Sunspot Group AR2192

There has been a pretty impressive sunspot group (AR2192) which has been "passing" across the face of the sun. AR2192 is one of the largest active regions observed in the last 25 years.  It is approximately the size of Jupiter.  It was clearly visible while observing the solar eclipse "naked eye" on Thursday, October 25th.  A few days after the eclipse I decided I needed to set up my telescope and take a few images of AR2192 while I had the opportunity. 

The images were taken at Kings Norton Observatory.

 

 

Equipment:

Meade LX90 8" SCT
Nikon D300s
Meade Series 4000 f/6.3 Focal Reducer
Thousand Oaks Optical While Light R-G Solar Filter  Part #RG-9750

Setup:

Set up the LX90 as you would for any observation session. I set up my telescope in the home position and estimate "north".  I then follow the autostar setup menu and let the controller find the stars it wants to align to.  I just accept both selected stars without even looking through the telescope.  This is close enough for what I need for guiding as the autostar will NOT "go to" the sun (and for good reason).  I will then attach the Thousand Oaks Optical White Light R-G Solar Filter on the telescope before slewing manually to the sun.  The calibration should be close enough that once you have the sun in the field of view it will only need small periodic adjustments to keep it centered.

For Observation:

I have found that a 32mm eyepiece (62X) to be the eyepiece that gives the best view.  A 26mm eyepiece while filling up the entire eyepiece at (77X) is good, the sun just seems to be more impressive at 62x.

For Imaging:

A Nikon T-mount Adapter and Meade #62 T-Adapter for Prime Focus were attached to the telescope along with the f/6.3 focal reducer.  Without the focal reducer it is impossible to get a full frame shot of the moon.   See First Solar Image!

I focus the telescope while looking through the viewfinder of my camera and try to zero in on the penumbra (the lighter outer detail of the observed sunspot).  I have also tried using the live view on the back of my Nikon D300s and zooming in on a sunspot.  I think method this is a little tougher since there is some amount of delay in the image projecting on the rear display.

Images are taken with ISO200 with exposures ranging from 1/800 to 1/4000 of a second.  The best images are typically 1/3200 and 1/4000 exposures.

I will take a 3 or so pictures varying the exposures by one stop through the settings mentioned above.  I will then try to refoucs the telescope and take another set of images....  rinse and repeat 3 to 4 times.  The idea of refocusing multiple times is the hope that at least one of them will be spot on!

Summer Fires

We have had incredible weather this past few months.  Moderate temperatures, light to no wind, and "cloudless" sky's.  Ideal weather for getting the telescope out and doing some nighttime observing! The catch?  Heavy haze due to the numerous fires ongoing in Idaho, Washington and Oregon.  This haze has been a staple in Eastern Idaho since early August.  On Friday, September 21st, the haze was particularly bad.  I was amazed at how much the sun was obscured even 30+ degrees above the horizon.  We were traveling to Boise to watch Raegan run at the Bob Firman Invitational when I stopped to take a few pictures of the setting sun.

Satellite image of the fires in Idaho taken in September 2012.  Pocatello would be near the bottom right of this image.  These fires contributed to the hazy conditions we had from late July through late September.

Taken just outside of Mountain Home, Idaho.  It was a specifically bad day for smoke in Idaho!

Note the sunspot visible through a 300mm lens.  No filters.

Cropped view of the image above.  This image looks very similar to the images I took with a solar filter through my telescope.  The sunspot 1575 is visible in the 10 o'clock position .

Annular Eclipse 2012

On Sunday, May 20, 2012 most everyone in the western US had a great opportunity to see the Annular Eclipse or Ring of Fire.  For a few weeks prior to the eclipse I have been busy preparing for the big event, finding a good location, equipment (new solar filter), inviting friends and family, test runs......   For the first 45 minutes we were treated to some nice views of the eclipse. Just before the maximum, mother nature threw some clouds at us which pretty much broke up the party.  We were lucky enough to get a few glimpses of the eclipse at maximum as it broke through the clouds for a few brief moments. Overall, it was still a great time with a lot of oooh's and ahhh's to be had.  Dave Brown also brought his telescope which he was able to project images of the eclipse onto a white piece of paper.  The extra scope came in real handy with the large crowd we had.

Technical Details:

Annular Eclipse, May 20, 2012
Pocatello, Idaho

Equipment:  Meade LX90  8" SCT Telescope, Thousand Oaks Optical White Light R-G Solar Filter,  Nikon D300s Camera.

For more information on Eclipses

Set up and ready for an eclipse. 

 We had a nice turnout with about 35-40 people showing up to take a look at the eclipse.

 Dave set up his scope with a nice image projected onto a white piece of paper.  This was great for "mass" viewing while I was trying to get a few images.

A brief break in the clouds gave us some great looks right around the peak of the eclipse.  Notice the clouds drifting through the image.

Image taken a few minutes before first contact.

Image taken about 5 minutes after first contact

Image taken about 36 minutes after first contact

I was able to get a quick view of the Eclipse maybe a minute after maximum.  I was having a hard time getting the focus correct due to the clouds continuously passing through the image and the lack of a sunspot achieving the fine focus.

When it was all over, the clouds that caused so much grief provided a great sunset! Note the cloud at the top half of the image started out as a small whiff barley covering the sun.  It just kept growing and growing and growing......

These images can be viewed in full resolution on my Flickr account

First Solar Image

I recently purchased a Thousand Oaks Optical White Light R-G Filter in preparation for the May 20, 2012 Annular Eclipse.  Above is my first attempt at "Solar Imaging".   I was pretty happy with the results and hope to post more pictures of our nearest star over the next few months.  It should be fun since the sun is heading into a more active period.

The above picture was taken during a "dry run" in preparation of the annular eclipse on May 20th.  I used a Nikon D300s (Prime Focus) with an LX90 (Classic) Telescope.

A few things learned from this dry run were:

1) Needed to review telescope tracking and figure out how to initialize my telescope in a daytime setting.  I think I have resolved this issue by just approximating true north (get the telescope in home position) and doing an (autostar) easy align without looking at the guide stars to ensure they are in centered (just hit enter).  I then target the sun and let it track (using keypad, direction arrows).  With this approximation, it is calibrated well enough to keep the sun in the eyepiece for 5-10 minutes before an adjustment is needed.  Close enough for the sun!  In the future, I will look to optimize daytime calibration for better results.

2) I was able to take a variety of exposures and settled on some settings I know will work for the sun.  ISO 200 and exposures between 1/640 to 1/250 will work best.

3) Focusing may be the most difficult.  I found that using the sunspots may be the most effective way to focus the image. Using the outer edges of the sun to focus does not yield positive results.  Sunspots have a lighter outer section called the penumbra, and a darker middle region named the umbra. When the lighter details of the penumbra become visible in my camera view finder sharpen up, I stop.....  It is really hard to see detail through your view finder so I'm constantly adjusting focus and shooting......   You can always throw away the worst of the lot.  Taking lots of frames over a short period of time is also required to get that "clear" patch of sky.

4) Overall picture quality will go down when the sun starts nearing about 30 degrees from the horizon.

5) Mirror lock up before the image is not as critical as when taking pictures of the night sky.

6) For now single exposures seem to be sufficient.  I will work on multiple frames and stacking later when I get other kinks worked out.

7) Will need to get a focal reducer to capture the "entire" sun in one image!

8) Its a lot warmer to observe in the middle of the day or late afternoon.  I'm used to chilly nighttime high desert temperatures.

BRING ON THE ECLIPSE...............

WORD OF CAUTION:  Do not observe the sun through ANY optical aid unless it is properly filtered.  Sunglasses do not count!