Sun in HAlpha / CaK / White Light With Lunt LS100THa / Stellarvue SV80s + Lunt CaK filter or Baader Astro Solar Safety film Uploaded 1/17/12 Weekly Report For Monday, January 7th - Sunday Jan 15, 2012
Images below are 800 wide and non clickable
Solar activity was fairly slow this week, starting with few active sunspots. There were however some spectacular prominences, and the details in Halpha were good.
JANUARY 7th, 2012
Below: Our former sunspot quad is now a few isolated spots on the western limb. AR1389 is the dominant member of this former quad/trio, and is sitting in a sea of faculae. AR1391 has evolved rapidly, and is currently the most active spot on the Sun. You can just see a new spot in this Saturday image just coming on to the eastern limb.
Here is the same disk without the labels for a natural appearance:
AR1389 on the limb in a large area of faculae (white areas around the spots)
AR1391 has a very complex appearance, with many small pores around it. It has the potential to develop more.
Small group AR1393 is degenerating fast:
Hydrogen Alpha Images
AR1391 on the eastern limb is accompanied by a stunning plage (white area) and some structured filaments. These are with the Lunt LS100 and DMK51:
AR1391 is far more spectacular in Halpha. It is accompanied on the left by a bright patch of plage, and closer to the limb some developing filaments. Recall that filaments are simply proms seen on the disk of the sun, rather than protruding from the edges.
AR1393 has a spectacular magnetic field around it. Here, it appears as a bar magnet with iron filings with the region between the two spots being particularly active. A few small flares have appeared this week in this group.
We must now say a final good by to AR1389, the former sunspot quadruplet. This was a very active region at first when it first appeared on the disk 2 weeks ago, and made for some spectacular limb shots with lots of faculae and small pores.
On the western limb is this gorgeous mushroom shaped prominence. A few eruptive like spicules can also be seen here, and the spot is AR1389 as discussed above.
By cropping the shot 50% - something I would never have done with lesser cameras of past times, you can see the big prom like a space ship cruising over the limb of the Sun might see. (With the proper "Anaphasic Shielding" to protect it)
JANUARY 14th, 2012
By the weekend, things had changed quite a bit. The sun was more quiet for sunspots but there were a few prom surprises to come.
White Light Images:
Lets start with prime focus, and a full disk shot with the Stellarvue SV80s at f/6. While AR1396 appears to be the dominant feature, the pair coming onto the disk on the eastern limb to the left will be a very photogenic pair this week. They are very foreshortened here:
A view without the labels for comparison:
AR1401 & AR1402 coming onto the limb, with the 5x Televue Powermate, Continuum Filter+IR blocker
AR1396 is the "big" spot near the center of the disk. Seeing was fading out at this point.
AR1395 is a beautiful set of complex small spots and pores in a sea of granulation.
AR1399 on the limb may become a better group this week. we shall see. Notice the whitish faculae around this group. Seeing was good here, the granulation is very clear.
AR? In the center of the disk is this obscure and tiny group in a dense forest of granulation!
Hydrogen Alpha Images:
Some filaments, and a few bright patches of plage around sunspots. But wait - whats going on at the 8:00 position?
Beautiful dark patchy filament, and the two sunspots just barely seen coming onto the eastern limb.
Some spectacular sunspot groups with the magnetic fields outlined by filaments
And the mystery object - a eruptive flare in progress seen as a dark detail against the disk of material spraying out of an active region! (looks like a little brush to the left of center)
It can be more clearly seen in the blue wing of Halpha, by detuning the filter and showing the Doppler enhanced view
Details on the western Limb
PROM ACTION:
Western limb proms with delicate details:
Eastern Limb proms forming a dim arch:
More eastern limb proms.
Thanks for looking, more action to come next week...
