The Sun Session Data Date:  27/9/2024 Time:  11:19 – 12:59 UT Seeing: I. Excellent Transparency: III. Clear with slight haze. Temp: 12 C, Air Pressure: 1025mb Humidity: 78% Dew Point: 8C Wind Speed: 3mph Scope: TMB 80 f/6  Camera: ZWO ASI 183MM , SBIG G filter. No Darks or Flats taken. Currently testing ASCOM Alpaca allowing me to control the mount using a Astroplanner that is installed on my main machine in the office,…

While I missed the actual Auroral lightshow on the night of 11th and Morning of the 12th May, I did have a number of clear days in the days leading up to it. I was able to draw the development of Sunspot AR3664 in a series of six drawings made over 7 days 6m May 14:22 UT 7th May 10:26 UT 9, May 17:43 UT 10, May 13:37 UT 11, May 14:16 UT 12,…

I’ve been actively making Sunspot observations and submitting then to the BAA & AVVSO Solar databases since August 2022. But today, I made my 100th observation of the Sun. In the great scheme of Solar observing I guess this isn’t a particularly high number of observations, but it’s a milestone nonetheless. Things have changed over those 100 observations. The most dramatic of which is the accuracy and information recorded now. To illustrate this, there…

Here are my Solar sunspot counts for September. Not as many days as I did in August, but my first month using the same instrument setup and where I feel I have settled on a more consistent method in my observing workflow. A full 30 day solar cycle at 60 Solar Hours a sec rate The following are the drawings made at the eyepiece and are displayed with the Zenith up with the second…

My 3D printed solar filter is complete. Designed in Fusion 360 and printed in PLA on a Flashforge Adventurer 4 I decided to make it in two parts, so the Baader film is clamped between the inner L ring and the outer frame that slides over the dew shield on the scope. Rather than just relying on the clamping effect of the two halves to hold the baader film, I also applied a thin…

I’ve had a bit of an upgrade on the Solar scope front. Despite the 150mm aperture the 80mm glass solar filter was stopping the scope to the point, where any magnification above 50X turned the view to a blurry mush. With my current selection eyepieces, I was only able to use some pretty horrible – and very old- Meade 4000 series Plossls in the 26mm to 40mm range. The most obvious way to see…