Solar Imaging Session - March 1, 2012 (Nice Large Hedgerow Prominence)

The sky this morning is a bit hazy and seeing was not good. There is a nice large hedgerow prominence in the SW limb that's nice to looked at. AR11423, 11425 and 11426 Sunspot Groups are the sunspot groups that are visible right now and solar activity is quite mellow..........

Mars Imaging Session - February 29. 2012

The sky this evening is clear but seeing is very poor. I also had a hard time focusing on major details on Mars as I was imaging the boring side of Mars which is roughly between the prominent Syrtis Major and Chryse region :( North Polar Cap is also visible as well as some features such as Utopia, Mare Boreum & Mare Cimmerium. Some small faint white clouds can also be seen near the limb.

Solar Imaging Session - February 28, 2012 (Large Eruptive Prominences & Bright Flare in AR11426 Sunspot Group)

The sky this morning is clear and seeing condition is good. the remnant of the Huge Dark Filament can still be seen in the SW quadrant. Several large eruptive prominences are scattered in the NE, NW and SW limbs. A bright small flare can also be seen in AR11426 Sunspot Group. There are 4 sunspot groups that are visible in the NE quadrant namely AR11423, 11424, 11425 and 11426 with the biggest being AR11423 Sunspot Group.

Solar Imaging Session - February 26, 2012 (Huge Dark Filament)

The sky this morning is partly hazy but seeing condition is slightly ok. Highlight for this morning's solar feature is still the huge dark filament that is now at the center of the solar disk. AR11422 Sunspot Group is now exiting on the western limb while AR11423 and AR11424 Sunspot Groups are on the NE quadrant and shows a lot of solar activity amid their small size.

The large eruptive prominence in the SW limb is still visible and has widen a bit in terms of surface area , There is also a small sunspot group above the huge dark filament but is still not yet designated but I think this will later be designated as possible AR11425 Sunspot Group in the days to come.

Solar Imaging Session - February 25, 2012 (Huge Dark Filament)

After less than 2.5 hours of sleep after my Mars and Saturn imaging session, I wake up a bit late and saw some sunlight and I quickly jumped out of bed and try to check on the Sun and saw a nice huge dark filament visible in the center of the Sun's disk and I quickly setup and try to capture it as well as several large dark filaments in the NW quadrant before clouds interfere on my short imaging session. Several nice eruptive prominences can also be seen in the SW and SE quadrant.

Mars & Saturn Imaging Session - February 25, 2012

After I got from Baguio in the evening and joined my fellow ALPers at the National Astronomy Week (NAW) free stargazing session last February 24 at AstroCamp Observatory and returning home later in the morning already, I saw Mars past zenith, I quickly setup the scope and let the scope cool down a bit while getting some rest from a very tiring night. I started to image Mars after an hour later and can see Martian feature Mare Cimmerium in the Central Meridian. Syrtis Major is near the limb while the North Polar Cap is clearly visible with Utopia. Seeing was not that good but still shows a lot of details.

After I finish imaging Mars, I also saw Saturn already past our neighbor's roof obstruction so I didn't let it past without imaging the ring planet amid slightly poor image I got from my first Saturn image of the year. I hope to improve a little more in the days to come If I got time.

Solar Imaging Session - February 19, 2012 (Huge Eruptive Prominence & 2 FilaProms !!!)

Finally after 8 days of no solar imaging sessions, I was able to do some solar work this morning despite poor seeing condition brought about by hazy sky and bad seeing. AR11418 Sunspot Group is about to exit the SW limb while the most prominent sunspot group on the Sun now is solitary moderate size AR11420 Sunspot Group. Very quiet in white light wavelength with 2 more new sunspot groups possibly be designated AR11421 and AR11422 Sunspot Groups.

In Ha wavelength, it is not as quiet as it seem as there is a huge eruptive prominence in the NE limb as well as 2 huge FilaProms visible in the SE and SW limb. Very beautiful as very 3D effect!!!

Mars Imaging Session - February 19. 2012

The sky in the late evening was a bit clear after several days of cloudiness and rain and I was able to finally observe and image Mars for the first time since 2003! I set up the scope in the laundry area around 10:45pm to let the scope cool down before I attempted any image on the red planet. I started to image Mars after midnight and seeing was a little bit better than the early part of the evening where I can see Mars like a jelly bean with the air turbulence. Seeing improves a bit after midnight and I was able to image Mars under poor seeing but without the jelly bean effect.

Syrtis Major is the prominent feature near the central meridian with the north polar cap region clearly visible even at low power. I can see some bright white clouds near Hyblaeus Extension as well as beside Syrtis Major.

Amid the not so good imaging session, I was still happy with the results as this is the first time again that I was able to image Mars again and I hope to do more imaging session as opposition nears on March 4.

Solar Imaging Session - February 11, 2012 (Large AR11416 Sunspot Group)

The sky this morning is slightly hazy and seeing condition is not that good as well. The most prominence feature today is the big AR11416 Sunspot Group is nice to observe as well! 2 more small sunspot group namely AR11417 and AR11418 Sunspot Groups are very small. A large dark filament can also be seen in the NW quadrant as well as a nice large eruptive prominence in the SW quadrant.

I was also able to image AR11416 Sunspot Group in white light wavelength thru hazy sky but image is still ok a bit :0 Hope to get a better image of the group again tomorrow.

Solar Imaging Session - February 8, 2012 (Huge Prominence Galore !!!)

The sky this morning was clear and seeing condition was fair. The NE large eruptive prominence has almost doubled in size this morning and what a sight to behold! One of the biggest that I had observe and image lately! There are lots of large eruptive prominences around the solar limb and I had to spend extra time to observe and image them all!

AR11410 is exiting the western limb while new AT11415 Sunspot Group is showing some small solar activity inside its core as it is also about to exit the western limb maybe in 2-3 days.

There are also several large dark filaments that can be seen in the NE and SE quadrant that add more excitement for this morning solar observing and imaging session!

Solar Imaging Session - February 7, 2012

The sky this morning is clear and seeing condition is again fair. AR11410 and AR11413 Sunspot Group is near the edge of the western limb already and will exits the limb for sure today. There is a new possible new AR11415 Sunspot Group that is developing to the east of AR11410 Sunspot Group but I doubt it will get full develop before it exits the western limb.

There are also two nice large eruptive prominences tat are visible in the NE and NW quadrant to spice up the rather quiet Sun this morning.

Solar Imaging Session - February 6, 2012

The sky this morning is partly hazy again but seeing was a bit better than the past few days. AR11410 still shows nice details amid its close proximity to the western limb. AR11413 Sunspot Group has decayed considerably but still has some small spots nevertheless.

Some moderate sized eruptive prominences can be seen in NW and Se quadrants. A nice large dark filament can also be seen in the NE quadrant. Overall, activity is quite low...... :( Hope the Sun will be active again a bit in the next few days to come!