May 13, 2014: Solar Lunchtime with Plenty Proms

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Just had the scope out during my first solar lunchtime in a while. The sun put on quite a show. Apart from some filaments and the beautiful patterns around the big sunspots, a series of arcing proms stood out from the limb. One on the eastern limb had a bright knot in it, and seemed to develop into a detached prom after a while. Further north a slightly higher arc also showed a knot at its apex, but this was smaller, and stayed put. At the southern base of this arc, a smaller arc appeared later in the session. Way down south, still more-or-less eastern limb, a long pale flame of plasma stood out straight from the limb. Westwards of this, another ghostly prom could be seen. It looked like some twisted arcs curling around each other. Due west on the limb, a nice arc could be seen, whereas further north, another ghostly, very pale prom was just about visible. It seemed to brighten a bit (or I got the tuning better) and could be resolved into a series of fine thread-like structures. At the end of the session (some time after my boss joined in) a very bright structure arose along the western limb, just north of the big arc. This structure was quite wide but short, more-or-less straight with a hook on the end. It stood out at an angle of some 60 degrees from the limb, pointing away from the big arc. Inspection with the XF8.5 suggests its base is beyond the limb.

Very nice and dynamic sun again

[Umbraldot]

Just had a quick look in the H-alpha and it all seems much the same at 0715 UT this morning.  The bright prom on the eastern limb may have a detached cloud of ejecta, not sure.  Plenty of filaments, 10 counted this morning.

[pragmatist]

Great report, nice to read.