July 27th - H Alpha - Fine Filament - X40 Up!!

[paulastro]

I rushed out for a brief clear patch this morning, 7.13 am to 7.39 am, and grabbed a few frames before I had to go out.  The lovely long filament which appeared into view over the E horizon on July 21st continues to dominate the HA scene along with half a dozen lesser filaments.  There were four, not particularly noteworthy, prominences the one in the S looking as if it has just come adrift from the limb.  Single frame taken with Lunt 60 DS and Olympus E-M10, taken at 7.39 am on 1/80 sec at 500 asa.

A noteworthy morning for me, my 40th successive day observing and imaging the sun, stretching back to June 18th.  I didn't start out counting at all, but as I approached 20 I realised it must be more than I've managed before.  I have to admit, I have since gone out of my way a little since then to extend the run on a couple of occasions.  Great to have a nice continuous record for so long, and to have included the passage of AR2565 and AR2567. I've posted some images on SGL on all 40 days, though I'm willing to concede  some are rather better than others!!

 

 

 

[David Smith]

Well done Paul. 40 days far exceeds anything I have achieved.

[Davey-T]

Super filament Paul, rain here, I never get more than a couple of days in a row 

Dave

[xtreemchaos]

great shots Paul, 40 eh, "dingdong" thats hell of a run mate, lovely filament, what a size,lovely detail.well done and goodluck for 41.charl.

[johnfosteruk]

Impressive run Paul. 

[Pete Presland]

That filament is getting better everytime i see it!

[Lowjiber]

Awesome filaments, Paul.  Forty days... incredible indeed.

Thanks for the share.

Clear Skies

[DrRobin]

Nice shot Paul, well balanced detail and contrast.  40 shots in a row, Steve [Ward] had better watch out, you might overtake/might have overtaken him.

Robin

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, David Smith said:

Well done Paul. 40 days far exceeds anything I have achieved.

Many thanks David.  I had my fair share of luck at times to help me along the way.

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, Davey-T said:

Super filament Paul, rain here, I never get more than a couple of days in a row 

Dave

Many thanks Dave.  I'm hoping that the filament maintains it's integrity for when it's straddling the CM.  If it does it could yet get better.  If I had to take a guess,  I suspect it may be starting to split.  Hope I'm wrong!

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, xtreemchaos said:

great shots Paul, 40 eh, "dingdong" thats hell of a run mate, lovely filament, what a size,lovely detail.well done and goodluck for 41.charl.

Thank you charl.  I must admit, up here in darkest Yorkshire I am surprised that the run has gone on so long, though there have been a couple of times when I've only had a couple of minutes to get my shots or it could easily have been a much shorter run.  I'm just happy I've had the run I've had, anything else is a bonus.  Mind you if it edged toward 50 I might get a bit nervous - though I can't see it myself.  In the end it will be what it is.  

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, johnfosteruk said:

Impressive run Paul. 

Many thanks John.  I'm just hoping that when the next  'must see' event happens on the sun, I haven't used up all my clear slots for the rest of the year!! 

[Montana]

Super image  but how have you done 40 days? I have nothing but total cloud or rain bar 2 days last week.

Alexandra

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, bunnygod1 said:

That filament is getting better everytime i see it!

Yes Pete, I'm just hoping it doesn't run out of steam before it crosses to the W limb.  Thank you.

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, Lowjiber said:

Awesome filaments, Paul.  Forty days... incredible indeed.

Thanks for the share.

Clear Skies

That's very kind of you, thank you.  I'm not sure if you'll be aware of Yorkshire's reputation for a wet and gloomy climate, but I'm probably surprised as anyone that the run has carried on this far! 

[paulastro]

1 hour ago, DrRobin said:

Nice shot Paul, well balanced detail and contrast.  40 shots in a row, Steve [Ward] had better watch out, you might overtake/might have overtaken him.

Robin

Many thanks Robin, the comments on the detail and contrast are most welcome.  I'm no processing expert (understatement of the year ) and often mull over three processed versions of a frame before hitting the key to submit it as part of a post.  I usually  settle on a version that shows the most detail, though this sometimes isn't the most aesthetically pleasing.  I do try not to post anything that is over done, but I know I do sometimes and they can look a bit grim.  Thanks again.

[laudropb]

Love disk Paul. What an amazing run. Clear here today so I am on day one.

[Radec]

Amazing achievement - Guinness records perhaps, or just a nice cool pint of the stuff instead.

What's the record on here for successive days? Anyone know?

Great image too - well done Sir!

Keith

[Pete Presland]

3 hours ago, paulastro said:

Yes Pete, I'm just hoping it doesn't run out of steam before it crosses to the W limb.  Thank you.

Looks like a decent window of opportunity early tomorrow morning, so a session from the car park at work I think!

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, Montana said:

Super image  but how have you done 40 days? I have nothing but total cloud or rain bar 2 days last week.

Alexandranat

Many thanks Alexandra.  Well, it certainly wasn't the Yorkshire climate .  Probably the biggest factor is having a grab and go setup, and taking single frame images with a still camera - no computer and no need of ac or dc at the telescope.  (other than the camera battery of course ).  I can be outside and set up in less than a minute if the mount is already outside and my Lunt is ready with the camera mounted ready to carry out.  Oh yes, liberal amounts of good fortune too!!

[paulastro]

2 hours ago, laudropb said:

Love disk Paul. What an amazing run. Clear here today so I am on day one.

Many thanks.  Well, you know what they say, from little acorns great oaks grow - or something like that!  I'm pleased you've had a change of fortune weather wise.

[paulastro]

8 minutes ago, bunnygod1 said:

Looks like a decent window of opportunity early tomorrow morning, so a session from the car park at work I think!

That's great Pete - want to  be in a relay team!  I can hand on the baton to you as it looks as if I'll be scuppered by the weather tomorrow. 

[paulastro]

Many thanks Keith.  My guess would be someone living in Arizona or California will be in pole position!  At least I'll probably be able to hold onto the record for an observer living in Oakworth, West Yorkshire. 

[johnfosteruk]

6 hours ago, paulastro said:

I'm just hoping that when the next  'must see' event happens on the sun, I haven't used up all my clear slots for the rest of the year!! 

Hehe, I've not heard of a quota system, but if there is one I propose a sharing system - like how countries can trade carbon credits.

[Pete Presland]

13 hours ago, paulastro said:

That's great Pete - want to  be in a relay team!  I can hand on the baton to you as it looks as if I'll be scuppered by the weather tomorrow. 

So much for the window of opportunity!  It's arrived after I started work  never mind I am sure somebody somewhere is getting some rays!