Solar Imaging Session - November 30, 2021

The sky this morning is very hazy and cloudy. Seeing condition is fair. AR2898 and 2900 Sunspot Groups are beautiful in all 3 wavelengths. There are also 2 huge groups of eruptive prominences in the SW and NE limb.A beautiful Huge Snake Filaprom can be seen beside AR2900 Sunspot Group and arching its way toward the limb. There are also 2 smaller sunspot groups visible namely AR2901 and 2902. Seeing condition deteriorated when I was imaging in CaK wavelength this images are slightly soft but I'm not complaining :) LOL

Solar Imaging Session - November 21, 2021

The sky this afternoon is clear and seeing condition is also very good. The Sun is very quiet with only 2 small sunspot groups visible namely AR2896 and AR2897. In Ha wavelength, there is a beautiful huge twisting dark filament in the SE quadrant. Both AR2896 and AR2897 Sunspot Groups shows very small flaring activities only. In CaK wavelength, some nice plages can be seen surrounding both sunspot groups.

November 19, 2021 Partial Lunar Eclipse Imaging Session

The sky this afyernoon is cloudy in Manila so my son KC and I decided to go to Shell of Asia in Guiginto, Bulacan to observe and image the partial lunar eclipse that is visible at moonrise. our initial plan to observe at fellow ALPer Andrew Ian Chan factory site was cancelled after we found out that the 70 degree azimuth at the site is obstructed by a tree. We arrive at the site at around 4:45pm and we quickly setup our telescopes as eclipse starts at around 5:25pm. The Moon was only visible at around 5:40pm and we started our imaging run until the end of penumbral eclipse time with no clouds at all. We had a group shot before packing up and heading home feeling blessed and lucky that we were able to see the eclipse against all odds of bad weather prediction.

Lunar Imaging Session - November 18, 2021

The sky this evening is clear and so I use my Borg 76ED Refractor with Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera to test image the Waxing Gibbous Moon for tomorrow's Partial Lunar Eclipse imaging session. Taken at 1/4000 sec exposure at ISO 400.

November 19, 2021 Partial Lunar Eclipse

This coming November 19, there will be a deep partial lunar eclipse that will be visible in the Philippines as well as North and South America, Australia, and parts of Europe. In the Philippines, we won't be able to observe half of this event as the Moon rises only around 17:26 Phil Standard Time (PST). At this time, we will miss the maximum eclipse of 97% which will happen at 17:03 PST. Part of the eclipsed Moon will still show a bright reddening as the Moon grazed through the southernmost part of the Earth's shadow. But since this is near the horizon, expect a slightly dark red Moon as it is passing through the smog and clouds near the horizon. The Moon will gradually exits the Earth's umbral shadow till totally exits at around 18:47 PST when it is about 18 Deg high only in the NE horizon. The Moon will totally exits the penumbral shadow at around 20:04 PST signalling the end of the eclipse. Below are the circumstances of the eclipse Moon enters Penumbra 14:02:08 below horizon Moon enters Umbra 15:18:42 below horizon Maximum Eclipse 97% 17:02:55 below horizon Moonrise 17:25:51 00 Deg Alt , 70 Deg E Az Moon exits Umbra 18:47:07 18 Deg Alt , 74 Deg E Az Moon exits Penumbra 20:03:43 36 Deg Alt , 76 Deg E Az Below is how the Moon will look like at Moonrise. North is up. Illustration courtesy of Eclipse 2.0 . Times courtesy of Fred Espenak.

To observe this eclipse, look for an unobstructed east horizon since this is a Moonrise event. No need to use an optical aid to view this Eclipse but one can get a better view of course through a pair of binoculars or telescope. Happy Eclipse viewing! This will be the last Eclipse event for 2021 and the next Lunar eclipse will be visible next year on May 22, 2022 but this event won't be visible in the Philippines and Asia. The next visible one in the Philippines will be on early morning of November 9, 2022 which is a total lunar eclipse.

Solar Imaging Session - November 14, 2021

The sky this morning is very cloudy. Seeing condition is good. In white light wavelength, only AR2894 Sunspot Group is a little interesting group which shows a nice umbra and penumbra structure. In Ha wavelength, AR2894 Sunspot Group is quiet with AR2895 Sunspot Group, although small pore group, is showing large flaring activity as well as large filaments surrounding the group. I wasn't able to image in CaK wavelength as I got clouded out afterwards and obstructed by building roof :(