Hughsie

On 13/08/2022 at 12:59, Jonk said:

I've had a few like this, but not sure if meteors or satellites.

I agree Jonk. Fortunately for me my local astronomy club has a large number of members who have all sky cameras and UKMON memberships so there are some seasoned observers there with way better gear that are able to confirm these things to me.

A starting point may be to download Stellarium and the satellite function (all free) then check your images against known satellite positions. Heavens Above (also free) has daily predictions of bright satellites that can be found here https://www.heavens-above.com/AllSats.aspx?lat=51.9468&lng=1.05&loc=Cotman+Ave%2c+Lawford%2c+Manningtree+CO11%2c+UK&alt=10&tz=GMT

A nice bright Moon did its best to wash out the night sky but still lots of meteor activity visible last night.

Had to wait for the Sun to clear a neighbours bush indicating that the Sun is getting lower each day. Bit of breeze around too which interfered with the time-lapse below.

First up is the solar disc. Nothing too dramatic on the chromosphere, however, there are some nice proms and filaproms on view.

Next is a nice horseshoe shaped prominence. Probably wouldn’t have given this a second glance had the surface been more active but it was nice change of pace to capture something like this.

More filaments in the Southern Hemisphere which reminded me of tiger stripes. First glimpse of the prominence on the South West limb too. AR13071 is visible to the West (right) located S13W36. This is a single sunspot spot region classified HSX and reducing in size. This region has not produced a single flare yet. To the far left (S18E01) we have AR13074. Like AR13071 this is a single spot as well as being classified the same (HSX) but slightly larger in area. This region got active on 8th August producing two small B class flares. Between the two is AR13077. Classified CSO this is located S13W24 and is growing in size and sunspots, having increased from 4 to 6 spots overnight. This region has yet to produce any flares.

Same image as above but at higher magnification.

Heading up North we have AR13075 and AR13076. The former has no major features whereas AR13076 has a single spot. By far the largest active region visible on the solar disc it too is classified HSX and is located N12E20. It has produced a single B class flare earlier this morning. Visible on the limb is a small prominence and filaprom.

Lastly we have the large prominence on the South West limb....

....and a shaky timelapse.

Took an eleven day break from solar imaging. I just wasn’t finding it fun and simply didn't have the energy, desire or patience to capture images and process them.

Now the Sun has taken a break too....

Solar disc captured at 10:16:02 UTC. There are five active regions on show but only AR13062 and AR13068 showed much detail.

AR13062 - Positioned S24W53 this is represented by a single spot classified HSX.This region has been modestly active on the flare front, its best being a C4.1 class flare on 21st July 2022.

AR13068 is a new entry located S15E43 on the solar disc. Over the last 24 hours it has doubled its sunspot total to eight and also increased in size. Classified DAO this region spent a lot of time today pumping out B class solar flares. At the time this image was taken AR13068 was in the midst of a B4.6 class flare which commenced at 10:25 and finished at 10:39 UTC.

All out of sync with my days.

Nice eruption from what will soon become AR13058, just coming off the eastern limb (see image for AR13057 below).

These are wonderful white light images. Do you share them in the solar imaging section because they deserve to be there too.

This reminds me of a picture I took last year as I was waiting for our Sun to clear a bush in my garden so I could capture the solar disc.

Looking forward to seeing the JWST going up for sale on the FLO Offer page.

44 minutes ago, Altocumulus said:

May one ask what you used for these fine gems - certainly beats mine hands down and over!

Hello Geoff.

Firstly thank you for your kind words.

As to the gear, I use a double stacked 60mm Lunt solar scope, a ZWO ASI174mm camera with tilt adaptor and different barlows or Powermates. With the exception of the full disc which was just the camera and scope, the remaining images had the Altair Astro 3x Barlow in the image train.

Below are a selection of images both inverted and ‘au nautral’ showing some of the solar activity on our Sun during the morning of the 8th July 2022.

Don’t worry Rusted, rest assured we will let you know if it’s rubbish 😂 is it the right way round?😝

A few shots of our Sun this morning.

Some images captured quite early this morning before the clouds set in.

Nice capture Rusted. 

I am assuming you are looking at imaging in white light with the Red Cat. Not certain this would work but maybe worth a call to Altair Astro

https://www.altairastro.com/baader-50-od-astrosolar-binocular-filter-50mm-7585-p.asp

or if you are feeling creative you may want to make one;

This image was captured in Hydrogen alpha on the 16th June 2022 and shows a large prominence on the eastern limb.

A 1,000 frame video was stacked in AS3! using 11% of the best frames. It was then taken into ImPPG and an initial sharpening was applied and the tone curve adjusted to invert the image. Finally it was brought into Affinity Photo where further sharpening was applied using ‘Clarity’ and ‘Unsharp Mask’ and a slight adjustment was made using curves.

Equipment

• Lunt 60mm Double Stacked THa B1200/CPT
• ZWO ASI174mm with tilt adapter
• SkyWatcher EQ6R-Pro mount.
• TeleVue 4x Powermate.

Second image (below) captured 28th June 2022. Same equipment used as above, however this time I captured an overexposed solar disc to reveal the prominences then set the gain to 230 and exposure to 9.8 ms to capture the Chromosphere. These two images were processed individually in PixInsight then the two were taken into Affinity Photo where I copied the surface on to the prom layer, adjusted to match the limbs and applied the ‘difference’ layer.

