Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

So, I made it up to the top of Haleakala again for some more testing of seeing. Direct comparisons are hard, since you can't be 2 places at the same time, but this was try number 4, so I'm at least seeing a pattern. And I'm realizing that, at least in the daytime, the seeing in the valley between the mountains, even though at see level, seems to be better than the seeing at 10,000 feet, maybe since its after the air has been forced up the side of and across the top of the volcano? You certainly get above most of the clouds though, something that is not the case when in the backyard. I have one more spot to try to verify, but thus far the back yard seems to have the steadier/calmer/better seeing, even though there is 10k feet more atmosphere to look through. Who'd of thought, lol. I'm guessing night time, when the winds tend to be calmer everywhere, is likely a different story up there, I'll get to testing that later.

Lunt 100 with asi290mm bin1 and no reducer. Attempted using the 4x telecentric but the image was just too blurry to be of any use. There were a few glimpses of moderate seeing, but no more detail than was had in the full disc capture with no telecentric.

And a pic of the observatory on top of Haleakala, too bad they don't do public tours there, would be fun to check out!

I did get my first taste of 'public outreach' though. Being set up behind the car (using it as a wind break) drew a good amount of attention from those walking by, so I got to do my first bit of public outreach/demonstration/education, which was kind of fun! I'm normally fairly socially averse, being a bit on the spectrum, but it ended up being fun to share in person vs just online, so that was cool.

Image

Image


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
User avatar
JochenM
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 2839
Joined: Tue Dec 10, 2019 2:26 pm
Location: Belgium
Has thanked: 1200 times
Been thanked: 1619 times
Contact:

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by JochenM »

Nice disk and stunning view up there!

You would indeed expect the seeing to be considerably better up there. However, I quickly looked up current weather conditions up there. A fair bit of wind (although you'll always have some on top of a mountain usually) + high jet stream is not exactly a recipe for success indeed.

If you have the opportunity to get up there when both of the above variables are in check; I'm sure you can get amazing results.

PS: very nice that you managed to do some unintended outreach :)


Jochen Maes
Belgium
https://www.jochenmaes.com
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42269
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20424 times
Been thanked: 10242 times
Contact:

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by marktownley »

Nice full disk and a cool place to observe! I bet it would be nice to observe CaK up there, exposure times should be a lot shorter...


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!
christian viladrich
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 2150
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 4:46 pm
Location: France
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2712 times
Contact:

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by christian viladrich »

What a beautiful observing site !!

Regarding seeing, the surface layer is relatively thick because of the nature the ground. You need to get 18 m high over the ground to get excellent seeing. Unfortunatly, I can't copy/past the associated data there.
It means you need some wind to blow away the ground layer. Is there any wind up there ? It could be that the side of the top facing wind is the best. This is what we have at St Véran mountain side (2930 m).
Do you have a SSM ? It is way faster to found out where are the nice spots.

It would be great if you could share with us some picturs of the 4-m DKIST. Thanks !


Christian Viladrich
Co-author of "Planetary Astronomy"
http://planetary-astronomy.com/
Editor of "Solar Astronomy"
http://www.astronomiesolaire.com/
christian viladrich
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 2150
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 4:46 pm
Location: France
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2712 times
Contact:

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by christian viladrich »

BTW, very close to the sea and facing the wind, you have a laminar air flow, which is excellent for the seeing. On top of that, the difference between day/night temperatures is low, which is good for seeing.


Christian Viladrich
Co-author of "Planetary Astronomy"
http://planetary-astronomy.com/
Editor of "Solar Astronomy"
http://www.astronomiesolaire.com/
User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

JochenM wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:07 am Nice disk and stunning view up there!

You would indeed expect the seeing to be considerably better up there. However, I quickly looked up current weather conditions up there. A fair bit of wind (although you'll always have some on top of a mountain usually) + high jet stream is not exactly a recipe for success indeed.

If you have the opportunity to get up there when both of the above variables are in check; I'm sure you can get amazing results.

PS: very nice that you managed to do some unintended outreach :)
Ugh, and this is where I kick myself, lol. I have strong ADHD, and I actually went up yesterday as well for the 'ultimate' test, when jet stream was only 5km/h, but I forgot my laptop and didn't notice until I was at the top. I was gutted, lol.

