Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20440 times
Been thanked: 10246 times
Contact:

Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by marktownley »

Saturday morning was one of those race against time mornings. I woke far too early - Mrs Townley was not impressed, either way I enjoyed watching it get light with a mug of coffee. I could see on SAT24 that it was clear (then), but also cloud was coming fast. I set up with the SM90 and the PGR GH3 ICX814, and by then it was a case of pressing the stop start button in Firecapture to avoid the scudding clouds.

ImageHa-FD.composite-bw by Mark Townley, on Flickr

ImageHa-FD.composite-colour by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Nothing to see here, move along... Saturdays disk is fairly typical of a solar minimum sun - the disk looks blank. There is a small region of very decayed plage from active regions several rotations ago but that it is it on the surface. The proms were the star of the show, and looked fantastic through the SM90 with an 18mm Coronado Cemax eyepiece. This image is a composite disk / proms shot with the PGR GH3 ICX814 camera. Poor seeing and haze were the order of the morning to give imaging that extra challenge, but it is nice to see the sun rising higher and higher in the sky with each passing week. Wonder how long these conditions will last until we see the signs of cycle 25 becoming more predominant and obvious in the solar northern hemisphere?


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
Christopher
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2017 2:07 am
Location: Cincinnati, OH USA
Has thanked: 33 times
Been thanked: 34 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by Christopher »

Mark,
The proms look great and you captured that decayed AR very nicely. Glad to see you’re getting a little sky time again. :cool:


Christopher

"Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which 'are' there.". -Feynman
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20440 times
Been thanked: 10246 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by marktownley »

Thanks Christopher, if the weather is obliging i'm now able to get back into solar observing on a weekend if the skies are clear...


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
torsinadoc
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 843
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2017 2:53 pm
Has thanked: 1640 times
Been thanked: 878 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by torsinadoc »

What great proms


User avatar
MalVeauX
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1858
Joined: Tue May 09, 2017 7:58 pm
Location: Florida
Has thanked: 1171 times
Been thanked: 1360 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by MalVeauX »

Really nice evenness on that disc Mark!

Very best,


User avatar
MAURITS
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 8507
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:37 pm
Location: Belgium
Has thanked: 2412 times
Been thanked: 4786 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by MAURITS »

Very nice FD images Mark ...


Regards,
Maurits

Vista del Cielo Observatory

www.vistadelcielo.be
User avatar
David_The_Bears_Fan
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 632
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 6:45 pm
Location: Banbury, UK
Has thanked: 423 times
Been thanked: 167 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by David_The_Bears_Fan »

Good result Mark, good to see the Sun is high enough (just) for you to start imaging again.


David

Kit: Skywatcher Evostar 120 on Celestron CG-4 / Bresser AR102xs / Lunt B1200 Ca-K Module / Lacerta Herschel Wedge / Daystar Combo Quark / ZWO ASI178MM & 120MC-S / QHY5-II Mono
User avatar
pedro
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 12256
Joined: Sun May 01, 2016 8:26 pm
Location: Portugal
Has thanked: 14 times
Been thanked: 6577 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by pedro »

Nice images there Mark, clearly a slow sun


User avatar
ffellah
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 11172
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:46 pm
Location: Westport, CT USA
Has thanked: 9145 times
Been thanked: 6025 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by ffellah »

Hi Mark: good results, the 814 camera seems to be working well with the SM90.

With that size pixels, can it also be used with the HaT, maybe with the 0.7 focal reducer ?

Franco


User avatar
eroel
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 9408
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 10:45 pm
Location: México D.F.
Been thanked: 4904 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by eroel »

Mark:
A very nice session, clean and sharp FD´s
It is very annoying to pause and start every time a cloud passes by.
Best regards,
Eric.


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34563
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17672 times
Been thanked: 8791 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by Montana »

That's a great full disc Mark, fantastic proms :hamster: I remember at the start of solar cycle 24 you were one of the first people to catch a massive prom on the Sun, wasn't it used on Spaceweather or NASA or something?
:bow

Alexandra


User avatar
MapleRidge
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 10199
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:58 pm
Location: Cambray, ON Canada
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 4340 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by MapleRidge »

Hi Mark...

Great capture with the proms making up for the slow disk activity :bow

The new scope and camera certainly make a great pair!!!

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20440 times
Been thanked: 10246 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by marktownley »

Thanks all! Yes, I remember that prom Alexandra, although I was just looking through my website and there were quite a few big proms at the start of 24....


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14209
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8418 times
Been thanked: 8163 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by Carbon60 »

That’s a very nice disk, Mark.

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20440 times
Been thanked: 10246 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by marktownley »

Thanks Stu.

A closeup of the relic active region, SM90, 2.5x barlow and PGR Blackfly IMX249 camera.

Imageha-close-bw by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imageha-close-colour by Mark Townley, on Flickr


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
ffellah
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 11172
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:46 pm
Location: Westport, CT USA
Has thanked: 9145 times
Been thanked: 6025 times

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by ffellah »

Your SM90 rocks, Mark. Pretty amazing for a single stack.

Franco


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20440 times
Been thanked: 10246 times
Contact:

Re: Solar Minimum Sunshine 9th February

Post by marktownley »

Thanks Franco, I probably won't use it with the HaT even down at f22. 9fps is way too slow at that scale, it works for full disks but hi res needs a higher cadence.


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
Post Reply