Solar images from the 20th to 28th April

[Nigella Bryant]

Hi all, just posting my last images of the month. 60mm DS lunt, B1800 lunt Cak module and AA G-band filter were used. 

[Dave Smith]

Very nice. What scope were you using for the G band?

Dave

 

[Nigella Bryant]

1 hour ago, Dave Smith said:

Very nice. What scope were you using for the G band?

Dave

 

Hi Dave, my G-band scope is a cheap opticstar 127mm stopped down to 100mm with a mask. 

[LukeTheNuke]

Lovely shots! The spots are a bit more interesting than I realised from Gong.

Hmmm, that looks pretty detailed with the 127 stopped down to 100mm. Are you using some type of ZWO camera? First time I've heard about a G-band filter. Is that imaging only, or does it help for visual as well?

[JeremyS]

Splendid, Nigella 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[Nigella Bryant]

2 hours ago, LukeTheNuke said:

Lovely shots! The spots are a bit more interesting than I realised from Gong.

Hmmm, that looks pretty detailed with the 127 stopped down to 100mm. Are you using some type of ZWO camera? First time I've heard about a G-band filter. Is that imaging only, or does it help for visual as well?

Hi Luke, yeah all through a Zwo Asi 178mm camera. The G-band can be visual too as far as I know, never tried it in visual. I imagine it can, only Cak is beyond visual except if you're young. But even then I wouldn't advise it. 

[Nigella Bryant]

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

Splendid, Nigella 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks Jeremy, much appreciated. 

[Altocumulus]

Gorgeous!

[LukeTheNuke]

10 hours ago, Nigella Bryant said:

Hi Luke, yeah all through a Zwo Asi 178mm camera. The G-band can be visual too as far as I know, never tried it in visual. I imagine it can, only Cak is beyond visual except if you're young. But even then I wouldn't advise it. 

Thanks, Nigella. Gosh, your images are from a £284 camera? Yikes, there IS a tempting camera for under £300! (I'm tempted to get back to a bit of lunar imaging, and maybe some white light solar). Full frame (3096×2080) at 30 fps (10 bit) or 60 fps (14 bit)? Hmmm.

I'll check out for some info on G-band for visual then.

Ah yes, I did know I may have left it a little late in life for CaK visual, LOL, good point! Out of interest, why wouldn't you advise that even young whippersnappers give CaK visual a go? Could it turn their hair purple? (I might fancy that, I do like purple)

[Altocumulus]

10 minutes ago, LukeTheNuke said:

Thanks, Nigella. Gosh, your images are from a £284 camera? Yikes, there IS a tempting camera for under £300! (I'm tempted to get back to a bit of lunar imaging, and maybe some white light solar). Full frame (3096×2080) at 30 fps (10 bit) or 60 fps (14 bit)? Hmmm.

I'll check out for some info on G-band for visual then.

Ah yes, I did know I may have left it a little late in life for CaK visual, LOL, good point! Out of interest, why wouldn't you advise that even young whippersnappers give CaK visual a go? Could it turn their hair purple? (I might fancy that, I do like purple)

Player One Apollo-M USB3.0 Mono Camera (IMX174) Upto 164fps Built in tilt plate. 

 

[Nigella Bryant]

37 minutes ago, LukeTheNuke said:

Ah yes, I did know I may have left it a little late in life for CaK visual, LOL, good point! Out of interest, why wouldn't you advise that even young whippersnappers give CaK visual a go? Could it turn their hair purple? (I might fancy that, I do like purple)

I'm just very cautious about solar viewing with the eyeballs, lol. I'd rather ruin a £300 camera than destroy my eyes. I have made some rouke mistakes in the past with not putting the front covers on and then taking the filters out first. Not with my eyes thankfully. I've melted an eye piece cap, got scotch burns burnt in the wood on the wall of my RoR and holes in one of my jumpers on the arm, (now that's a funny story). I thought someone had a bonfire as I could see smoke but it was me. 

Solar observations is a dangerous sport. Always double check for safety. 

[LukeTheNuke]

14 minutes ago, Nigella Bryant said:

I'm just very cautious about solar viewing with the eyeballs, lol. I'd rather ruin a £300 camera than destroy my eyes. I have made some rouke mistakes in the past with not putting the front covers on and then taking the filters out first. Not with my eyes thankfully. I've melted an eye piece cap, got scotch burns burnt in the wood on the wall of my RoR and holes in one of my jumpers on the arm, (now that's a funny story). I thought someone had a bonfire as I could see smoke but it was me. 

Solar observations is a dangerous sport. Always double check for safety. 

Ah, I see. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or be sad about you burning your jumper! It reminds me a bit of a story my mum tells me about my father. My dad used to talk on the phone a lot. One time, my mum interrupted him while he was on the phone, which he was annoyed about. I'll tone down what he said, but it was along the lines of, "Bob, this silly so-and-so is trying to tell me my chair is on fire, the silly so-and-so." A moment later, he jumps up and sees his chair really is on fire. It turns out that little Luke had lost one of his toy cars under dad's chair, and had cleverly used a match so he could see under the chair to find his car. I did like my toy cars, and still do!

But as you say, solar safety is important, and I can well understand you being cautious with your eyeballs. I had a near miss one time, even after doing solar for a few years, I think. It was actually during the solar eclipse, and I got away with it because there was a bit of cloud. I'm normally quite careful, but I was rushing around because there was cloud and I was quite tense and not wanting to miss it. Which taught me that you should never rush when it comes to solar. Anyway, I do hope you found a nice new jumper! Mind you, it would be kind of cool in a way to keep your burnt one. "This is from the time I set fire to myself while doing solar".

[LukeTheNuke]

1 hour ago, Altocumulus said:

Player One Apollo-M USB3.0 Mono Camera (IMX174) Upto 164fps Built in tilt plate. 

 

Thanks for the idea, I think that one is over the magical £300? (I suffer from being tight these days). But a built-in tilt plate is interesting, and I think I'd go mono. And there is the used market. I used to have the ZWO ASI174 Mono. Nice fast frame rate as you say, and I found that especially useful for drift imaging untracked, as I could get quite a few frames in before the solar or lunar disc was off the chip. But when tracked I'm happy enough at 30 fps (and Nigella's pics are fab!).

I don't really want to go 174 again, though, as I sold one before, so it would feel like a bit of an own goal. Perhaps no harm done, though, if I can find a used one at a comparable price for what I sold mine for. I think, go cheaper, or maybe even go even posher if I don't use up all of my budget for changing my car. Thanks again for the idea, and I had no clue there was an option with a built-in tilt plate!

Edited May 1 by LukeTheNuke

[Altocumulus]

To be honest I'm a little confused about the IMX174 - that's what I took from the website, but the pixels are 4.5*4.5 rather than 5.86*5.86 of the ZWO.

Tilt plate is nifty, built in, rather than being a separate piece - slightly more fiddly than the ZWO one.

[GordonD]

Fabulous images.

[Nigella Bryant]

4 hours ago, GordonD said:

Fabulous images.

Thanks Gordon, much appreciated. 

[Pete Presland]

Some very granulation, as well as the Sunspot activity visible. Good to see so many proms as well.

[Nigella Bryant]

2 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

Some very granulation, as well as the Sunspot activity visible. Good to see so many proms as well.

Thanks Pete, much appreciated.