Solar Imaging Session - February 28, 2010 (Large Eruptive Prominence !)

Hello:

I was able to image the Sun again this morning as the sky is partially ok. Seeing is fair as well. The large eruptive prominence in NW yesterday can still be seen beautifully although it is starting to deteriorate already a bit. The large prominence in the SW has deteriorated greatly but small traces of the prominence can still be seen.

AR 11050 Sunspot Group is exiting the western limb while AR 11051's activity also seems to settle down a bit compare to yesterday's activity.

As anticipated, we got a complete "sunspot month" as we ended February with a complete month of at least one or more sunspot visible on the Sun's disk :) Yahoo!

Clubman 500mm f/8 mirror lens

Hello:

I got to buy a second hand Clubman 50mm f/8 mirror lens from a second hand camera store and test it on the Gibbous Moon. Image quality is fair but nopt that sharp IMHO. my ETX90AT can beat this lens anytime. But for the compactness of this lens (just 3" in length and 72mm in diameter), it can't be beat! Using this lens require a tripod because of its slow f/8.

I plan to still keep this lens for total solar eclipse backup lens for my trip to China or Australia perhaps :) LOL

Solar Imaging Session - February 27, 2010 (Huge Eruptive Prominences !!!)

Hello:

The sky this morning is ok and seeing is also fair. I was able to view several huge eruptive prominences in the NW and SW limb of the Sun! AR 11050 can still be seen nearing the western limb while AR 11051 continues to show nice activity inside its core.

The Sun is starting to be active again as for the month of February, there are sunspots on the surface of the Sun and with only one day left in February with both AR 11050 and AR 11051 still visible, this will be a record of sorts for these past years as the last time there was a complete "sunspot month", meaning there is at least one sunspot group visible everyday for the whole month, it was way back in January 2007! Gee, maybe in 2011 or 2012, there will be more "sunspot months" on a regular basis. IMHO.

Solar Imaging Session - February 22, 2010 ( Numerous Large Eruptive Prominences!)

Hello:

With the conclusion of the National Astronomy Week celebration last Saturday, I can now start to image the Sun again but unfortunately, I will going to my provincial work trip in Laoag and Baguio tonight so I didn't waste the opportunity to observe the Sun this morning. AR 11049 grows in size a bit but is nearing the SW limb. Numerous large eruptive prominences can be seen in all 4 quadrants of the Sun with the largest one in the NW limb. There were 2 possible active region development on the Sun with the larger one near the center frame of the SE limb while the other smaller one can be seen in the NE limb.

I will be back in Manila on Saturday to continue to image the Sun again :)

Solar Imaging Session - February 19, 2010 ( 2 Huge Eruptive Prominences!)

Hello:

The sky this morning is a bit hazy and seeing was not that good but since I was monitoring yesterday's large eruptive prominence's condition, i proceeded with my solar observation but only with the PST-Ha setup.

AR 11049 is till visible although it seems to be losing its activeness and today's center of attraction are focused on the 2 huge eruptive prominences visible in SE and NW limb! The SE prominence is the same prominence as that of what I took yesterday and is starting to recede back to the solar limb again . The NW limb's large prominence is new and beautiful as well.

Solar Imaging Session - February 18, 2010 (Huge Eruptive Prominence!)

Hello:

The sky this morning is okay but since I wake up a bit late, I was only able to do Ha solar work only as I encountered some problem with my dec motor not functioning properly thus adding more wasted time :) Nevertheless, was able to fix the problem of loose connection.

AR11046 is now starting to exit the NW limb while AR 11049 is near the center but shows only small activity in its core. But what caught my eye on this observation session was a huge eruptive prominence in the SE limb! Very beautiful and bright as well!

Solar Imaging Session - February 14, 2010

Hello:

I wake up late this morning and saw the sky a bit cloudy :( Although there are some breaks in the clouds, I manage to image the Sun with the PST-Ha. AR 11045 is now near the edge of the limb and AR 11046 had decayed a bit to but still show some small activity inside its core. :( Traces of AR 11047 mild activity can still be seen and near 2 large looped prominences. Possible AR 11048 didn't materialized into a sunspot group but there is another possible active region coming out of the NE limb again so maybe this time, it will finally be designated as AR11048 :) LOL

As I setup my white light scope, clouds started to cover the sky and I had difficulty imaging the active regions at high resolution although I got to image the whole disk as well as AR 11046 through small opening in the clouds.