That said, even when the the jetstream is the same speed as it was today, I get better and sharper images in the backyard than I did up top, but then again meteoblue is just all over the place. It can have all its markers be worse and yet predict better arcsecond seeing, or the opposite, all markers are green and yet it predicts poorer seeing, so who knows, lol.

I may have to invest in an SSM to really be sure. Was hoping not too, but the gas involved in getting to the top of Haleakala might end up paying for it in the end:)
Last edited by AJamesB on Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
User avatar
ffellah
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 11168
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 6:46 pm
Location: Westport, CT USA
Has thanked: 9143 times
Been thanked: 6024 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by ffellah »

First of all, you are very lucky to be in Hawaii. It is an amazing place. Your full disk is excellent and very evenly illuminated. It looks great ! Thank you for sharing it.

Franco


User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

christian viladrich wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:07 am What a beautiful observing site !!

Regarding seeing, the surface layer is relatively thick because of the nature the ground. You need to get 18 m high over the ground to get excellent seeing. Unfortunatly, I can't copy/past the associated data there.
It means you need some wind to blow away the ground layer. Is there any wind up there ? It could be that the side of the top facing wind is the best. This is what we have at St Véran mountain side (2930 m).
Do you have a SSM ? It is way faster to found out where are the nice spots.

It would be great if you could share with us some picturs of the 4-m DKIST. Thanks !
When you say get 18m high, do you mean off the ground like on a platform, or just 18m high above sealevel? If the former, I don't have such a platform available to me, unfortunately. And ya, there is always a bunch of wind up there, today it averaged about 20-25mph with gusts up to 40, which from what I've read is fairly typical up there during the daytime. Backyard wind temps are much tamer, normally about 5-10mph. And trade winds typically come from the north, and the only vehichle access to the top is on the south side of the volcanic crater, so I'm stuck on the wrong side of the crater unfortunately. That's the same side as the major observatories though, so they must know something I don't. I'll keep trying:)

And as far as pics of the DKIST, I'll bring my zoom lens next time I'm up and try and get some close up's! Nothing was open while I was up there though, so no opportunity to peak inside. Can't get any closer either, unfortinately, especially since most of the complex is military in nature. I'll do some more reading though, there just must be a way to get in there for a tour!


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

ffellah wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:36 am First of all, you are very lucky to be in Hawaii. It is an amazing place. Your full disk is excellent and very evenly illuminated. It looks great ! Thank you for sharing it.

Franco
Thanks, ya, def lucky to be here, for that I am grateful. Disk illumination evenness is down to doing false flats in photoshop to even things out a bit. I was a little sloppy in setting up and positioning the disc, and didn't quite have everything on band and in the sweet spot of the scope. Long live post processing to save me from my lack of attention to detail.


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
EGRAY_OBSERVATORY
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 6871
Joined: Mon May 18, 2020 4:45 pm
Location: Essex, S.E.England
Been thanked: 4900 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

An excellent disk James and so well on getting to the fab location.

18-Metres above ground-level = about 59-Feet is nearly twice the height of a typical two-floor house, so just about impossible for the vast majority of us, but maybe I might consider building an observatory on top of my house, if only planning-permission was feasible...

Alternatively I have a licence for operating Cherry-pickers !!!

Oh well...
Terry


christian viladrich
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 2150
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 4:46 pm
Location: France
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2712 times
Contact:

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by christian viladrich »

AJamesB wrote: Mon Apr 26, 2021 10:42 am
When you say get 18m high, do you mean off the ground like on a platform, or just 18m high above sealevel? I
Yes, this is indeed off the ground ;-)

Here are data from the DKIST survey at Halaekala:
- height 8 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 17%
- height 18 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 34%
- height 28 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 40%
- height 38 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 44%

Surface layer at sites near a body of water is reduced. For example Big Bear :
- height 8 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 50%
- height 18 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 57%
- height 28 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 60%
- height 38 m, probability of having r0> 6 cm = 62%

I would say you need two SSM :
- one running at your home site,
- one you take at the test site,
Then you can compare results at leasure.


