Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy Imaging Session - December 28, 2014

A last minute decision by ALPers James Kevin Ty, Andrew Ian Chan and Shubhashish Banerjee to go to Nasugbu instead of the traditional Caliraya site because of unfavorable weather condition paid off as they were blessed with a perfectly clear cloudless sky the entire night till morning. They arrived at Johndel Beach Resort at around 10:45pm and started to unload their stuff to their rooms. ALPers James Kevin Ty brought along his Canon EOS500D DSLR with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens mounted on a Vixen GP-DX mount. Andrew Ian Chan brought along his Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Skywatcher 80ED refractor on Vixen GP mount while Shubhashish Banerjee with his Canon EOS 350D DSLr mounted on Andrew's Vixen Polarie mount. After getting some rest, they started to setup their equipment and started to locate Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy which is located between Columba and Lepus area that night. After checking for a short while, they located the comet which is almost visible to the naked eye at around mag 5.6. As expected from a good weather, equipment gremlins started to creep in with our mounts not being able to track properly initially as well as PHD not working with James' autoguider because he brought along another laptop which he doesn't use in the field as the netbook he used to brought along imaging sessions died out :( In the end, they were able to recuperate and overcome the gremlins and still get good images of the comet. They later found out from fellow ALPer Manuel Goseco that our initial Caliraya site was completely clouded out entire evening and very muddy because it rained for several days already thus making the grounds muddy and damp. They packed up their stuff at around 4:30am and get some rest after they tale their traditional group shot :) They are looking forward for January 10 next year for another possible session here in Nasugbu or back in Caliraya.

Solar Imaging Session - December 27, 2014

The sky this morning is hazy and a bit cloudy. I only used the standard Coronado PST-Ha this morning as images were very dark when I double stacked it because of the haze and clouds. Not much solar activity except for a few large dark filaments as well as some moderate eruptive prominences.

Solar Imaging Session - December 26, 2014

The sky this morning is clear but seeing condition is fair. The large group of eruptive prominence is still visible in the NE limb but is now slightly dimmer a bit compare to yesterday brightness but is still very large! There is also a nice looking S shaped twisted dark filament around AR2249 Sunspot Group. Aside from these 2 interesting features, the rest of the Sun is quiet.

Solar Imaging Session - December 25, 2014

The sky this morning is cloudy and seeing condition is poor. It's been days since I last imaged so I still proceeded with my session despite poor expectation of my output. AR2241 Sunspot Group is near the SW limb already. Several other small sunspot groups are visible on the Sun's surface but are not large. I wasn't able to image other sunspot groups in white light as clouds continues to cover the Sun making it difficult to focus and image. I almost gave up but I got to see a thin layer of clouds for me to capture a nice large group of eruptive prominence in the NE limb under poor seeing condition but I hope to get another crack on this prominence tomorrow if it is still visible :0

Solar Imaging Session - December 21, 2014

The sky this morning is slightly cloudy and seeing condition is poor. I still proceeded to imaging the Sun. AR2241 and 2242 Sunspot Groups are almost the same appearance as yesterday while possible new AR2244 Sunspot Group is starting to grown in size and complexity. In Ha wavelength, AR2242 Sunspot Group has simmered down a bit after yesterday's X1.8 X-Flare. AR2241 Sunspot Group, on the other hand is staring to also getting to get active with some bright internal flaring. 2 nice large eruptive prominences can also be seen in the NE limb.

Solar Imaging Session - December 20. 2014

The sky this morning is slightly hazy but seeing was surprisingly superb! 2 dominant large sunspot groups AR2241 and 2242 are a joy to look at both in white light and in Ha wavelength. AR2242 Sunspot Group in Ha erupted a X1.8 X-Flare at around 08:27 (00:27UT) and coincides with my imaging of the group but unfortunately, the good seeing didn't last long and deteriorated tremendously while I'm imaging in Ha and clouds also interfered to end my solar imaging session.

Solar Imaging Session - December 12, 2014

The sky this morning finally cleared and seeing condition is very good as well. Lots of solar activities in the white light wavelength as AR2230 and 2234 grow in size and length. There is also 2 new sunspot group not yest designated yet but I guess it will later be classified as AR2236 and 2237. In Ha wavelength, not much high activity except for a few large dark filaments only. As I was starting to image in Ha, seeing suddenly drops from very good to fair thus I only image in wide shots only.

Solar Imaging Session - December 11, 2014

The sky this morning is cloudy and I had a hard time imaging the Sun! I had to image through passing clouds thus my white light images are soft IMHO. In Ha wavelength, the images are a little forgiving as lesser magnification. Overall, I'm still happy to have image despite the bad weather situation. :0

Solar Imaging Session - December 10, 2014

After more than 4 days of no solar imaging session due to typhoon Hagupit (Ruby), I was agan able to do some quick solar imaging session this morning. The sky is clear but seeing is fair only. AR2227 Sunspot Group has the largest umbral structure on the Sun right now with AR2230 Sunspot Group growing in size tremendously! Aside form another interesting AR2232 Sunspot Group on the eastern limb. there is another new AR2233 Sunspot Group emerging out of the SE limb worth monitoring in the days to come. In Ha wavelength, there are several beautiful large eruptive prominences visible int he eastern limb and AR2230 Sunspot Group showing lots of flaring activity inside its core.