Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

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: 20438 times
Been thanked: 10245 times
Contact:

Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by marktownley »

Hello everyone! Hope you're all well.

Sorry not been around on here for the past month or so, I think i've had the busiest several weeks at work ever; it has been exam season, and with covid meaning nothing is normal in the world of exams and education I seem to have been eating and breathing work. Up early in the morning for work, back late, eat food, zone out with some tv for a couple of hours then bed, then repeat... The past 5 weekends have seen me away on the boat, it has been a sanctuary, with no email, no internet, no tv etc. With the busy weeks these chill out weekends have been important. Anyway, holiday time here, and some sunshine to boot. I had hoped to observe on saturday but was so shattered I didn't get out of bed till nearly midday - think the last time I did that was in the university days... I was up on sunday though, and decided to try some CaK, I shot at 120mm f20 with the ZWO290mm, I don't think the seeing was quite there and 100mm would have been more appropriate. But, hey ho, first solar for several weeks so was pleased to get something.

Imagear12845-cak-120mm-290m-f20 by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imagear12842-CaK-120mm-290m-f20 by Mark Townley, on Flickr

I did mess around with some Ha - I replaced the rusted blocker in my quark with the OEM replacement from Andover and was pleased to see a lot more light, better contrast and more even illumination. Need to process these pictures though...

Fast forward to (this) monday morning and I was out early by 7am, however there were fluffy clouds in the sky and this is a clue to the instability in the atmosphere. I knew the seeing wouldn't be as good, and it wasn't, so I settled on 80mm f22 with the 290mm camera.

Imagear12845-CaK-80mm-f22-290mm by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imagear12842-CaK-80mm-f22-290mm by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Again I took some Ha shots, and need to process them, but spent most of the morning just chilling in the garden enjoying the views visually through the Coronado DS90 and the subtle changes the sun was showing over the course of the morning.

Hoping to make the most of the weather and get some more imaging in the days ahead before the weather breaks. Apologies if i've missed your posts over the past weeks, have dipped into some, but no way I can go back through them all now.

Hope the sun is shining for you!

Mark


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
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: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by MAURITS »

Lovely images Mark glad to see you back..


Regards,
Maurits

Vista del Cielo Observatory

www.vistadelcielo.be
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: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Montana »

Absolute perfection in CaK :bow :bow :bow I wouldn't have expected anything less :hamster: I hope you have a lovely, sunny and restful break :)

Alexandra


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20438 times
Been thanked: 10245 times
Contact:

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by marktownley »

Thanks Maurits and Alexandra, it's nice to be back!


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
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: 16694 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by DeepSolar64 »

I am glad to see you online, Mark. I wondered where you had been. I hope your busy schedule lightens up on you in the coming weeks and allows you some more solar time. You did well on these images, I always enjoy your CaK work. I would have used the boat as a retreat too, if I had one!

Enjoy that SM90 visually. I know I do mine!

Blessings:

James


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! "
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: 2713 times
Contact:

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by christian viladrich »

Glad to to you back Mark !
This set of Ca K images are quite good for sure.


Christian Viladrich
Co-author of "Planetary Astronomy"
http://planetary-astronomy.com/
Editor of "Solar Astronomy"
http://www.astronomiesolaire.com/
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20438 times
Been thanked: 10245 times
Contact:

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by marktownley »

Thanks guys, and thanks for the SPoD!


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
Ivan
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1849
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:50 pm
Location: Russia, Yaroslavl
Has thanked: 3465 times
Been thanked: 2250 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Ivan »

Welcome back, Mark, we all missed you.
Great shot and well-deserved SPoD.

Ivan


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: 8162 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Carbon60 »

Excellent images, Mark. Glad things have slowed down for you and at least you have a long summer break ahead :)

Congratulations on SPoD. Very well deserved.

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
Valery
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 4059
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 3:13 pm
Has thanked: 156 times
Been thanked: 893 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Valery »

What I can say, Mark is that you have used a too small aperture at a too small scale. Pity.

Good seeing is not always here. This thing is very caprise and short living. If you want really good results you should hunt for best seeing moment(s). Even one single moment for a second is OK for 200fps low noise camera. Or several 0,05 sec periods of good seeing within 90-120 sec will be enough. Do not prejudge is the seeing OK for your guess etc. Just install your LARGEST scope and be 100% ready to capture the main moment. SSM in help. This pretty much all you need to get significatly better than this exellent result.

Good luck.

Valery
Last edited by Valery on Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:23 am, edited 1 time in total.


"Solar H alpha activity is the most dynamic and compelling thing you can see in a telescope, so spend accordingly." (c) Bob Yoesle.

Largest full size 185 - 356mm Dielectric Energy Rejection Filters (D-ERF) by ARIES Instruments.
User avatar
arnedanielsen
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 7285
Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:42 pm
Location: Vestby, Norway
Has thanked: 6181 times
Been thanked: 7142 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by arnedanielsen »

Good to see you back, Mark and what a wonderful set of CaK images!

Enjoy your holidays!

Best regards,
Arne


Best regards,
Arne
--
AstroBin: https://www.astrobin.com/users/arnedani/
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: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

The are excellent images Mark and thanks for sharing...

Good to see you back and producing these fine images.

Best Wishes and CLEAR SKIES
Terry


User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20438 times
Been thanked: 10245 times
Contact:

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by marktownley »

Thanks guys! Will be out again first thing in the morning seeing what I can get in the blue again...


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
Martin_S
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1839
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:34 am
Location: Brisbane , Australia
Has thanked: 979 times
Been thanked: 2992 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Martin_S »

Hi Mark, it's good to see you back , you have some great images here , well done.

Martin


H alpha : ,Skywatcher 120mm F8 open frame refractor, a tilted 2" 7nm H-alpha filter as a sub energy rejection filter, Baader TZ4 telecentric focal extender, Player One energy rejection filter, Combo Quark Chromosphere, Naked PST etalon for double stacking, ASI74mm camera
User avatar
Merlin66
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 3970
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:23 pm
Location: Junortoun, Australia
Has thanked: 173 times
Been thanked: 615 times
Contact:

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Merlin66 »

Mark,
I assume you’re using a Lunt CaK filter?


"Astronomical Spectroscopy - The Final Frontier" - to boldly go where few amateurs have gone before
https://groups.io/g/astronomicalspectroscopy  
http://astronomicalspectroscopy.com
"Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs" and
"Imaging Sunlight - using a digital spectroheliograph" - Springer
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20438 times
Been thanked: 10245 times
Contact:

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by marktownley »

Merlin66 wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:48 am Mark,
I assume you’re using a Lunt CaK filter?
Thanks Guys!

Ken, no, one of my own construction - consists of 2 x PST 'magic' CaK filters, a Edmunds Optics 394/10 and a 387/11 filters as blockers.


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
Valtori
Almost There...
Almost There...
Posts: 781
Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2014 9:12 am
Location: Moscow, Russia
Has thanked: 312 times
Been thanked: 182 times

Re: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by Valtori »

Hi Mark,

Very excellent CaK captures there!!

Val


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: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by ffellah »

I think your images came out great, Mark. I missed your presence and commentary on the forum: glad that you are back.

Franco


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: Active Regions in Calcium 18/19th July

Post by MAURITS »

Congrats on SPOD Mark.


Regards,
Maurits

Vista del Cielo Observatory

www.vistadelcielo.be
Post Reply