Solar cycle 25

Alright, this is for sharing of your observation experience. Or, if you are arranging gatherings, star-gazing expeditions or just want some company to go observing together, you can shout it out here.
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superiorstream
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Hi Alfred
Very hard to get someone engaged in daily obs of the sun because of the heat on prolong exposure to the sun. Also its pretty uncomfortable., and those solar scope/filters are not cheap.
Moreover, after prolong(approx 11+ years) exposure to the sun, I learn that even optical coating turn into cataract! It happens to my 8 cm refractor, bought new from astroscientific.
Now for today's observation.
In 540nm.... Sunspot 2810 show up as 2 spots separated by a lightbridge.
In Ha...... 2 bright spots in the northern belt., one at 2810 location and another with no spot visible.
No bright region detected in southern belt.The prominence that showed up today are pretty small. Also one small filament seen near the bright region in the northern belt and one near the middle of the southern belt.
In Cak...... Besides the 2 regions mentioned above shows up in also cak., A BRIGHT REGION SHOW UP IN NEAR THE CENTRE OF THE SOUTHERN BELT..... a surprise.
Observed between 10am to 1 pm.
superiorstream
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Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 4:45 pm

Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Today sun......
Almost total blackout in all activities.
At 540nm..... No sunspot., blank sun.
At Ha 0.5A bandwidth...... A very very small prominence at northern belt edge rotating out of view., followed by a small filament. No bright region at all.
In Cak..... The above region in the northern belt show up in cak with 2 bright spot. That all.

Overall, the show of activities in this cycle is very low., and hence very different from other cycles I had observed.
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yltansg
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by yltansg »

Thanks Mr Chia for the update on the Sun on 2 Apr.

Here is a belated posting on the images taken on 20 March.

This Hydrogen-Alpha image was from Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG). It showed the position of Active Region 2810.

Image

The following images are taken by me using a Celestron 11" SCT.

Fitted with a Daystar Quark H-Alpha eyepiece, Chromosphere Model, my C11 produced this zoom-in image of the filament and the nearby Active Region in H-Alpha, :

Image

Using a set of Calcium-K filters fitted on the same C11, we can see the lower chromosphere lighted up by Calcium atoms:

Image

And this is how the Calcium full disk looked like from GONG:

Image

Alfred
superiorstream
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Thanks Alfred for the nice and detailed zoom in photos..
However, up to now, I notice this cycle 25 is drastically different from the past 3 that I had observed.
One is that activities had on several occasions die out completely..... Like now.
Another is that even prominence is a no show..... Only always small and similar to those at the beginning of every cycle., not to mention that the sunspots are small and frequently Featureless.
Only super zoomin like Alfred s photo show interesting features. Thanks Alfred.
superiorstream
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Yesterday sun(14 april 2021)
In 540nm..... Very interesting. 2 group of 2 bigger spot and then in between the two group 5 small sunspot. The whole region is very small and hence hard to capture on photos.
In Cak..... Each of the 2 bigger group can be seen in cak as a spot. The rest become a bright region in cak. Overall quite a small bright region.
In Ha..... Only a bright region seen associated with whats observed in the southern belt. Its named sunspot 2814.A small prominence observed at edge of southern belt.
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yltansg
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by yltansg »

A CAK observation in CAK on 15 Apr from 8:40 to 9:15am. On the SDO website, the active region AR2814 is in the southern hemisphere around the 4-5 O'clock bearing.

Image

Using a Celestron C11 SCT, I made the following animation from 60 still frames:

Image

Best viewed on a desktop computer. You can see the changes in the CAK atmosphere.

Alfred
superiorstream
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Hi Alfred
Nice and reviewing Cak photos.... I do note that my cak review less detail. Your photos review almost all the small sunspot whereas my photos only reveal the main big spot.
Now the sun 20 April 2021....
In 540nm.... 3 sunspot regions. Sunspot 2816,2817,and now still unnamed.... I guess will be 2818.All three have multiple spots structure, indicating high actives.
In Ha 0.5A bandwidth..... 2818,the sunspot just rotated into view show up as a big filament, no bright region detected.
2816, unlike spaceweather saying, is quite dim and little sign of flare as of 4pm.
2817,very bright glowing region., looks like its flaring at 4 pm.
In Cak. All 3 regions show bright glow, with strongest glow from 2817.Also both 2816,2817 showed a interesting feature..... The darker sunspots in that region ALL SURROUND THE BRIGHT GLOWING REGION, RATHER THAN THE BRIGHT REGION SURROUNDING THE SUNSPOT.
INTERESTING AND NOT SO FREQUENTLY OBSERVED.
As normal, the sun is full of surprises.
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yltansg
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by yltansg »

superiorstream wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:17 am Hi Alfred
Now the sun 20 April 2021....
In Ha 0.5A bandwidth..... 2818,the sunspot just rotated into view show up as a big filament, no bright region detected.
2816, unlike spaceweather saying, is quite dim and little sign of flare as of 4pm.
2817,very bright glowing region., looks like its flaring at 4 pm.
In Cak. All 3 regions show bright glow, with strongest glow from 2817.Also both 2816,2817 showed a interesting feature..... The darker sunspots in that region ALL SURROUND THE BRIGHT GLOWING REGION, RATHER THAN THE BRIGHT REGION SURROUNDING THE SUNSPOT.
INTERESTING AND NOT SO FREQUENTLY OBSERVED.
As normal, the sun is full of surprises.
Thanks for the report, Mr Chia.

I also observed the Sun on 20 Apr, but in the morning. The 3 active regions are shown in this image from Spaceweather:
Image

The following images were taken by me using a Celestron C11 SCT. Starting from the eastern limb, we have AR2818 that just rotated into view, taken in Calcium-K wavelength:
Image

Moving to the middle, we have in Calcium-K, AR2816:
Image

AR2816 in H-Alpha wavelength:

Image

And moving to the western limb, we have AR 2817 in H-Alpha:

Image

Enjoy.

Alfred
superiorstream
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Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Thanks Alfred for the photo s.
In fact 2817 photo is really nice, showing details not reviewed in my scope.
But 2818 showed a long filament in my photo the next day., plus a good prominence.
Anyway this clearly indicates that at various sensitivity, different objects show up., and thats what make solar observing interesting.
superiorstream
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Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 4:45 pm

Re: Solar cycle 25

Post by superiorstream »

Today, 25 apr 2021.....
Sky was clear throughout the day, hence obs the sun at around 2 to 4pm....
In 540nm...... 2818 show up near the middle of the southern belt. The group consists of several small and big spots. I fail to see 2816,2819 in spite of adjusting the brightness of the image.
In Ha, 0.5A bandwidth.....
The 3 regions show up as bright patches
..... 2819 in the northern belt
...... 2818, 2820 as a spotted bright crack in the sun
...... 2816 as a small bright patch.
Also the northern belt has several filaments and its edge has some small sharp prominences.
Due to such prolong good viewing conditions, I
took out my Ha single stack to make a comparison of the view. The things mentioned above does show up, but much less contrast and bright.
In Cak.... The 3 regions, namely 2818,2816,2819 all show up as usual as bright patches.
Last edited by superiorstream on Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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