Solar Imaging Session - February 1, 2014

Due to tropical storm Basyang in the Southern Philippines, weather even in the North is also greatly affected and we even had to cancel tonight's stargazing session. Adding injury to the frustration is that I also have slight flu which gives me body ache and slight fever this morning :( The sky this morning was obviously cloudy but I can still see some sunlight shining out from the thick clouds so I got to snap a shot of giant AR11967 Sunspot Group under very poor seeing condition :( What do I expect from a bad weather condition but nevertheless I'm still glad to capture it despite poor image resolution.

Solar Imaging Session - January 31, 2014

Happy Chinese New Year! Kung Hei Huat Chay!!! The sky this morning is hazy and seeing condition is fair. Old huge AR11944 Sunspot Group had return after around 2 weeks rotation around the Sun and is now renamed as AR11967 Sunspot Group. It is still huge in size and is a nice sight despite the fair seeing condition. There is another nice large AR11968 Sunspot Group north of AR11967 and might still grow some more4 in the days to come. In Ha wavelength, both sunspot groups are very silent in terms of solar activity inside its cores. There is also 2 nice large eruptive prominences in the SW limb.

Solar Imaging Session - January 20, 2014

The sky this morning is hazy but seeing condition is fair. 2 large sunspot groups namely AR11959 & 11960 Sunspot Groups are coming out from the eastern limb and looks promising. Not much solar activity on the Sun today except for a nice large hedgerow prominence visible in the SW limb.

Lunar Imaging Session - January 19, 2014

The sky this evening is partly clear but seeing condition is poor. I couldn't get a good shot of the moon craters up close so I just ended my session with 2 shots of the Waning Gibbous Moon at prime focus as well as a 2x barlow shot of the crater region through my trusty TV-101 refractor. Oh well..... better than nothing at all :)

Lunar Imaging Session - January 16, 2014

The sky tonight is very cloudy and I was desperately wanting to image the MiniMoon ( apogee Full Moon) or simply smallest Full Moon for 2014 and thus waited for a super small light cloud that hover in front of the Full Moon for me to capture this image through my Canon EOS 500D DSLR on TV-101 refractor with 2x TV Big Barlow. Better than nothing as they say :)

Lunar Imaging Session - January 13, 2014 (Moon Halo !)

The sky this evening is clear and I got to see a large Moon Halo almost overhead. I quickly grab my Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Canon EFS 10-22mm f/3.5-5.6 ultra wide lens set at 10mm f/5.6 to capture it in its entirely together with the beautiful Winter Hexagonal Asterism and Jupiter! I also use this opportunity to image the Waxing Gibbous Moon using Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/11.

Solar Imaging Session - January 12, 2014

The sky this morning is again hazy and seeing condition is poor. Giant AR11944 Sunspot Group is now nearing the western limb and will probably exits the limb in 2 days more or less. AR11949 Sunspot Group is also starting to grow in size. In Ha wavelength, AR11944 Sunspot Group is a joy to view with its active solar activity inside its core structure. There is also a nice large hedgerow near the limb beside AR11944 group. Another nice large eruptive prominence can be seen in the NW limb.

Solar Imaging Session - January 11, 2014

The sky this morning is cloudy and very hazy! Since I missed yesterday's solar session, I couldn't afford to miss another session this morning so despite the poor condition, I forced myself to still image AR11944 Sunpot Group which is now getting closer to the western limb. I wasn't able to image full disk white light and Ha wavelength as I was running late for work already. Nevertheless, still happy with the results.

Solar Imaging Session - January 9, 2014

The sky this morning is slightly hazy with fair seeing condition. Giant AR11944 Sunspot Group's second main umbra is starting to decay but its rear section area is starting to grow. AR11946 Sunspot Group is almost same with not much change in appearance. In Ha wavelength, AR11944 Sunspot Group is starting to calm down a bit in terms of solar activity inside its core. There is also a nice large hedgerow prominence in the NE limb.

Lunar Imaging Session - January 8, 2014

I got to make a quick snap shot of the Quarter Moon using a Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/8. The Moon is looking good tonight :)

Solar Imaging Session - January 8, 2014

The sky this morning is hazy but seeing continuous to be good for the past 2 days. Giant AR11944 Sunspot Group is now in central meridian, which means is facing the Earth's direction now and according to Spaceweather.com , it has unleashed yesterday an X1-class explosion in the sunspot's magnetic canopy hurled a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) in our direction. High-latitude sky watchers shoud be alert for auroras on Jan. 9th when the cloud is expected to arrive. NOAA forecasters estimate a 60% chance of polar geomagnetic storms. AR11946 Sunspot Group is also getting larger as well. In Ha wavelength, AR11944 Sunspot Group continue to stretch its maximum size as it is now in central meridian, meaning the Sun is now at the center of the Sun's disk. There is large hedgerow prominence in the NE limb.

Here is an enhanced version of AR11944 Sunspot Group through a different processing to enhance granulations and also get more details on the umbral structure itself.

Lunar Imaging Session - January 7, 2014

I arrive home late but still saw the quarter moon is high in the western horizon so I just grab my Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f/8 to capture it.

Solar Imaging Session - January 7, 2014

The sky this morning is cloudy and I thought I wouldn't be able to image this morning. Then just before I'm about to leave house for work, There was a small 5 minutes of clear sky from the whole cloudy sky for me to get to image Giant ART11944 Sunspot Group before getting clouded out again. Despite the bad weather, I was quite shocked to be able to image AR11944 Sunspot Group in almost perfect seeing condition!!! I was also able to get another shot of the Sun this time in full disk after 15 minutes but the seeing condition suddenly become poor again :( Is this pure luck or coincidence, I myself is still dumbfounded with the results :) LOL I wasn't able to do any Ha wavelength imaging due to cloudy sky after my white light imaging session.

Solar Imaging Session - January 6, 2014 (Giant Naked Eye AR11944 Sunspot Group)

The sky this morning is slightly hazy but seeing condition is still good. Giant naked eye AR11944 Sunspot Group is a joy to look at even with safe solar filter or glasses. It is mow starting to stretch its length so I'm having a hard time putting the entire sunspot group inside my camera's field of view! AR11946 Sunspot Group is also starting to grow in size as well. In Ha wavelength, I only got to image AR11944 Sunspot Group before I got totally clouded out :(

Solar Imaging Session - January 5, 2014

The sky this morning is partly clear and seeing condition is good. Giant AR11944 Sunspot Group continues to stretch its size as it starts to come out of its Wilson Effect. AR11944 Sunspot Group in Ha wavelength slightly tone down a bit but still shows activities inside its core.