Cracking solar views today - 13th Jan 2022

[Stu]

We still seem to be sitting in a lovely hole in the Jetstream, so the skies are nice and stable currently. I popped the 76mm out just now on the Scopetech zero and enjoyed some very nice, sharp views through the Coolwedge/Leica Zoom combo. It is tempting me to go for the FC100DC now!

I’m using some old Vixen slo motion cables from @skybadger which are excellent I must say. Nice and floppy so they isolate any vibrations from the mount, but give easy control. Long too, so your hands can be in a comfortable position.

[Stu]

So, the seeing seemed worth it so I ‘upgraded’ to the 100mm. I used the Leica first, then the binoviewers to see what differences I saw.

With the Leica, I could immediately see the addition resolution, better detail, granulation more visible. Moving to the binoviewers everything just became more vivid and contrasty. The green of the Continuum filter was richer, faculae stood out better and the granulation was really popping.

I noticed a couple more small spots I hadn’t seen before, away from the main groups. Really nice petal like structure in the penumbra of the main ARs and detail within the umbra too. Quick but good session, will have another look when in next have a break.

I did notice a little more vibration when using the 100 with binoviewers, that bit more length and weight to contend with, but still perfectly acceptable.

[Stu]

Just to add an image I took recently with a smartphone, handheld at one eyepiece of my binoviewer 🤪.

There is plenty going on even outside the names ARs, I’ve highlighted where I can see either groups of spots or single spots. There is one which has developed in the area of faculae to the left of 12927, which will hopefully continue to grow.

 

[MoonNut]

A nice report Stu, things are certainly "hotting Up" with our local star after such a long quiet period!

After reading your post I will definitely be out in the morning with my Solar Rig taking some images