Solar Filter.

[DMC]

I had my first ever look at the sun earlier (before the clouds predictably rolled in), using my newly assembled filter made with Baader film. Can anyone tell me what the black spots are on the surface and what else i should be looking out for?

[lw24]

Hi,

The black spots you see are Sun Spots. The amount of these seen determines the activity of the Sun: The more Sun Spots there are, the more active the Sun.

I have never used Baader Solar Film before, but I think you can only see Sun Spots and some Granulation (graininess on the Suns surface), however I may be wrong.

Clear Skies

[Bizibilder]

The "black" bits are, as lw24 says, sunspots - the black "umbra" is sorrounded by a grey "penumbra". You can also see bright areas - often over a huge area - these are called faculae and are areas where sunspots are often about to occur (or not!).

I've appended a pic of the current "biggie" spot from Saturday:

(Through a SW 120mm Evostar refractor, using a webcam - stack of 800/1000frames)