Christian Viladrich
Co-author of "Planetary Astronomy"
http://planetary-astronomy.com/
Editor of "Solar Astronomy"
http://www.astronomiesolaire.com/
User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

Wow, well that's good to know, interesting! Next time I change rentals I'll keep an eye out for something with roof access, or at least a really tall tree:)

And a cherry picker or service platform could work, as long as it wasn't too windy. Might get to swaying quite a bit, would make keeping the target in frame a bit of a challenge, lol.

I wonder if those that sell the SSM ever have 2 for 1 clearance sales? Never hurts to ask I guess...


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
User avatar
DeepSolar64
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 18823
Joined: Thu Sep 05, 2019 12:19 am
Location: Lowndesville S.C.
Has thanked: 17572 times
Been thanked: 16689 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by DeepSolar64 »

With that altitude you need a coronagraph. You just might glimpse the solar corona, something few amateurs ever see or image outside of a total solar eclipse.


Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars
Orion 70mm Solar Telescope
Celestron AstroMaster Alt/Az Mount
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 60 DS
Meade Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS
Meade Coronado AZS Alt/Az Mount
Astro-Tech AT72EDII with Altair solar wedge
Celestron NexStar 102GT with Altair solar wedge
Losmandy AZ8 Alt/Az Mount
Sky-Watcher AZGTI Alt-Az GoTo mount
Cameras: ZWO ASI178MM, PGR Grasshopper, PGR Flea
Lunt, Coronado, TeleVue, Orion and Meade eyepieces

Image Visual Observer
" Way more fun to see it! "
User avatar
Radon86
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 779
Joined: Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:05 pm
Has thanked: 745 times
Been thanked: 660 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by Radon86 »

Hi AJames,

Great work! Truly spectacular scenery up there. I think it could get a bit scary up there !
I have been to Mount Bromo in Indonesia for milky way photography, but I think your place is even better !

How did you get such a great image ? Did you have to merge a few images or was it just a single video file and the whole sun was on the camera sensor ??

Thanks.
Magnus


Solar: H-alpha": Quark Chromosphere filter; Baader white light filters
Scopes: Altair Astro Travel ED70mm (F 420mm, D=70mm);; Skywatcher 90mm (F 910mm D=90mm); GSO focuser;;Altair Astro 60mm guidescope (D=60mm,F=225mm)
Cameras: ASI120mm-S,ASI174mm
Mount: SW HEQ5 Pro, SW EQ3 Pro Synscan (SW = Skywatcher),Vixen Polarie tracker (portable setup)
Accessory: SW Auto-focuser
User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34558
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17651 times
Been thanked: 8787 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by Montana »

Loved reading this, what a place to have so close to home :hamster: great full disc too. Keep us posted of your trials :)

Alexandra


User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

Boso36 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 8:41 am How did you get such a great image ? Did you have to merge a few images or was it just a single video file and the whole sun was on the camera sensor ??
Thanks! Just a single video capture with the whole sun on the sensor. I'm a bit lazy and can't bring myself to do mosaics, so I do what I can (either with reducers or larger sensors) to get the full disc in a single capture. I then do histogram stretching to bring the proms into view, since they aren't visible at the exposure needed for the disc.
Last edited by AJamesB on Sat May 01, 2021 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
User avatar
AJamesB
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2020 9:21 pm
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Has thanked: 1150 times
Been thanked: 630 times

Re: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by AJamesB »

Montana wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:47 pm Keep us posted of your trials :)
Will do!


Lunt ls100tha single stacked + hinode solar guider on ioptron cem26 mount
asi178mm
asi294mm
2x, 3x, and 4x telecentrics
0.6x and 0.4x telecompressors
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: Full disc capture from the 25th of April on Haleakala

Post by MapleRidge »

Great solar pic James, and the view of the observatories is a great addition :bow

Just a question about the camera/image...is this a mosaic? I don't have full solar disk with my LS80T and without a reducer I'd think you'd have to mosaic 4 frames to cover the disk...just curious? As I said, great pic however it was done.

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
Post Reply