acquired tilt adjuster to see if it would eliminate circular interference fringes which have plagued magnified images made with my 5X Barlow lens. The fringes were there as usual before I placed the tilt adjuster into the optical path. When I finished installing the adjuster, the fringes were gone! It worked! I was pleasantly surprised! Below are three magnified images made with the 5X Barlow lens. Details are not particularly sharp, but there are no interference fringes.

First is sunspot 2022 showing a parade of dark arches between the large spot and its small companion.

Next is sunspot 2027 whose dark umbra is split by a curved white energetic feature. More intense white emissions pour from under a dark arching filament in the region to the left of the spot.

Finally, the three-umbra sunspot group 2021 sits in the midst of swirling spicules.

Eventually, just by chance, I'll be lucky to observe in good seeing. When that happens I'm curious to see how much more detail I can capture with the 5X Barlow lens.

After imaging the features on the solar disc I roamed around the rim looking for interesting prominences. That's when I came upon an erupting prominence! Below are two images captured shortly after the eruption began.

The erupting prominence is the tall feature emerging nearly perpendicular to the solar rim. The previous images were taken just two minutes after I first noticed the explosion.

Usually, prominences move rather slowly. This eruption was the first time I've ever seen motion rapid enough to be noticed in just a minute or so. When I first brought the eruption into the field of view it was a small bright lump. A minute later the bright lump had grown significantly outward, and I said, "Whoa!"

Below is a movie showing 11 minutes of action beginning with a bright lump at 3:12:36 EDT and ending with rapidly dimming outward movement at 3:23:19 EDT. I made twenty, 200-frame videos - one every 30 seconds for roughly 11 minutes. The twenty videos resulted in twenty still frames which make up the movie.

The solar surface on the left wavers and goes in and out of focus as the movie plays because the seeing was changing over the movie's duration.  

Old Telescope

Nighttime Observing

In 1975 I bought my first telescope, a Celestron 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain. Over the years I've used it many times and learned lots about observing and telescope operation. Recently, however, I haven't used it much because its old fork mount is so hard to use compared to newer computer controlled mounts.

A few weeks ago I purchased adapters to attach the aged Celestron to my beautiful Paramount MX mount. On April 2nd, after a full afternoon of solar imaging with a hydrogen-alpha solar telescope, I used the Celestron to image sunspots through a mylar filter. These sunspot images were poor, but the sky was clear and the weather mild. So I decided to leave the equipment outside and wait for darkness.

The evening session began with a quick look at some familiar celestial sights through an ordinary eyepiece. Then I decided to image Jupiter and the Moon. I attached my DMK41 video camera at the Celestron's prime focus and focused with difficulty on Jupiter. Over the years the Celestron focus has been soft, and this night was no exception. The Jupiter image below was produced by capturing 2,000 video frames, aligning them in Registax 6, stacking the best 100 frames, and then sharpening the final image using wavelets in Registax 6. I have no color filters, so the image is monochrome.

Although seeing was mediocre, some details on Jupiter are barely visible. For example, there are hints of circular features just below the equator. Three moons are visible. From left to right they are: Europa, Io, and Ganymede. The fourth moon, Callisto, was out of view off to the right. Some details reach the threshold of visibility, but are nowhere near the resolution achieved by experts in planetary imaging.

I also captured 7 pictures of the crescent Moon and combined them in the following 7-image mosaic. A slight pale blue color has been added. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

Sunspot images with the Celestron were very disappointing, but hydrogen-alpha solar pictures from the afternoon of April 2nd were much better. I'll post them in my next blog.

Enormous Filaments

Many Features!

Afternoon skies were clear on March 21st, one day after the vernal equinox. It was occasionally breezy, but seeing conditions were slightly better than my previous two observing sessions in Williamsburg. The Sun put on a good show! Sunspots, active areas, and filaments were nicely spread across the solar disc.

The first portrait below is a 26-image mosaic showing most of the action on the disc. From left to right below center are sunspots 2014, 2010, 2008, and 2004. From left to right above center are sunspots 2013 and 2005. Check out all the dark filaments! In particular, notice the three enormous nearly parallel filaments on the lower right! They look like scratch marks from a monumental cosmic claw! (Click on all the images below for a larger view.)

Filaments are held above surrounding gases by magnetic fields. Their levitation shows up well in the next image, an inverted version of the previous picture.

Now take a closer look at some of the features. First, check out those huge filaments near sunspot 2004. The upper filament is roughly 25 Earth diameters long! Its twisty partner underneath is even longer!

The inverted image displays very nice filament float.

Large sunspot 2005 had an active area to its upper left with a filament stretched out toward the upper left.

Sunspot 2014 (lower) and sunspot 2013 (upper) were near the eastern limb. A small active area was gushing near the limb at center.

Sunspots 2010 (left) and 2008 (right) occupied center on the sun's disc as seen in the following cropped segment from a 12-image mosaic. This image, filled with interesting detail, is one of the nicest portraits I've been able to capture recently.

