Category: Ha filtered

Singing Bird

Proms 031809

Solar Prominences on March 18, 2009
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

On my birthday, a little bird came up out of the sun to sing to me. Well, that’s how I fancied it anyway….

Solar prominence in h-alpha, March 18, 2009 (seeing 3/5)

Solarscope SF70 on Tele Vue Pronto @f/23, with 15mm Panoptics in Baader MkV binoviewer (110X)

White Derwent Graphitint pencil on black Strathmore Artagain paper.

-Jeff

Here Comes the Sun

Solar proms 030509

Solar Prominences on March 5th, 2009
Sketch and Details by Jeff Young

The sun has finally risen out of the murk here at 54°N, and I was very happy to get the white pencils and black paper out again. I did one sketch on the first of March, but, well… we’ll just chalk that one up to getting back into shape. The weather was somewhat brisk for this one, and my sketchpad even blew off my knee and into the wet grass at one point, but I was still much happier with the final result. 😉

Solar prominence in h-alpha, March 5, 2009 (seeing 2/5)

Solarscope SF70 on Tele Vue Pronto @f/23, with 19mm Panoptics in Baader MkV binoviewer (85X)

White Derwent Graphitint pencil on black Strathmore Artagain paper.

— Jeff.

Faint and Whispy or Very Tiny

Proms 022409

Solar Prominences in H-alpha Eastern Limb
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

2009 Feb 24, 1510UT – 1600UT

Solar prominences in h-alpha, eastern limb

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.

Temp: -5.2° C, Humidity 74%
Seeing: Wilson 4, Transparency: very poor with improvement
Cirrus to the south, winds 5mph SE
Alt: 33.6, Az: 143.9

The eastern hemisphere, especially east to the northeast, was scattered with prominences. As transparency improved, details of these little prominences came to light. The most obvious set was around 90° position angle and then a squat hedgerow one around 40°. I stopped my first sketch midway and began a fresh one with a larger limb span to include the majority of them, most which were faint and whispy or very tiny.

I counted 8 more small slender ones that weren’t included in this sketch. I’m sure that given a little more time (or perhaps ambition to stay out there longer) the improvement in transparency would have revealed a few more. There was a very sharp small plage about 20 degrees in from the north limb as well as a few very hair-like filaments, particularly west, south, and east. It is reported by another solar observer that there are two new spots in that same location, indicating a new AR.

Prominence Prayer

Prayer Prom

Solar Prominences February 23, 2009
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix

Solar prominences in h-alpha, eastern limb

PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix

DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.

Temp: -2.6° C, Humidity 66%
Seeing: Wilson 4, Transparency: very poor
Partly cloudy, winds 13mph from NW
Alt: 33.2, Az: 144.1

A fairly tall prominence stood out on the eastern limb that looked like a pair of hands loosely pressed together in prayer. Par for the course on these larger delicate features, they look almost detached until you concentrate on that area for a more in depth look. This is the prominence I concentrated on for the observation sketch. There was another smaller prom just north on the western limb close to a position angle of 290-300 degrees. It consisted of two arches messed together with small spikes on the limb next to them. Another slender prominence worth mentioning was located on the southern limb.

A thick, squat filament was just inside the limb about 45 degrees further south than the sketched prominence on the eastern limb.