What's that golden orb in the sky?

[Talitha]

Wow, it was actually clear today!

It's been ages since i've been able to do any solar observing, so needless to say i was thrilled to see the clouds clear out this afternoon. Here's Sol and some of his freckles... i sincerely hope this is just the beginning.

The wind was gusting at 22mph, and considering the heat wave effect seen in the eyepiece i'd guesstimate that the seeing was about a 2 of 5 (zero being absolute jigglymush, lol). Nonetheless, i had a lot of fun.

It's still clear (almost 8pm here now) but the wind chill will be -25C by the time Mars clears the trees. I still haven't seen it this time around and am guessing it's not going to happen, either. Still in all, it was fun to sit in the sunshine and finally get some winter viewing done.

Clear and steady skies, and thanks for looking.

[yeti monster]

Smashin' sketch there Carol, as always, beats my e-sketchin' hands down.

[brianb]

Beats most peoples' photos, I reckon.... Super stuff!

[kevenh]

that's a sketch?

Well done.

It's nice to have some regular sunspot activity after the last quiet part of the cycle

[samtheeagle]

Wow! You've got some talent Talitha, great sketch

[jgs001]

Excellent work Carol... glad you got out.

[beamish]

I do love seeing you produce these fantastic drawings Carol !!

[stefski]

As always...A great sketch, Carol. Love the shading on the limbs to give a 3D effect!

Stef

[DarkerSky]

That's a beauty Carol. The detail you've captured in the spot groups are superb. I love the limb dimming you've added to the sketch too. Very effective. How long did the whole drawing take you?

[Talitha]

Thanks everyone, let's hope cycle 24 is finally waking up.

The actual sketch time for the sunspots was about 5 minutes per group, with at least 10 minutes studying each group prior to sketching them. So that's 15 minutes per group, plus another 5 minutes for the limb shading... a bit over 1/2 hour in all.

I was detecting the faculae too, but the combination of the wavy seeing and the shaking of the scope was giving me an eyestrain headache so i didn't pursue them. Maybe next time.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Lovely sketches as always Carol. I had a look at sunspot groups 1045 and 1046 with the PST and the Hyperion Zoom today - I wish I had your talent to record my observations.

Mark

[Talitha]

Thanks Mark!