BTW, today is Valentine's Day as well as Chinese Lunar New Year and I will be joining ALPers to do a free public stargazing session in celebration of National Astronomy Week 1020 at Rajah Sulayman Park in Baywalk, Luneta! :)

Solar Imaging Session - February 12, 2010 (3 Sunspot Groups on the Sun Now !!!)

Hello:

The sky this morning is fair with fair seeing. AR 11045 Sunspot Group is nearing the NW limb with its central structure almost decayed except for the 2 main components :( AR 11046, on the other hand exhibit nice structure both in H-Alpha and white light wavelength. The 2 dark filaments that were visible the opther day can still be seen near AR 11045 Group. Newly emerging AR 11048 can now be seen more clearly near the eastern solar limb than that of yesterday. AR 11047 Sunspot Group is not visible anymore in white light but still show some faint activities inside its core.

As for prominences, some nice eruptive prominences can be seen near the location of AR 11045 as well as some smaller prominences scattered around the limb.

Solar Imaging Session - February 11, 2010 (4 Possible Sunspot Groups Now on the Sun !!!)

Hello:

I was able to image this morning after getting clouded out yesterday. Sky is good and the seeing is ok. Through the PST-Ha, AR 11045 and AR 11046 are a joy to look at and with 2 dark filaments beside AR11045, it was very magnificent! AR 11047 has decayed almost totally but some trace of activity can still be seen in its region. I was able to detect a possible new active region that is coming out of the eastern limb almost at the same latitude as AR 11046. Will monitor its progress tomorrow as it is still near edge of the limb.

In white light, AR 11045 is still very large but has almost lost all its central core components except for a few spots. AR 11046, on the other hand, is starting to grow in size and structure. Unfortunately, AR 11047 has decayed totally and only faint trace of faculae can be seen.

Overall, there is a big probability of having 4 sunspot groups on the Sun tomorrow and it will give us an idea what to expect on the Sun's active resurrection for the start of its solar maximum activity this year. :)

Solar Imaging Session - February 9, 2010 (3 Sunspot Groups Now !!!)

Hello:

The sky this morning is hazy and seeing was a bit poor! Nevertheless, I still proceeded tom image the Sun. In H-Alpha light, AR 11045 still show some good activity still as well as AR 11046. Unfortunately, I overlooked my yesterday's solar image that AR 11047 was in the SE limb thus I forgot to image it today :( Two nice eruptive prominences can also be seen near the NE limb near AR 11046.

In white light whole disk. I can see the 3 sunspot groups while in the closeup shot of AR 11045, I notice the group has grown in length a bit but the central portion of the group is starting to decay so I'm expecting tomorrow the middle part of the group will have lesser spot at the middle portion :(

AR 11046 shows nice faculae region but the group has only a few small spots only so it might not last too long IMHO. I will try to image AR11047 for sure tomorrow.

Solar Imaging Session - February 8, 2010 (AR 11045 Sunspot Group Grows Bigger and New Emerging AR 11046 Group

Hello:

I'm not feeling well this morning maybe due to yesterday's activities so didn't report for work. Nevertheless, I still cannot restrain myself to still take a short peek at the Sun to see how AR 11045 is doing. From my observation, AR11045 has grown a little larger than yesterday and can be considered a large sunspot group already! I quickly snap a few shots of the Sun which have many prominences in almost all of its limb area :)

Another development is the re-emerging of AR 11042 (renamed AR11046) in the NE limb. I didn't image it at high resolution in white light yet as I spend my time trying to pull my remaining energy to get a good shot of AR11045 at High resolution. Seeing was not that good though.

In Ha light, AR 11045 was a sight to behold with its complex twisting bright plages encircling the group. The long dark filament that was visible yesterday remains visible. I'm hoping AR 11045 will grown in size and structure even more tomorrow.