White Light Solar Sketching

[David Smith]

So I have been sketching sunspots since pretty much day one in this hobby of mine, that's 20+ years now. My sketches have never been about art (you'll see why below) but I do enjoy keeping a record of the number of spots I see and comparing what I see from day-to-day and week-to-week. Today's sketch is shown below. The document is one of several template docs I use for the purpose, depending on how busy the Sun is.

I have recently started to photograph the Sun with my new DSLR but at this point in time I still see more detail visually than photographically. Here is a link to the photographic equivalent of the above. Sorry, orientation is a bit different but I am still getting the hang of this photography thing!

http://stargazerslou...th-august-2012/

Keeping a count of the spot number over the years has allowed me to accumulate quite a bit of data, almost a thousand data points! Which then leads to this.

ZSN Chart August 2012.pdf

The gaps are where I have had time away from solar observing for whatever reason (children mostly) but you get the general idea of the rise and fall of the solar cycle over the period of time.

Possibly of no interest to anyone other than me but demonstrates what can be done with modest equipment given time and patients. Much of the early data was gathered using my old Tasco 60mm refractor projecting onto white card. For my current setup see my sig below or have a quick look at my profile.

Cheers

[Bizibilder]

An exellent set of results and a fine sketch - it is good to see someone collecting data over a long period of time and showing the dedication to keep going. There is nothing wrong with your sketching either!

The orientation of your photograph is N to the left. You will also find it is reversed E/W with respect to your drawing.

[DarkerSky]

That's brilliant David. I think there is immense value in your work. It shows how easy it is to get involved in solar observing. Sure, people can spend £500+ on a PST etc., but you can get so much out of simple and cheaper equipment in white light too. Astronomy doesn't have to = lots of money spent

[Qualia]

This is amazing stuff, David. Seriously, it is this kind of creative discipline and dedication which makes understanding and life grow. The sketch is fantastic and as much a joy to gaze upon as the images in the photographic section, yours included. Just a question, what does ZSN mean? Is that indicating the number of sun spots observed over a given period of time?

Thanks for sharing this with us, David and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[David Smith]

Qualia. Firstly, many thanks for your kind comments on this. In answer to your question ZSN relates to something called the "Zurich Spot Number" and it is a relatively simplistic method of measuring the level of spot activity on the visible face of the sun. When I started doing this, resources for research were limited and all I could find was this method of allocating a measure to the activity I observed. It would not withstand any scientific scrutiny but it was never my purpose to "break new ground" with the data. The following link give a short explanation if you are interested.

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/Z/Zurich+Sunspot+Number

This then allowed me to track the activity over time and hence generate the graph. The drawings themselves form a comprehensive record of what I have seen but I find this kind of simple statistical analysis very satisfying.

[Qualia]

Thank you for the link and explanation, David. I'll have a read and there will be more questions to pester you with. Like what are those numbers dotted over the sun and where do they come from?

[David Smith]

Not quite sure I know which numbers you are referring to?

[Qualia]

On the supplied link the sun has numbers on it all beginning with 00, just was wondering what that meant and whether these numbers came from a solar catalogue.

[David Smith]

Ahh, have to admit I do not really know. Looks like some method of numbering the the spot groups. I do something similar but just number them 1 to x, see page two of my log below

I usually try and do this just based on what looks like common sense, but sometimes it is difficult to see where one group ends and another starts. In this case then I will use online resources such as this:-

http://sidc.oma.be/uset/index.php

As a guide to how to splitting them up.

[Qualia]

Thanks a lot David. This is excellent work and if they're not copyrighted, I would love to use your own log pages for my own observations (when my solar filter arrives, that is). I've set up an independent post asking about those peculiar numbers on that sun and hopefully someone might be able to inform us on what exactly they are and where did they come from.

Thanks for sharing your art and being so patient in answering my questions. I look forward to seeing more of your work and on going project.

[David Smith]

Happy for you to use the log pages, they are just docs I designed for my purposes. I keep them all electronically so could send them to you if you feel they would be useful.