July 1, 2014: Solar lunchtime with huge, bright W in H-alpha

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Spent some time gazing at the sun during lunch. The two active regions AR 2104 and 2107 are still showing lots of activity, but to the north a MASSIVE, bright W-shape grabbed all of the attention. I have never seen such a large bright structure snaking its way across the sun. Such a shame I did not have imaging gear along. A smaller W could be seen just south of it, and at the end of the session the eastern end of it joined up with the eastern most bottom bend of the big W. The result looked like a strange mix of a W and a y shape. Between this massive shape and the two AR to its south, a spike-like prom developed as we watched. Several other, much bigger proms were visible south and north. The big filament on the western hemisphere seems to be fading a bit, but is still an impressive sight. If the weather holds, I might leave work early to do some imaging at home.

The more I look at AR2104 and 2107, I get the feeling these are the same as AR2080 and 2085 which bowed out about two weeks ago.

[Peter Drew]

I'm enjoying the same spectacle at the moment, the flaring in the active area is like rivers of lava. Lots more to come from this area. 

[Stu]

Very nice views here too in the breaks in the cloud. Was lovely at 8am, very sharp detail and as said those two AR's are very active

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[Davey-T]

Finally got the LS60DS focused/tuned today, sure I can get it better but spent all afternoon amazed at the stuff I could see, is all this activity normal or was it just a good day ?

Guess any day with sunshine is a good day in the UK

Dave

[Floater]

Also blown away today, especially 'cos it's more or less my first time. Just getting a toe in the water, really.

Beautiful blue sky and a revelation as far as what I was seeing. Got my wife, daughter and grandsons to have a look (with reactions that were less enthusiastic than mine, I'm afraid).

When you speak of 'north', does that mean the lower part of the disc I have in my eyepiece (Solarmax40)? I saw a huge W shape (a filament?) on the lower left, around 7-8 o'clock. I saw several prominences on the right side of the disc. Is that described as east or west? And is there any reason why the left limb seemed to be quieter than the right? And on the top right, around 1-2 o'clock, several sun spots and what I take to be more filaments. Is that an Active Region?

Also, where does the nomenclature of active regions come from? Who says that this is AR such-and-such? Is there a website anyone would recommend for further reading?

So many questions. So much awe. Any help or guidance gratefully received ...

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I tried spotting the W later in the day, but it had changed shape and faded considerably.