Solar Imaging Session - August 30, 2012 (Numerous Huge Dark Filaments !!!)

The sky this morning is partly clear and seeing condition is ok. There are numerous large dark filaments on the Sun today that are located in the SE limb as well as near the SW quadrant. The SW filament is a sight to observe as it shows a beautiful arching dark filament while the one in the SE limb huge wide dark filament has started to enter in to the SW quadrant thus missing the FilaProm which was visible yesterday :( Prominences today was small and inconspicious as well as the sunspot groups that were visible on the Sun. There are 4 small sunspot groups today. I was able to do a single white light high resolution shot of AR11553 Sunspot Group but I could only manage to image it a moderate resolution as clouds started to interfere with my imaging session thus missed the chance to image the group at higher magnification :( Better luck again tomorrow :0

Waxing Gibbous Moon - August 27, 2012 (KC's 1st Moon Shot)

I was not feeling well today so I had to cancel my supposed provincial work trip this morning :) But in the early evening, I saw the beautiful Moon rising from the eastern horizon and my son KC asked me to teach him how to image the Moon with my seldom used Canon Powershot 650 IS which I have given to him with a light tripod. So I just pointed my camera on my observing window and took a snap of it before I teach my son how to use the compact camera to get his first moon shot :) A nice feeling after seeing your own son getting his first Moon shot :)

Good Bye Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

I got to learn from the news that US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, has died at the age of 82 :( He was born on August 5, 1930 and died on August 25, 2012. I will always remember his first words upon stepping on the lunar surface "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." May you rest in peace......... goodbye Neil!

Image courtesy of NASA.

Solar Imaging Session - August 26, 2012 (2 Huge Eruptive Prominences !!!)

The sky this morning was partly clear but seeing is good. I was able to do my 2nd solar imaging session in the row. New AR11555 Sunspot Group continuous to grow in size as it emerges from the NE limb. But the most prominent feature this morning are 2 huge eruptive prominences that are visible in the NE and SE limb. It was a joy to look at both prominences with the NE prominence being the most interesting! Lots of dark filaments are also visible in both NE and SE quadrant. As I was planning to shoot the sunspots through high res white light, clouds started to cover the Sun and seeing suddenly deteriorated thus frustrating me to image them until the Sun gets obstructed again by our roof at around 9:00am. Oh well, better luck again tomorrow........... :)

Solar Imaging Session - August 25, 2012

Welcome back old Sol! I was finally able to start my solar imaging session again since July 15. With the Sun clearing my Northeasterly obstructions, I can now start to do regular solar imaging sessions once again (weather permitting of course). I wake up late this morning around 8:30am after I return from my Laoag / Baguio work trip. I saw the Sun ray shining finally from my observation window! I didn't waste time to setup right away and despite some clouds hovering near the Sun, I was able to do some short Ha imaging of the NE and SE region of the Sun. Seeing is not that good this morning. There is a new possible AR11555 Sunspot Group that is emerging from the NE limb and together with another new large AR11554 Sunspot Group in the NE quadrant, they are the new kids on the block that are visible on the Sun right now. AR11553 Sunspot Group in the SE quadrant is a joy to view as well despite its small size. Lots of small sunspot groups are also visible on the Sun but with clouds passing in front of the Sun, I only manage to image the NE and SE quadrant only. There are numerous dark filaments that are visible as well as a huge, wide hedgerow prominence that is visible in the SE limb. Overall, It's a nice start for me to do my regular solar imaging session again!

August 12, 2012 Jupiter-Moon Occultation

Last August 12, I, together with fellow ALP colleague Edgar Ang setup at the roof deck of Edgar's place to try to observe and document the Jupiter-Moon occultation that will be happening more or less around 2:43am for Jupiter to disappear behind the bright limb of the Moon (Ingress) and about 3:17am for Jupiter to reappear from the dark limb of the Moon (Egress). I was supposed to image the event at high resolution using Philips Toucam 740K webcam with 2x barlow on 8" f/10 Meade SCT and Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens with EF 1.4x converter with Canon EOS 500D DSLR for full disk image of the event. Edgar, on the other hand, opted to just observe the event visually with a pair of 120x50mm binocular after seeing lots of clouds at the start of the event. Unfortunately, cloud cover is severe as it nears Ingress and I decided to let off of the high resolution imaging of the event and concentrated on full disk imaging of Ingress. Clouds didn't cooperate with us and we missed Ingress :( For consolation, we were able to observe Egress at around 3:16am. Despite the disappointment, we were still happy to be able to still get part of the event. Better luck next time for us :0

Lunar Imaging Session - August 2, 2012 Waning Gibbous Moon

After a strong hard rain this afternoon , I was able to see the Waning Gibbous Moon rising from the eastern horizon, I just brought out my Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Canon EF 100-400mm f / 4.5-5.6 IS L lens with EF 1.4x converter on sturdy tripod and took a shot of it as I miss imaging astro objects already! After 30 minutes, hard rain poured again :) LOL Seeing was not that good as there is some haze but still ok for me :)