Category: Sun

Nice to see some sunspots on the Sun and there are quite a few visible at the moment as Simon Dawes shows in his recent images taken of the Sun on the 20th & 21st April 2022.  NEVER LOOK AT THE SUN DIRECTLY. Please click here for solar observing safely. 

Sunspot complex AR2993-94 is crackling away with M-class solar flares and did directly face Earth a day later. They are 'big' sunspots too.  The two dark cores are as large as Earth and a magnetic filament attached to one of the cores is more than 100,000 km long.

Sun on 20th April 2022

Sun on 21st April 2022

Sunspots are caused by magnetic disruptions of the visible photosphere of the sun which exposes the relatively cooler layers underneath - appearing as a black spot. 

The sun’s magnetic entanglements and disentanglement happen in 11-year cycles with each solar cycle having phases of low and high activity. Solar activity cycles have been numbered since 1775, when extensive recording of sunspot activity began.

We are currently in Solar Cycle 25, which has yet to reach its peak. The current cycle is expected to reach its maximum activity in late 2024 or early 2025, this means we may see more and bigger sunspots.

A superb image of an 'active' Sun by Simon Dawes taken from Bexleyheath. Details of how Simon took the photo are on the image.

A lovely image of the Sun showing 3 sunspots taken by Simon Dawes on the morning of the 25th March 2022 from Bexleyheath. Details of how Simon acquired the image is on the photo.

Another great image of the Sun by Simon Dawes taken today from Bexleyheath. Details of how the image was acquired is written on the photo. Three sunspot groups are visible.

A very nice image of the Sun with sun spots taken by Simon Dawes on the morning of the 18th March 2022 from Bexleyheath. Taken using a Baader solar safety filter, skywatcher 190mn telescope, ZWO ASI1600mm pro CMOS camera, mesu e200 MkII mount and sharpcap pro image capture software.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="651"] Taken on the 8th of June with a Daystar Solar Scout SS60-DS and a ZWO ASI174MM camera. My 1st proper attempt at imaging the sun in H-Alpha.

[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Taken on the 16th of July with a Daystar Solar Scout SS60-DS and a ZWO ASI174MM camera.[/caption]

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Images by Honor Wheeler

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image by Honor Wheeler Skywatcher ED80 refractor, Canon M6 Mark2 camera. EQ3 synscan mount. For the full disc I used a x2 Barlow and the close up x5 Barlow. Processed using PIPP, AS!3 & PShop elements6. I could have done better but didn't have clear skies really for long enough and at the moment the sun is so darn low! Anyway happy to get these.

[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Image by Honor Wheeler Skywatcher ED80 refractor, Canon M6 Mark2 camera. EQ3 synscan mount. For the full disc I used a x2 Barlow and the close up x5 Barlow. Processed using PIPP, AS!3 & PShop elements6. I could have done better but didn't have clear skies really for long enough and at the moment the sun is so darn low! Anyway happy to get these.[/caption]

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Honor recently took this video of a transit of the Sun by the ISS, something she has been attempting for 10 years.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="782"] Image by Honor Wheeler This was taken using: Skywatcher ED80 refractor Canon 700D set in movie mode @50fps 2x Barlow EQ3 mount Date 2020.04.20 13:09UTC Transit time was 0.9 sec 16 frames extracted from the original video using PIPP and then the layers merged in Photoshop elements 6. Additional processing also done in Photoshop E6.[/caption]

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Despite the poor weather our members were out in force observing the transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun, something that has to be done carefully to be safe.

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] White light photo by Mike Rushton taken 14:50 on 11/11/19. C8 with f/6.3 focal reducer on HEQ5 Pro. Full aperture glass solar filter Canon 60D at prime focus ISO 1600, Exp 1/400 sec.[/caption]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="741"] Image by Janice McClean[/caption]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="757"] Image by Martin Crow 2019-11-11 14:53UT Ha Image[/caption]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="629"] Image by Honor Wheeler in White Light[/caption]

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Image of the Transit of Mercury 11/11/2019 by Richard Bohner[/caption]

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