Dave Smith

2 minutes ago, Ibbo! said:

Good to know the sun is still there.

I was beginning to wonder 😄

Dave

Dave

Very nice. It's good to follow such interesting sunspots but we're not seeing much Sun here in the UK.

Dave

Unexpected gaps in the clouds!

Dave

2 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@Dave Smith LOL yes sorry Dave I should have qualified my statement regarding the general public being able to "afford" the solar gear necessary for such works! I was just expressing my amazement about the fact that 50, 60, 70 years ago, you needed the financial resources of an entire COUNTRY to be able to afford the equipment needed to produce works even 25% as detailed and impressive as the works produced by amateurs today!! LOL. It's incredible and we're all spoiled rotten with what's available to us today!! 

Agreed. I think that also applies to night time astrophotography.  For many years now amateurs have bettered photos that were taken with the 200 inch Palomar telescope.

Dave

21 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@Dave Smith My goodness Dave these images and animation are breath-taking. To think nowadays the general public can afford gear capable of producing solar images as detailed and sophisticated as this!? I sooo cannot wait to get my own solar gear! Just amazing Dave! 

Clear Skies and Kindest Regards, Wes.

Thanks Wes. Unfortunately the cost of the gear required is rather prohibitive. Maybe with advances in technology the price will come down. It is great fun as the Sun is different every day.

Dave

It's all in my sig. Lunt 80mm for Halpha and Megrez 90 for WL.

Dave

Nice clear day yesterday. There was a rather nice floating prom.

  This animation consists of 50 frames separated by 60 secs each.  Real time from 1140 to 1234 UT.

Dave

A lovely clear sky today although just a little breezy!

Dave

A bit of an experiment for me.

Dave

Dave

Dave

Well done. I had  glimpse of the Sun only.

Dave

The H-alpha image is the first I have published using a double stack unit on my 80mm Lunt.

Dave

There's a nice group of Sunspots coming into view  and I rather like the filaprom just East of South in the Halpha image.

Dave

Lovely Ha images. You are making me wonder about saving my pennies for a double stack unit.

Dave

Nice to see the Sun again.

Dave

Dave

From today's images. Wednesday 27 September 2023

Dave

A lucky break in the clouds today but much cloud dodging. I find PIPP is excellent for removing frames with cloud intruding.

Dave

Dave

Firstly you need a mono camera. I have have used both the ZWO ASI174MM and more recently the ZWO ASI178MM cameras. The difference being pixel size and speed. The smaller pixels potentially give more detail but are slower.

Others may be able to advise which is better. For my 80mm Ha scope and 90mm Megrez for white light, the 178 gives better quality but there is not a lot in it. A faster camera is useful when cloud dodging.

A continuum filter will give a little more surface detail. A barlow lens is great for zooming in on some the fascinating sunspot groups.

Dave

Other days can be seen on my website.

Dave

2 hours ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

Very nice indeed. The ASI178MM is great for this kind of work. I use mine for most of my WL and Ca-K disks

Thank you Michael.

Dave

2 hours ago, Ibbo! said:

Nice discs

It was your images Ibbo! that started me looking at the 178. Thank you.

Dave