paulastro

I'm sure you will have a very memorable day, all the best to all three of you 😊.

Yes Alan, I'm sure the new cycle will bring us a few monster rspots 😊.

Thank you Stu. It was a real tease today with the variable seeing but still enjoyable of course.. Its just a shame that none of the three larger spots in AR2965 became larger than they did.

I was out before 7am to catch AR2965 straddling the CM, and hoping the seeing would be good. It was fairly poor and I could only see glimpses of the numerous tiny umbral spots, which came and went with the seeing. I had several sessions up to 11.00am and it was fun trying to see how many I could see, at any one time. I tried some single frames with the Tecnosky 102ED F7 and Olympus, and the one below shows about the most of these small spots, or pores, I caught on any single frame. It was taken at 10.30am. It also shows AR2967, AR2970 and AR2960 which is shortly to exit the disk on the W limb.

It is impressive Pete. I was out early this morning observing it with the Altaire 80 ED-R. I took a single frame at 7.19am with the Olympus. Below is the pic with a crop. Low-res, but it gives an idea of what's going on. Fingers crossed its clear tomorrow when it should be close to the CM.

AR2965 now on its 5th day crossing the sun, also AR2967 to E, and AR2960 approaching the W limb. AR2965 has a bete-gamma magnetic field which harbours energy for M-class solar flares. Two single frames below taken with the Altair 80 ED-R and Olympus camera. The first taken on the 12th, and the second on 13th.

I must admit, I have a soft spot for Baader. The Baader items I have, are well- made and thought out and do what they are supposed to do very well. Their catalogue is astonishing in its breadth.

I'm not trying to be contradictory Mike, but you did have trouble with the focuser on your 100DC. I know you managed to take it apart and fettle it, but only after contacting the supplier to get advice on how to fix it, if I remember correctly. My memory is that out of the box it was pretty awful. Also, if you recall, I bought a new Tak DF, and out of the box there were deep scratches in the first baffle when you looked into the lens! Absolutely astonishing, and I wonder to this day how it ever got through quality control. The supplier couldn't believe it until I sent some photos, but they quickly sent aa refund. I'm no Tak hater, and believe their fluorite doublets are the best of their type. I do think though, that we shouldn't look through rose tinted glasses however besotted we are by a particular make. They can all have a bad day.

Mike, didn't you tell me that some of the Tak eyepieces are not very good, I dont recall which ones? 🙂

I managed to o serve these two briefly early this morning and yesterday after AR2965 came round d the E limb on 9th. They are still well worth observing in WL and HA. According to spaceweather.com AR2965 is currently the most active sunspot, crackling with C-class solar flares. The two single frames below in WL were taken at 7.59 on 10th and 7.49 on 11th. Both taken with the 102ED F7 and Olympus camera.

There you go again Mike, posting up a picture of yourself. By the way, you forgot to mention your clogs, cloth cap and that smelly ferret you used to keep in a cage in the back garden. And you're one of the more 'normal' friends I have 😁.

Moi, I've never hogged an eyepiece in my life! 😅

There's always a choice with any interest or hobby as to if you share it with other people or not. Just about any interest will have societies, chat rooms, exhibitions, facebook groups etc etc. If not, you can start your own. It's entirely the individuals decission if they want to follow any of these up. If there are any 'lonely' astronomers out there, it's probably because they choose to be. I have several friends who are long standing astronomers of at least 20 years who don't belong to any astro group of any kind - not even SGL !!! In fact, I'm not a social media enthusiast myself, and managed to ignore SGL for ages before I (against my better judgement) joined. I have to say though, I'm glad I did 😊.

I was lucky to have some clearish skies this morning for a while. AR2960 nicely centred on the disk and new AR2965 coming over the E limb with some nice faculae looks promising. In total six ARs on show, the others being AR2963, AR2964, AR2957 and AR2962. My single frame taken below (10.13 am) with the Tecnosky 102ED F7 and Olympus E-M5 Mk11 shows all six. Though you'll have to look VERY carefully to spot the single spot that us AR2962 in my pic.

Thank you Alan. Yes a PST does give a full disk view with the right eywpiece. I generally use a EF 19mm and a x2 barlow. If I want a higher mag I use my Baader zoom. I think it's supplied with a 12mm eyepiece, but a larger image enables you to see more detail.

Great posts Stu. I had some views about 2 to 2.30pm today with the PST. The GONG pic below was grabbed when I came indoors. Very spectacular and a wonderfully 'busy' surface. What time did you take your first pics?

Thanks Stu, that's great. I just posted a similiar post on the solar observing forum a few minutes ago. I share your solar enthusiasm, great views 😊.

I had a good session this morning using the Tecnosky 1O2 ED F7 for WL and the PST for HA. I was a bit too keen and the seeing early on was poor (at 8am!), though it improved after 9 am. In WL ARs 2960 and 2957 are the main interest. Newly named AR2962 showed a fair amount of faculae, though I could only see one small spot. I couldn't see anything of AR2955 and 2958. In HA its another matter with 2962 showing g a lot of strong activity in the PST, spaceweather report it as crackling with C class solar flares. AR2960 and 2957 are also showing a lot of HA, activity, as well as other smaller areas being visible. It's well worth looking in both WL and HA. Even in a PST there is plenty of disk details with the AR activity, numerous impressive filaments, and prominences. The dusk is crammed with detail. Take a look if you can. Below is a single frame in WL with the Tecnosky at 9 07 am, a GONG screen grab and one in WL from spaceweathwr.com.

A fine crescent Moon this evening. Observing with the Altair 80 ED- R. Mare Humboltdtianum nicely placed on the NE limb, and going S the craters Messala, Longrenus, Vendelinus, Petavius and Furnerius. Single frame below taken with the Olympue E -M5 Mk11 at 6.16 pm.

Out early to catch the early sun as I had to out for most of the day. I particularly wanted to see new arrival AR2960. It includes a nice large main spot which will hopefully develop over the next few days. Also the other two ARs 2957 and 2961 together cover a large area and areworth keeping an eye on too. A single frame and crop below taken at 8.09 am with the Altair 80 ED-R and Olyympus camera.

Thanks Alan. No problem, I thought it was quite funny. I do like deep sky, but I go to Kelling every Autumn for my deep sky fix. The trouble is, when I'm back home even my best nights aren't a patch on Kelling 😊.

I went to the last one, it was a great show. Far more room for exhibitors and attendees than Astrofest. You can park on the doorstep, so easy to load any large purchases into your car 😊. I'll be coming, suitably badged if anyone wants to say hello. Traveling down with Peter Drew and Andy from The Astronomy Centre.

Fabulous pics Stu, can't wit to see it.

Thanks Stu, I saw this on my daily GONG check, though I've no chance of seeing it myself today. I'll also be observing in WL as soon as I have some sun (possibly tomorrow or Sunday) to observe AR2960 which is coming over the E limb. It looks as if it could be a belter!

Well Alan. My main interests have been planets, plus particularly the sun and Moon for years, though not exclusively. Though of course, some may say the same thing about exclusively deep sky observers - particularly those who wish the Moon would vanish from the night sky. Don't worry on my behalf though Alan. Despite my 'limited menu' of interests, I'm sure there will be enough to keep me occupied for the remaining time I have left to observe 🤣.