My Daystar Quark Chromosphere tuning test with Borg 76ED Refractor with ZWO ASI120MM Webcam - May 30, 2021

 I was able to test my Quark Chromosphere Ha Filter's Tuning setting last May 30, 2021 with my Borg 76ED refractor with ZWO ASI120MM webcam to see which is best setting for my unit. Which setting you think is best??? :)

Solar Imaging Session - May 30, 2021

The sky this afternoon is clear and seeing condition is very good. AR2924 Sunspot Group is almost gone in the NW limb while there is a new AR2827 Sunspot Group that's developing in the NE quadrant. It exhibits some flaring activity inside its core in Ha wavelength. Hope it will continue to grow in the days to come as I missed the beautiful AR2826 Sunspot Group last week :(

May 26, 2021 Total Lunar Eclipse

On the early evening of  May 26, 2021, there will be a total lunar eclipse that will be visible in the Philippines as well as Asia. The Moon will rise at around  with more or less 50% umbral partial phase  started midway already  at 06:18pm PST (Philippine Standard Time) so it is best to find an observing site with a clear eastern horizon.  This eclipse will pass near the Northern path of the Earth's shadow thus  totality for this eclipse will be quite short at around 15 minutes only ! Moon will enter Totality at around 07:11pm PST with maximum totality phase occurring at 7:19pm PST with the Moon at around 11 deg high in the SE horizon near the constellation of Scorpius so the bright star Antares will be around 5 degrees below the eclipsed Moon.  Totality will end at around 07:26pm PST. Afterwards, the Moon will gradually start to exit the umbral shadow until it exits umbral phase at around 08:53pm PST. The Moon will totally exits the penumbral phase at 09:50pm PST signifying the end of the eclipse event.

Full Eclipse circumstances are as follows:

Moon enters Penumbra : 

Moon enters Umbra :

Moonrise :  06:18:12pm  // 00 deg Alt  // 112 deg Az

Moon enters Totality : 07:11:28pm  // 11deg Alt  // 116 deg Az

Maximum Eclipse : 07:18:42pm // 13 deg Alt  // 116 deg Az

Moon exits Totality : 07:25:56pm // 14 deg Alt // 117 deg Az

Moon exits Umbra:  08:52:25pm  // 31 deg Alt // 127 deg Az

Moon exits Penumbra: 09:49:47pm // 41 deg Alt // 138 deg Az

The Moon is expected to still be bright during totality so this is also favorable for imagers who doesn't have a motorized tracking mount. Good luck to all and clear skies!

Lunar Imaging Session - May 25, 2021

The sky this evening is clear and we use this opportunity to test our eclipse setup for tomorrow by imaging tonight's Waxing Gibbous Moon using my Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera with Borg 76ED refractor at prime focus at f/6.5 mounted on Kenko Sky Memo-R star tracker. Exposure of 1/1000sec at ISO 100. My son will be uisng Canon EOS 500D DSLR on Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens set at 400mm f8 mounted on Celestron Nexstar mount.

Solar Imaging Session - May 16, 2021

The sky this morning is partly cloudy but seeing condition is fair. AR2822 Sunspot Group is quiet and decaying fast with almost only the main core is still intact while the rest of its smaller components are almost gone.  There is a small pore group developing to the west of AR2822 Sunspot Group and I presume this will be probably be designated as AR2824 Sunspot Group.AR2823 Sunspot Group is gone. There are 2 nice large prominences in the SE and NW limb. I( wasn't able to do white light imaging as more clouds covered the Sun till our condo's roof obstructed my view of the Sun so time to packed up.

Solar Imaging Session - May 13, 2021

I wake up late this morning and was able to set up at around 9:00am already :( Seeing condition is poor this morning as the seeing is very wobbly. Nevertheless, I proceeded to image both AR2822 and AR2823 Sunspot Groups both in white light and Ha wavelength. Both sunspot groups are quiet with AR2822 Sunspot Group showing  some light flaring activity inside its core.

Solar Imaging Session - May 9, 2021

The sky this morning is partly clear but I proceeded to setup  my solar session as I want to image the returning AR2817 Sunspot Group which is now designated as AR2822 Sunspot Group. The group is slightly active and shows some nice solar activity inside its core.  The developing active region is still visible near the center of the Sun disk but has not develop yet any sunspots.  Its long dark filament is no more clearly visible. There is also a beautiful , long but faint ejecting prominence visible in the NE limb. Several smaller prominences are also visible around the Sun's limb but I wasn't able to image them anymore as it got clouded out.

Solar Imaging Session - May 6, 2021

The sky  this afternoon is partly cloudy. No sunspot groups are visible on the Sun's disk today.  I just settled imaging a developing active region with some dark filament in the SE quadrant as well as the curved large dark filament near the SW limb. 

Solar Imaging Session - May 1, 2021

The sky this afternoon is clear but seeing condition is fair. AR 2818 and 2820 Sunspot Groups are near the SW limb already and quietly exiting the limb. Both groups are quiet in white light and Ha wavelength.Some nice large faculae region are surrounding AR2820 Group.