November 14, 2022 Solar Imaging Session

The sky this afternoon is partly cloudy and seeing condition is ok. Large AR 3140 and AR3141 Sunspot Groups are nearing the NW limb with AR3140 Sunspot Group showing flaring activity inside its core structure and are nice to observe visually as well as photographically. AR3145 Sunspot Group is small group.

November 8, 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse

Last November 8th, my son KC accompanied me to meetup with ALPer Alberto Lao with her daughter Courtney at their roofdeck to observe and image the total lunar eclipse. For this eclipse, we will only be able to see it at moonrise at around 5:19am with the Moon already immersed by the Earth's shadow around 25% already. But the weather for the event is partly cloudy and true enough, we weren't able to see the Moon until around 6:30pm with totality phase already started. the Moon was initially difficult to see as lots of thick clouds and haze covering up the Moon. I brought along my Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera on Borg 76ED Refractor mounted on Vixen GPDX mount. my son KC use Canon EOS 500D DSLR with Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L Lens mounted on Vixen Polarie star tracker. Albert, on the other hand, use a Sony bridge camera mounted on iOptron star tracker. Maximum totality was observed at around 6:59pm. The planet Uranus was also seen as it pass close to the Moon durong totality phase. Both KC and I obswrve the entire eclipse phase until 10:00pm before we pack up and go home. we would like to also thank Alberto for accommodating our request to setup at their roofdeck.

Total Lunar Eclipse with Close Conjunction of Uranus - November 8, 2022

Last November 8 during the total lunar eclipse at totality , the planet Uranus made a very close conjunction near the Moon! Nice photo opportunity!

November 6, 2022 Solar Imaging Session

The sky before lunchtime is partly cloudy and seeing condition is poor. AR3141 Sunspot Group is large and is the highlight object on the solar disk. 2 other moderate size AR3140 and AR3135 Sunspot Groups are the other bigger groups. in Ha, several large eruptive prominence can be seen in the SE and SW limbs. In CaK wavelength, AR3141 and AR3140 Sunspot Groups shows lots of plages around them.

November 8, 2022 Total Lunar Eclipse

On the early evening of November 8, 2022, there will be a total lunar eclipse that will be visible in the Philippines as well as from Asia, Australia, North America, parts of northern and eastern Europe, and most of South America. The Moon will rise with more or less 25% umbral partial phase already at 05:19 pm PST (Philippine Standard Time) so it is best to find an observing site with a clear eastern horizon. This eclipse will pass almost centrally along the Earth's shadow thus totality for this eclipse will be long at around 1 hour 26 minutes! Moon will enter Totality at around 06:16 pm PST with maximum totality phase occurring at 6:59pm PST with the Moon at around 22 deg high in the eastern horizon near the constellation of Aries. Totality will end at around 07:42 pm PST. Afterwards, the Moon will gradually start to exit the umbral shadow until it exits umbral phase at around 08:49 pm PST. The Moon will totally exits the penumbral phase at 09:56pm PST signifying the end of the eclipse event.

The Moon is expected to be dark red in color during totality as it will almost pass the center of Earth's umbral shadow thus it is favorable for imagers who have a motorized tracking mount or use a higher ISO to compensate for longer exposure needed. Good luck to all and clear skies!

Solar Imaging Session - October 9, 2022

The sky after lunch is partly cloudy and seeing condition is poor. Large duo AR3116 and AR3112 Sunspot Groups are a joy to observe and image in Ha wavelength aside from another moderate size AR3119 Sunspot Group. There is a large hedgerow prominence in the SE limb but unfortunately, I got rained out so had to packup asap!