Solar Imaging Session - January 1, 2014 (New Year Solar Fireworks!!!)

I wake up refresh after a tiring celebration last night to celebrate the coming of a New Year 2014! While we here on Earth celebrated New Year with firework explosions and bangs, our closest star also is celebrating New Year as well with a Super Huge Eruptive Prominence in the SE limb!!! Jaw dropping as it is the biggest eruptive prominence that I had ever image so far!!! Likewise, AR11936n Sunspot Group is also growing large as well as showing bright flare activities inside its core!!! What a nice way to welcome the New Year with a Bang!!! Happy New Year to All !!!

Solar Imaging Session - December 31, 2013

After a tiring 2 night stargazing session in Caliraya, I was completely tired and use yesterday as a full resting day and didn't process anything at all. After getting enough rest and sleep, I wake up this morning with a fresh mind and body and saw the sky is clear. I quickly setup my scope and mounts asap as they were all dismantled from my Dec 28-29, 2013 imaging session. The Sun has a nice large AR11936 Sunspot Group that is looking good to end the 2013 year :) The group is large but not that complex in structure as it has lots of numerous moderate size umbral group inside its core. Departing AR11934 and AR11931 Sunspot Groups are on the edge of the western limb. In Ha wavelength, AR11936 Sunspot Group is nice as well to view as lots of small solar activities inside its core. There is also a nice large eruptive prominence visible in the SE limb. Overall, the Sun still show nice solar activity to end the year right. Advance Happy New Year to all!

Solar Imaging Session - December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas Everyone! The sky this morning is clear and seeing condition is fair. AR11934 Sunspot Group continues to grow in size as well as AR11931 Sunspot Group. Numerous moderate size prominences are visible in the solar limb in Ha wavelength but overall is not that active. AR11934 and AR11931 Sunspot Group is also not bad in terms of solar activity inside its core.

Lunar Imaging Session - December 25, 2013

The sky this evening was partly cloudy and seeing condition is poor. I still setup in order to see if I could image Lunar X during the last quarter phase of the Moon. Normally, easy to image during First Quarter phase, I have some apprehension if I could catch it tonight. As the Moon rises above my eastern horizon obstruction, I quickly snap a few shots of the area between Arzachel and Purbach Crater Region. I was able to image but not the degree that I'm expecting it to be :( Although it is obvious that it is the Lunar X, unfortunately, the best time to image it would have been maybe 2-3 hours before my exposure thus my Lunar X top portion is already past its sun lighted area :( Nevertheless, I'm still happy for the effort despite the poor seeing condition :) I also manage to image Alphonsus crater region as well as a full disk shot.

Solar Imaging Session - December 24, 2013 (Desperately Seeking Solar)

The sky this morning is clouded out:( But at around 9;15am, I saw some sunlight peering through heavy passing clouds, I crazily still setup to image the Sun for can't explained reasons. These are the times normal solar imager will call it a day and instead having good breakfast time. But insanely enough , I still image AR11930, 11931 and 11934 Sunspot Group despite knowing too well, images will surely be crappy. Nevertheless, AR11931 and 11934 Sunspot Groups are both growing in size and will definitely replace AR11928 Sunspot Group as the main attraction during the Christmas holiday break. I hope to get a better weather tomorrow so that I won't be put into this predicament once again :) LOL Advance Merry Christmas to all!

Lunar Imaging Session - December 24, 2013

I arrive home late after having a body massage to remove my body pain. Unfortunately, I was surprised to see the Moon getting obstructed by our darn tall neighborhood building and thus i will be left with a very small imaging window as the Moon needs clear out from the top of the tall building :( I was only able to image 2 closeup shots of the Moon before the Moon got obstructed by my own roof! I concentrated on imaging the large Clavius crater region as well as the lesser known Abulfeda crater region. This area also has a nice V shaped crater light reflection similar to the Lunar X which is normally seen during the First Quarter Moon. Not sure if this is called the Lunar V :) I tried to catch up with a full disk lunar image with the Canon EF100-400mm IS L lens on sturdy tripod outside our house to conclude my lunar imaging session this morning.

Solar Imaging Session - December 23. 2013

The sky this morning is clear but seeing condition is once again not that good. AR11928 Sunspot Group is now nearing the western limb. AR11931 Sunspot Group is still getting better in term of penumbral structure despite its solitary core structure. AR11934 Sunspot Group is growing in size and structure and nice to monitor in the days to come. I also got to image in HA wavelength as well but I concentrate on the interesting features only as Im running late for work :( AR11928 , 11934 and 11931 Sunspot Groups still show nice solar activities inside its core.

Lunar Imaging Session - December 23, 2013

I setup once again tonight to test out some close up lunar imaging with the Televue 5x Powermate. Unfortunately, the seeing condition is poor for me to test it fully so I had to revert back to using my usual double stacked 2x barlow lens. I test image on the Theophillus / Cyrillus & Copernicus crater region as well as Montes Apenninus region. Although the seeing condition is poor, I was able to squeeze out some fair images nevertheless. Hope to test out again tomorrow night once again.

Solar Imaging Session - December 22, 2013

The sky this morning is cloudy and I thought that this will be a rest day for me to do solar imaging. But at around 9:10am, I saw some sunlight shining in through my observing window so I quickly snap a few white light images through some passing clouds before I got obstructed by the roof :( Seeing condition is poor this morning. AR11928 Sunspot Group is now nearing the the SW limb. AR11931 Sunspot Group has a nice penumbral structure worth monitoring in the days to come specially after AR11928 Sunspot Group exits the Sun's limb in 3 days more or less. New AR11934 Sunspot Group is moderate in size and I hope it will develop some more for us to have some nice sunspots to image in the days to come.

Lunar Imaging Session - December 21, 2013

After having a simple dinner with my family at the nearby mall, I wen t back home at around 10:30pm and setup my lunar imaging equipment. Seeing condition is good so I was able to get some decent shots of the moon craters up close. I use a TV-101 refractor with ZWO ASI120MM webcam as well as a Canon EOS 500D DSLR body to capture the Moon tonight.

Solar Imaging Session - December 21, 2013 (Huge Tall Fountain Prominence!)

The sky this morning is clear but seeing condition is fair. AR11928 Sunspot Group dominates the surface of the Sun with its beautiful umbra and penumbral structure with new AR11931 Sunspot Group which just comes out of the SE limb not bad as well in appearance. I was still able to catch up with departing AR11918 Sunspot Group before it exits the western limb in a day or two. But AR11928's beauty was eclipsed in beauty today in Ha wavelength with the appearance of a huge tall fountain prominence that will surely caught anyone's attention if they were looking at the Sun in Ha wavelength during my morning session! So far, I think this is the tallest prominence tat I was able to image up to date since I got my Coronado PST-Ha way back in 2008! New upcoming possible AR11934 (?) Sunspot Group shows lot of solar activity inside its core. Same goes for huge AR11928 Sunspot Group. It was a nice welcome home solar imaging session for me after I got back from Baguio City :) LOL