Is it worth it....

[Helen]

I'm off to Spain tomorrow for a field trip at the Calar Alto observatory   I was planning on taking my solar set up as a bit of practice for the eclipse trip, but there is so little activity I'm really wondering whether to give my back and weight allowance a break and not bother....?!?  

 

So... how much is it worth from you lot for me to not take the kit - it would undoubtedly mean that the sun suddenly had a frenzy of activity for a week 

Helen

[Peter Drew]

Based on my current observations in Tenerife I would say probably not, as long as you have internet access you can follow the solar activity minute by minute on GONG. It does however, as you say, invite the possibility of a stored massive outburst. We would thank you for it though. Have a good trip.   

[John]

I'm not a regular solar observer Helen but I'm supposed to be doing a mornings session on this at a local school next week using a white light and H-A (PST) setup on the same mount.

During the practice run that I had on Monday AM, there was virtually nothing to see in white light on the solar disk. In H-A there were a couple of filaments, the granulation / cells were quite nicely defined and there were 3 or 4 small prominences around the solar limbs.

So it's pretty quiet but I'm hoping that the novelty of seeing the solar disk through two contrasting scopes plus some practical demos will keep the students interested for a couple of hours !

Not sure that helps your decision though !. Of course we never know when something might break out up there ......

[Moonshane]

I'd say if you are just practising for a remote session it's worth it but there's not much going on currently as above. That said, you could practice for a remote session a mile from home too........

[Davey-T]

There are some old ARs on the far side just about to reappear which may or may not still be active.

Dave

 

[xtreemchaos]

its better to have your kit with you, who knows what tomorrow brings,  have a great trip Helen. charl.

[Helen]

Just now, xtreemchaos said:

its better to have your kit with you, who knows what tomorrow brings,  have a great trip Helen. charl.

My normal maxim is indeed 'take everything just in case'  (much to Mike's frustration!) - my quandry is that we are limited in luggage space....

I'll try packing it all up, and see what space I've got (that's part of the testing!)

Helen

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I had a peek in H-alpha just now, and something may be turning the corner, but then again, it may be yet another false alarm. Bringing along an H-alpha set may well be worthwhile, if it is only WL, I would really not bother

[Pete Presland]

The UK weather forecast looks pretty poor next week, so please bring some nice weather back with you!