August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

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DeepSolar64
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August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Session time is from 16:15 to 17:03 UTC. The skies are partly cloudy. The seeing is rough, certainly below what I would consider average. The temperature is 84F ( 28.8C ).


Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS. 32x and 44.5x ( Ha )
I can see 5 areas of activity on the Ha solar disc. ARi2860 in the SW is the easiest to see. I can see several of it's spots embedded crossways in it's plage. I can also see a filament along it's SE edge. I also observed a C2 class flare in AR12860 occurring around 16:24 UT. It appeared as a small elongated bright area touching the back inside of a bright C shaped area. Both dimmed and virtually disappeared within 5 minutes or so. The plage of AR12859 in the NW has an antler or forked wishbone shape. It's single spot takes a fairly close look to see. I can with a close look see AR12861 in the NE and it has a single dark filament. Just west of it lies another difficult to see disturbance except for a superimposed filament located there. I can see yet another disturbance near the NE limb.

Outside of the aforementioned plage related filaments I see a few others. A long filaprom is located on the SW limb. It's easy to see. I see another filament near the limb in the NW. I see only a single filament in the SE. A small curved one. The SW has a small number of filaments too, outside of the limb filaprom.

There are a few prominences to be seen today. The SW limb has a filaprom and another bright prom below it. The NW limb has a fuzzy pyramid-prom. The NE limb has an easy curious looking prominence that resembles to me a fuzzy caterpillar with it's head raised up facing north. Below it are some small ones. The SE has a loop prom and a couple of others.

The mottles are easy despite the seeing.


Celestron NexStar 102GT w/Altair wedge and 540nm filter. 55x and 66.5x ( WL )
AR12860 in the SW is an impressive sight. It's large spot group consists of many spots and pores fused into a couple of masses with shared penumbrae. It has a tail of spots followed by some smaller pores on the SE side of the western mass of spots. I see the easternmost mass of spots as a larger one with a penumbra and three pores. I can see the faculae to AR12860 faintly. AR12859 in the NW quad is seen as s small dark spot with a single accompanying pore. I can see an easy patch of faculae just off the NE limb.

I can see the fine solar granulation but not well.

Carpe Lumen!


James



GONGElTeideHa_8-30-21.jpg
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C2classFlare_8-30-21.jpg
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PNG image 3.png
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AR12860_SDOHMIc_Greyscale_8-30-21.JPG
AR12860_SDOHMIc_Greyscale_8-30-21.JPG (38.78 KiB) Viewed 342 times
Last edited by DeepSolar64 on Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by nicspenceryork »

I enjoy reading your descriptions James. Not only do they help me to learn more accurate language to describe the sun’s features in preparation for when I show the sun to people in future but also make me smile eg fuzzy caterpillar! Thank you.


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by MAURITS »

Very educated report James, thanks for sharing.


Regards,
Maurits

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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Thanks James for the excellent report and data.

Nothing to see except clouds all day long here again..

Cheers
Terry


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Nic,
I am glad you find my posts of use. I tend to see a lot of critters on the sun! :lol:

Maurits,
Educated? I'll take that as a compliment. :)

Terry,
I'll probably be clouded out for the next two days. We have a tropical system moving in from the SW. Remember, the Sun always shines on SolarChat!!

Thanks everyone.

James


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by DeepSolar64 »

And look at this SDOAIA304 image I just obtained using the Helioviewer image viewer. The flare does indeed look like the letter C turned backwards, but remember in the scope the image is flipped east-west. I was spot on!! :cool:



SDOAIA304_C2classflare_16.24.00UT_FD_8-30-21.JPG
SDOAIA304_C2classflare_16.24.00UT_FD_8-30-21.JPG (95.75 KiB) Viewed 298 times
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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by Rusted »

I could see flares happening live on my monitor.
I was capturing videos at short intervals but they are on my laptop.

The eastern flare took only seconds to brighten and move away from the nearest sunspot.
It rose like a rocket from deep in the clouds as an expanding pinpoint.
Leaving several bright rings to the north. Blast effects?
I'm afraid this image does the reality no great favours.
The flare was overexposed by my clumsy processing.

30.08.2021 16.22 1.25 2x gpc flares rsz 500 ringed.jpg
30.08.2021 16.22 1.25 2x gpc flares rsz 500 ringed.jpg (64.44 KiB) Viewed 284 times


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by Ivan »

Hi James, congratulations on seeing the flash! This is a great stroke of luck, and the SDOAIA photos once again confirmed that you are one of the most experienced observers. Thanks! We have cold showers and the sun won't be there until the end of the week.

Ivan


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by Montana »

Fantastic information James :hamster: and congrats on the flare :hamster:

Alexandra


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by ffellah »

An excellent report, James. Glad you were able to observe the flare live, must have been exciting.

Franco


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Re: August 30 2021 Observations. C2 Class Flare!

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Rusted,
Was this the flare I saw yesterday? I didn't notice a second one. Blast effects!? Sounds awesome! These things are like giant electrical storms vastly more powerful than all the nuclear weapons in the world set off at once!

Thanks for the compliment, Ivan. I am under a tropical system today expecting heavy rain and storms. My solar observations today will be via SolarChat and SDO/GONG.

Thank you Alexandra!!

Franco,
It was exciting. Though small the flare was quite bright though very short lived. Flares are among the most exciting things I have seen in a telescope!

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

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