OMG - There's actually a Sunspot!!

[niallk]

Hoping for a break in the cloud later 😎

[PhotoGav]

Hooray, Cycle 25 shows itself at last! It’s forecast to be clear tomorrow, but not sure spending hours in the observatory trying to image this spot will go down too well tomorrow!!

[Mark at Beaufort]

Yes it will be good to see some activity. Yesterday afternoon I viewed the Sun with the PST and noticed a 'plage' on the SE edge and wondered whether it might be the start of a spot. 

@GavStarI think we might be pushing our luck to start observing on Christmas day 😎

[Craney]

Are you really sure that's a sunspot, considering the date and all.....????

 

My polarity could be reversed today depending which bottle I open......

[niallk]

Ho ho ho!

[AdeKing]

Thanks for the heads up. Just got a quick look in WL. 

Good to see something at last. 

[wxsatuser]

May we have more in 2020 to liven up the radio bands.

[Davey-T]

3 hours ago, PhotoGav said:

Hooray, Cycle 25 shows itself at last! It’s forecast to be clear tomorrow, but not sure spending hours in the observatory trying to image this spot will go down too well tomorrow!!

Why, what's happening tomorrow ? 

Dave 

[wxsatuser]

Not much time to play when I'm chef for two days. 😎

[Davey-T]

I've spent more than one Christmas eve / night playing out, can't waste clear skies 

Dave 

[wxsatuser]

In fact three days counting today.

Gammons done today

[Debo]

OMG x 2, there's now two new cycle sunspots, one in the northern hemisphere and one in the south.

Weather for tomorrow looks good so may get a chance to have a look between presents and lunch. 

[AdeKing]

I got a quick glimpse of the single sunspot before rain stopped play this morning.  After seeing this, I checked out the SDO/HMI Image (https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_igr/512/) and noticed that there are actually four spots configured as two pairs which are diagonally opposite if that makes sense.

Hopefully I'll get some quiet time tomorrow when I can take a look.

Ade

 

Edited December 24, 2019 by AdeKing
Image added.

[Geoff Barnes]

...aaand there's another one!

For you poor starved solar lovers a new (old) spot has appeared. One of the remnants of Cycle 24 which may not last long, but hey, it's something! .

https://www.spaceweather.com

[wxsatuser]

Would be nice to see more, liven up the higher HF bands.

Still not complaining as the lower bands have nice long haul contacts.

Couple I had last weekend on 40metres.

Arizona USA

Japan

[Mark at Beaufort]

4 hours ago, Geoff Barnes said:

...aaand there's another one!

For you poor starved solar lovers a new (old) spot has appeared. One of the remnants of Cycle 24 which may not last long, but hey, it's something! .

https://www.spaceweather.com

Thanks Geoff for the 'heads up'. AR2757 looks promising - hope it clears later to have a look.

[Davey-T]

Not April the first is it 😂

Cloud here, rain coming.

Dave

[niallk]

2 hours ago, wxsatuser said:

Would be nice to see more, liven up the higher HF bands.

Still not complaining as the lower bands have nice long haul contacts.

Couple I had last weekend on 40metres.

Arizona USA

Japan

Sorry for my ignorance!!

Are you into HAM radio, and is it that with solar activity you can reflect signals off the ionosphere, and get confirmation from others around the globe that communication was established? If so, cool!

If I'm understanding, the level/type of activity affects what freq bands "work"?

What sort of Tx power do you run at, and what sort of Rx sensitivity do you achieve?   What sort of modulation do you use??

Sorry for the Qs - just interested

[wxsatuser]

Yes I am ham and basically that's what we do, bounce the signals off various things.

In short the higher the solar index the better the higher HF bands work.

These are frequencies generally 14MHz and higher.

Normally I run about 50watts from an Icom 7100 to a six band trapped vertical which is 24feet tall, attached to the base are various lengths of wire, radials, the back garden is covered in these radials.😀

The 7100 is a multi band radio, all bands 1.8MHz to 432MHz

Main modulation is FT8 which does over come the high noise level here. 

[Littleguy80]

6 hours ago, Geoff Barnes said:

...aaand there's another one!

For you poor starved solar lovers a new (old) spot has appeared. One of the remnants of Cycle 24 which may not last long, but hey, it's something! .

https://www.spaceweather.com

Thanks for the heads up, Geoff. Just caught it through a gap in the clouds. Looks to be the best spot for awhile  

[Littleguy80]

It’s not going to win any prizes but here’s a photo of it. If you zoom in you can see the configuration of it reasonably well

[PhotoGav]

There appears to be a Cycle 25 active region brewing towards the southeast limb too... hopefully the sky will clear to allow a peek at it before long.

[xtreemchaos]

darn weather !

might have a bit of clear tomorrow "fingersX" at the mo im making burnt offerings To the cloud gods ie having a coffie n cig.

thanks for the heads up. wishing you all clear. charl. 

Edited January 26, 2020 by xtreemchaos

[MarsG76]

Are you sure that that's not some dirt on the sensor?

 

[Littleguy80]

AR2757 is still showing nicely. One part has faded but can still be seen as smaller spots/pores behind the main spot. It's fairly windy out but I was pleasantly at how much detail could be seen. Well worth a look if you have the option.

@xtreemchaos Charl, my kids really enjoyed your image  with the Earth/Jupiter scale. They had a little look at the spot through my scope on Sunday so seeing how big that little black spot really is blew their little minds! Thanks for sharing it