Not many big prominences were present besides this one on the southeastern limb.

All pictures here were made with a 2X Barlow lens. I'm still gathering adapters to eliminate interference fringes which appear in images made with higher power Barlows.   

Sunspot Belt

Warm, Sunny Afternoon

Afternoon temperature was near 80 degrees on March 11th. Clear skies stretched above. Gentle puffs of warm wind rustled my hair. It was a good day for solar observing.

Initial alignment of the telescope mount was much easier than my previous attempt. I placed the round tripod feet on circular marks drawn during my last observing session. When the telescope slewed to the Sun, eyepiece crosshairs were only about 5 arc minutes away from dead center! Seeing conditions were mediocre again.

Several modest sunspots were spread like a diagonal belt across the solar disc. You can see them in the first image below - a 12-image mosaic made with a 2X Barlow lens. On the left is sunspot 2002. Next, near center, is a pair called 1998. Then comes 2003. Finally, near the right edge, sunspots 2001 and 1996 are about to rotate out of view. Click on the images for a larger view.

Let's take a closer look at some sunspots. The next picture shows large sunspot complex 2002 imaged with a 5X Barlow lens. Unfortunate interference fringes (circular arcs) ruin the scene. I'm ordering equipment that should remove these annoying features. Even with the fringes you can see complex structure and seething white energetic emissions.

The next image, made with a 2X Barlow lens, shows sunspot pair 1998 left of center and sunspot 2003 in the upper right corner.

Now look around the solar limb. The next two images show part of the eastern limb with a prominence and two filaments.

Inversion of the previous image shows filaments floating.

Finally, the next two images show prominences on the western limb.

Departing sunspots 2001 and 1996 can be seen on the upper right in the picture above.

Warm days should be more frequent now. I'm bound to get a day with better seeing.

Winter Sun

Earliest Images Yet!

I've never captured solar images in February because the low winter Sun has always been blocked by trees and houses at my Lynchburg observing site. Now, my new unobstructed site in Williamsburg makes year round observing possible. On February 24th the sky was beautifully clear, and afternoon temperatures reached the mid 50's. The gusty breeze was a bit too strong, but it seemed like a good day to use my telescope for the first time in Williamsburg.

It took longer than usual to set up because I hadn't yet painted alignment marks for the tripod legs. After leveling the mount and pointing it north, the initial slew to the Sun was inaccurate mostly in elevation. I adjusted the mount and quickly centered the Sun in the eyepiece. The first video clip was obtained at about 2:40 pm! Observing at 2:40 pm was always impossible at my old site because the Sun was inevitably behind tree branches then. So I began my first imaging session with the Sun west of the meridian. Seeing conditions were mediocre. Frequent strong wind gusts blew some of my equipment around.

A few modest sunspots were scattered across the solar disc. The first image below shows active region 1987 to the right of center, sunspot 1989 near top center, and emerging sunspot 1990 near the Sun's limb at lower left. Sunspot 1990 was returning for its third trip across the Sun after spending almost two weeks rotating around the side facing away from Earth. It was called 1944 on its first trip and 1967 on its second trip. Click on the image for a larger view.

The next image shows a large complex active area with many small sunspots. The largest one on the left is 1982, and the one on the far right is 1981. This group looked more dramatic in white light images than it did in hydrogen-alpha. Click on the image for a larger view.

I'm looking forward to getting more efficient at my new observing site and taking full advantage of improved conditions there. I'm particularly curious about seeing conditions. So far it's been windy almost every day. It's too early to tell if wind will be a year round problem.

New Observing Site

No Trees!!

Since moving to Williamsburg I've been excited about my new solar observing location and curious to see how well it works. My new house has an unobstructed back yard facing south, and I arranged to have a convenient walkway leading to a nice level concrete observing pad. This spot is a bit more private than my previous front driveway location. Also, my telescope is now stationed on a slight rise in the midst of level land, not in a low depression like my previous site.

Land surrounding the telescope is relatively open. Newly constructed houses and ongoing construction are nearby, but none of these buildings significantly block my view of the Sun.

The small blue box attached to the rear of the telescope is a video camera. The cardboard box on top of the folding table contains a laptop computer which controls the telescope and camera. The maroon cloth on the box drapes over my head and blocks bright daylight so I can see the computer screen without glare and reflections. Equipment cases lie near the table.

Notice the lack of tall trees or obstacles in the pictures above. The next picture below shows a view toward the southwest. The trees are far away and don't interfere until a few degrees above the horizon.

I can now observe any time from early morning until late afternoon - no more severely limited observing windows like I had at my previous site where trees and buildings blocked much of the Sun's arc across the sky.

I do worry about loss of elevation at my new location. I've lost 742 ft (226 meters) of elevation coming down from the Virginia Piedmont to nearly sea level. Now there will be a thicker layer of air between my telescope and the Sun. I wonder if this will affect seeing. Only time will tell.