To see the images large just click on the image. There is a cross icon top right to then revert to the smaller size. This applies to all the images on this page.
Two prominences taken early in the day (9.17am) on 14th July 2021.
A small sunspot imaged midday on 14th July 2021.
The image is shown in white light and h-alpha light.
July 2021 is near the start of the 11year sunspot cycle. At this period the spots are likely to be small and not very numerous. This is likely to change dramatically as the cycle progresses
A sunspot imaged on 22nd July 2021.
The image is shown in white light and h-alpha light. A prominence is also visible in h-alpha.
A second sunspot imaged on 22nd July 2021.
The image is shown in white light and h-alpha light. In the h-alpha light the spicules are visible as a “fringe” around the disc. They can reach several thousand kilometers in height before collapsing and fading away. This makes sense with the solar ruler measuring the printout. It is about half a division on the ruler which represents 5000km.
A third sunspot imaged on 22nd July 2021.
The image is shown in white light and h-alpha light. A number of small prominences is visible in the latter,
A sunspot area imaged on 5th Sept 2021.
The image is shown in white light and h-alpha light. A major prominence is visible in the h_alpha image.
Compare these images with those taken two days later (below) where the spots had moved towards the centre of the visible disc and changed somewhat.
A sunspot area imaged on 5th Sept 2021.
The image is shown in white light and h-alpha light. The captions on the image illustrate the differences between the h-alpha and white light.
The granulation on the image in white light changes over a few minutes, whereas the detail on the h-alpha lasts a lot longer. Experiments have been done to show this as a movie but these tests are not yet ready to publish.
The whole sun imaged on 10th July 2022.
Then an X5 barlow was used to create images of the interesting areas in close-up.
The images were processed in AutoStakkert and then imppg. The later enables the prominences and spicules to be made visible with the same image as the surface. this obviates two separate images with different exposure/gain and merging them in photoshop. The final image also looks more natural. The way of doing this is described on the imppg website.
