Solar Imaging Session - February 27, 2021

The sky this morning is partly clear. I had no plans to image this morning as we have work even on Saturday.. But after seeing that the super huge looped prominence that I captured last February 25, 2021 is still visible and has detached and looks like it is ejecting outward, I didn't waste any more time and quickly setup using a modest Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5 6 IS L lens to capture the prominence before I packed up and go to office asap. I only image in Ha wavelength this morning as I lack time to image anymore white light wavelength :(. In Ha, AR2804 Sunspot Group is still quite active and is now nearing the NW limb. AR2805 Sunspot Group is silent and is also nearing the SW limb as well.

Solar Imaging Session - February 25, 2021 (Super Huge Looped Prominence!)

The sky this morning is clear and I started early and yesterday's huge hedgerow prominence has expanded into a super huge looped prominence! First time I saw and image such a huge monster prominence! I had a hard time framing the super huge prom on my ZWO ASI120MM webcam / Borg 76ED refractor setup that I had to use my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 300mm to frame the entire super huge looped prominence into the image frame!

Aside from this beautiful feature on the Sun surface, AR2804 Sunspot Group is also very active as it shows bright flaring activity across the region. AR2805 Sunspot Group  shows slight flaring activity but supports a nice twirling dark filament. Remnant of AR2803 Sunspot Group can still be seen in Ha wavelength but is not visible in white light wavelength. Only large AR2804 and small AR2805 Sunspot Groups are visible in white light.

I wasn't able to test compare the advantage of using an Energy Rejection Filter (ERF) on loan from a friend of mine to compare against using just UV-IR filter only as too much solar activities on the Sun kept me all tied up and I run out of time to be able to compare the 2. Hopefully I would be able to test them this coming Sunday solar Imaging session.

Solar Imaging Session - February 24, 2021

The sky this morning is partly clear and I was only able to image the huge SW hedgerow prominence as the clouds keep on pestering my imaging session until I have to packup to go to work.. Nevertheless still happy with the results. Hopefully tomorrow I would be able to get more images as the Sun has lots of solar activities on the disk right now.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 20, 2021

The sky this evening was surprisingly clear as I as expecting the weather to be overcast due to the impending typhoon coming in the country. So I quickly setup my scope to do a FB live webcast of the First Quarter Moon to conclude the National Astronomy Week 2021 as well as take a snap shot of it as well. With the clear sky, I was also tempted to share the vie of the bright star Sirius as well as the Great Orion Nebula (M42). Of course the Orion Nebula is washed out due to close proximity of the Moon but nevertheless, I'm still happy with the result.. I use WZO ASI294 MC PRO astro camera on Borg 76ED refractor mounted on Celestron Nexstar mount to do the webcast as well as image the Moon and M42.

Lunar Imaging Session - February 19, 2021

The sky this evening is partly cloudy and I use this small window of opportunity to do a short live webcast of the Quarter Moon in celebration of National Astronomy Week 2021 using ZWO ASI294 MC Pro Astro Camera on Borg 76ED refractor mounted on Celestron Nexstar mount. I also use this setup to image the Lunar X and Lunar V before I got clouded out again.

Solar Imaging Session - February 14, 2021

The sky this morning is very hazy and cloudy and I had to find an opening to get a few frames before I got clouded out as well as obstructed by the building roof. The large NE hedgerow prominence I imaged 2 days ago is still alive and it seems to  have ejected a little yesterday and I was able to capture it this morning as it is coming back to the limb again. It's faint so I had to overexposed for the prominence to be seen and image properly. Nice opportunity to view it to celebrate Valentine's Day with Sol :)

Solar Imaging Session - February 12, 2021

Kung Hei Huat Chay! Happy Chinese New Year! The sky this morning is partly cloudy and I have to play hide and seek with the clouds to be able to image the large NE hedgerow prominence as well as the fainter but still large SW hedgerow prominence too. I also use my old trusty TV-101 refractor for this session as it has not been used for a long time already :(  

I also experimented playing around using my Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera mounted on the Daystar Quark Chromosphere Ha filter and TV-101 refractor. Result looks promising but not that great compared to what I can get out using my old reliable ZWO ASI120MM webcam but I will try again next session with probably my Canon EF100-400mm L lens so I can try to get a full disk Ha image and check the result.

 

 

 

Solar Imaging Session - February 7, 2021

The sky this morning is partly cloudy and I had to play hide and seek with the Sun and clouds to be able to get the SE large group of eruptive prominence at around lunch time already!  Seeing is also not that good as well but still happy with the result.