Quark testing 8th August

[Montana]

I have been wanting to do this since I bought the Quark but having the time in the Sun to do this test was a million to one chance. Considering this year I have not had more than a 30 minute run of blue sky the chances of getting 2 hrs was slim. However, Saturday I had 4 hours of pure blue before it clouded up and so was able to do this test.

I set the Quark on zero point which is 12 o'clock on the dial (middle) and bagged some images of the AR and filament and prominence, although like previously I really struggled with the prom exposure. I then started turning the dial clockwise to +01 and waited for the green light to come on. Now I knew this position was better (more on band) the last time I had used it but this is all I had managed. I then kept imaging the same 3 objects on the same exposure (no flats) for every point on the dial clockwise to +05. I then turned the dial all the way back to -05 counterclockwise and took the same images again each click until I got back to centre point again. So here are the results, I think the best overall contrast, flatness of field, and prom exposure was +04 clockwise. You can see that 'on band' comes in from the bottom right, passes through the middle then leaves top left, just like a tilt tuned etalon, this surprised me, somehow I expected it to be like a pressure tuner with an even field. Now I know why I had been struggling with the prominence on the first two outings. I think it is very important for each Quark user to try this out at some point if they can, especially if you have a problem with uneven field or struggling to see prominences. If you spend a lot of money it is worth getting to know the beast you bought

2015-08-08 AR12396 by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

2015-08-08 Prominence by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

2015-08-08 Filament by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

Then some fun in the blue wing, well I had the images anyway

Spicule 'twinning' only observed in the blue wing

080815_100547 -05 crop by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

Bright Arch filament footpoints - not to be confused with Ellerman bombs!

080815_100829 -05 Bright footpoints by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

Ellerman bombs (only distinguished from footpoints if you take a series of images)

2015-08-08 Ellerman bombs by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

A prominence showing the blue shifted parts and blue shifted spicules.

080815_095413 +05 & -05 Blue shift combo by Alexandra Hart, on Flickr

I had more fun doing this than I expected, I hope you enjoy them

Alexandra

[David Smith]

Fascinating stuff Alexandra and really useful illustration to others of the potential in the Quark if they have not had the opportunity to experiment yet.

[xtreemchaos]

cracking close up images mate,lovely detail and imfo. thanks for posting. charl.

[laudropb]

Very interesting report. Well worth the wait for the blue skies.

[Freddie]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[Pete Presland]

Very interesting to see the full range of settings. It did leave me wondering what the minus part of the seetings was for as all the images look better from positive side of the settings. Love the explanation for the different features on the images as well great work!

[Luke]

Very, very interesting, Alexandra. Thanks for sharing your findings.      

So few unbroken long spells of sunshine this summer!

[Space Cowboy]

Great work Alexandra!

[Montana]

Thanks everyone I really do recommend it to anyone with a Quark it is worth the effort.

Alexandra

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Excellent set of images and fascinating experiments. I might give this a try with the Solar Spectrum filter, and tweak it through its temperature settings

[Freddie]

A gap in the clouds this afternoon allowed me to check my setting and it has confirmed that what I have been using (1 click left) is best for my set-up.

1.5 clicks left would probably be perfect but I didn't have that option !!!!!!

[Luke]

A gap in the clouds this afternoon allowed me to check my setting and it has confirmed that what I have been using (1 click left) is best for my set-up.

1.5 clicks left would probably be perfect but I didn't have that option !!!!!!

You'll just have to flip it from one to the other between captures!! :laugh:

Glad to hear you were on the right one, Freddie, well done. I hope I am not out, that will be months of sub-otpimal captures!!

[Davey-T]

Thanks for taking the time Alexandra, one thing I found for prom detail is increasing the gamma slightly, usually keep set as low as it will go.

Dave

[sooot]

^{well thank you very much Alexandra, you have made me think about getting a quark again  , great shots and intresting to see see the difference in tuning settings}

[Guest]

Alexandra that is one of the most informative and interesting posts I've read on this forum - excellent description of your experiment that will be so useful to other Quark users - I'm sure they'll be happy to made the effort to post these results.

As for the images, as I said in an earlier post - the capture of that prominence is exceptional....and exceptionally better than the over exposed blob that I managed in my attempt of the same object :-)

Really good stuff!

David

[Pig]

I wonder where I was when this was posted ?

Grear stuff Alexandra ?