Final image. Captured 28th June 2022 quite early in the morning at 06:10:48 UTC as the forecast was for clouds to roll in (which they did). Using the Lunt described above and ZWO ASI174mm, I captured 2,000 frames and then stacked 10% in AS3!. I took the resulting image into ImPPG and sharpened this a tad before manipulating the tone curve tool to invert the image and lighten the background. Then into PixInsight. A DynamicBackgroundExtraction was undertaken to the sky area. I then created a range mask to encompass the solar disc. The mask was applied and Unsharp mask applied at 10 pixel scale to pop out the filaments. The mask was inverted so exposing the prominences and I used the RestorationFilter tool to apply a bit of sharpening to the proms.

After temporarily removing the mask, I converted the image to RGB, re-applied the mask to expose the disc then applied colour using the curves tool. A final tweak of curves to lighten the limb and darken the centre was added before I Resampled the image reducing its size to 1024 pixels across its width whilst maintaining the same aspect, then created the border and annotated the image with its details.

Image 1 – Solar Disc

Image acquired at 09:51:07 UTC. Bo +1.26˚, Lo 95.34˚, P -8.84˚. There are nine active regions visible on the solar disc this morning, including a number of filaments. There is an especially long ‘reverse-s’ shaped filament positioned through active regions 13030 and 13032. Some nice prominences appear on the limbs particularly the eastern side which has several small breakaway areas.

Image 2 – AR13031 & AR13037

AR13031 (S25W44)

Currently comprised of 15 sunspots and classified ESI, this region occupies 420 million square kilometres of the chromosphere. It has diminished in size in the last 24 hours and the sunspot count has also reduced by 5. AR13031 has been producing flares, its largest eruption so far being an M1.6 class flare the previous day.

AR13037 (S21W55)

Now approaching the western limb, AR13037 continues to increase its sunspot count from 8 to 13 in the last 24 hours. Whilst smaller in the amount of real estate it occupies on the solar disc compared to its neighbour, it has grown in size and now covers c180 million square kilometres. Designated CSI, this region today produced a short burst C3.3 flare between 18:18 and 18:32 UTC. 

Image 3 & 4 – AR13033, 13034 & 13038

AR13033 (N18E01)

A relatively small region compared to the other active regions in this image, AR13033 is classified CRO. Overnight it has diminished in size and sunspots, with now only 6 spots visible. It has only produced two C class flares worthy of note the last being on 14 June 2022.

AR13034 (N01E12)

Located bottom centre of this image, you can clearly see that this is comprised of a single sunspot classified CSO. Whilst it has diminished in size since it first appeared on the solar disc, its sunspot count as remained stable at this level over the past two days. It has yet to produce any flares worthy of note.

AR13038 (N12E40)

Now rotated off the eastern limb, this region has grown in size from 30 to 180 million square kilometres and more than doubled its sunspot count from 3 to 7. Classified DRO this region has yet to produce any flares worthy of note.

Prominences 

Inverting this image reveals an interesting formation where separation has occurred from the main prominence on the eastern limb.

Image 5 – AR13033, AR13032 & AR13030

AR13030 (N19W31)

Classified DAI since 15^th June, this region has increased its sunspot count from 13 to 17 in the last 24 hours but diminished in size by 120 million square kilometres to 240 million square kilometres. It is actively producing flares with a C4.3 eruption taking place today between 14:55 and 18:18 UTC.

AR13032 (N21W21)

Finally, we have AR13032. This region has remained consistent in size over the last 24 hours at 210 million square kilometres but has lost a single sunspot taking todays count to two. AR13032 classification has changed from HSX to CSO and it has produced four flares worthy of note, three have been C class and one, an M3.4 class flare, erupted on 13 June 2022.

6 hours ago, RobertI said:

Amazing images John! 

Thank you Rob.

Details are set out in the border of each image.

Image 1 - AR13030, 13032, 13033 & 13034

 AR13030 (N20W05) 

Classified DAI, this region of activity is now made up of 13 sunspots increasing by 6 over the last 24 hours. It has also increased in size to approximately 180 million square kilometres. AR 13030 has been producing flare activity including a short burst C3.2 flare between 07:21 and 07:29 UTC this morning.

 AR13032 (N21E05)

This region has reduced in size and the number of sunspots in the last 24 hours. Now some 300 million square kilometres in size, it lost 3 sunspots and now has a total of 4. Classified CSO, this region generated at M3.4 class flare 48 hours earlier.

 AR13033 (N17E25)

This region has been relatively quiet only producing 2 notable flares the largest being C.39 on 14 June. It has continued to increase in size and sunspots with 13 sunspots on view today. Overall it covers some 360 million square kilometres.

 AR13034 (N01E40)

Now just a single sunspot classified HSX its size has be relatively consistent at 300 million square kilometres. It has yet to produce any notable flare activity.

Image 2 & 3 - AR13031

AR13031 (S27W18)

Shown in its ‘natural’ H⍺ form, this region has consistently expanded in size and now stands approximately 720 million square kilometres in size and the number of sunspots has increased from 15 to 26 in the last 24 hours. Classified EAI, this region has been actively producing flares. When inverted, this image also reveals a nice ‘pyramid’ prominence on the south west limb.

Image 4 - AR13031, AR13034 & AR13035

AR13035 (S18E40)

This is a small active region designated CSO and comprise of 5 sunspots. It has yet to produce any notable flares.

Image 5 - Prominences on the west and south west limb