Did I just see a solar flare?

[Nik271]

I was observing the Sun between clouds with my new Quark this lunchtime when I noticed a sudden brightening near a sunspot on the east side ( I think it was 3257). For a few minutes there was a bright yellow dot next to the dark sunspot and the 'swirls' around the sunspot also glowed. It was exactly at 2pm GMT. Then it faded over the course of 10 minutes. I think it was a solar flare but being new to Ha observing I'm not entirely sure. Did anybody see this, I will be interested to hear a confirmation what it was.

 

Nik

Edited March 21, 2023 by Nik271
typos

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

That sounds like it was a flare

[Peter Drew]

I didn't see it but the description seems typical of a flare.     🙂

[IB20]

There was a flare recorded at AR3257 at 13:50 today so yes I think that’s the event you were witnessing. 👍🏻

[Nik271]

Cool, its great to have a confirmation! Thanks, @IB20, useful resource, now I know where to look up the past solar activity.

[Highburymark]

Good spot! A medium C class is about half way up the classification rating for solar flares, so quite substantial. Don’t know what scope you’re using, but your Quark is perfect for high magnification flare watching when conditions are steady. I was incredibly fortunate last year to witness an X class flare on the limb which I could see moving in real time - without doubt the most amazing thing I’ve seen through a telescope. Hopefully there will be a few more this year.

[Nik271]

That X flare must have been awsome! Yesterday I was using a 70/420 focal length ED refractor for a portable grab and go solar set up dodging rainshowers. It allows me to view the full Sun disc even though I'm told its focal ratio F6 is not ideal for a Quark.

I have a 102/716 F7 ED refractor as well, but I', waiting for a long steady sunny spell to try it out properly. The Quark will bring it to massive 3080mm effective focal length so will need good seeing for that. It is super impressive already with the small scope, I could see some filaments as dark arcs on the disc and a few prominences on the edge, which gradually changed over time. There was one fading bit which hung detached over the limb like a cloud. I'm hooked on Ha!

Edited March 22, 2023 by Nik271

[Highburymark]

3 hours ago, Nik271 said:

That X flare must have been awsome! Yesterday I was using a 70/420 focal length ED refractor for a portable grab and go solar set up dodging rainshowers. It allows me to view the full Sun disc even though I'm told its focal ratio F6 is not ideal for a Quark.

I have a 102/716 F7 ED refractor as well, but I', waiting for a long steady sunny spell to try it out properly. The Quark will bring it to massive 3080mm effective focal length so will need good seeing for that. It is super impressive already with the small scope, I could see some filaments as dark arcs on the disc and a few prominences on the edge, which gradually changed over time. There was one fading bit which hung detached over the limb like a cloud. I'm hooked on Ha!

Excellent! - sounds like you’ve got a good one. The Quark will be stunning in your bigger refractor under the right conditions! It’s a real learning curve working out how to get the best out of these type of filters - but really good idea to start with the smaller scope. You should get more contrast on filaments with the 102mm with the slower focal ratio. One option for the future is to mask down the 102mm to 80mm or so - the slower the focal ratio, the better definition you’ll get on surface features.