Solar cycle 25

[yltansg]

A very active chromoshere

[superiorstream]

Glad to see solar observing promoting in schools. Great work Alfred.
As of this sunspot cycle, its quite disappointing as the sunspots are SMALL. Activities are low if compared to the previous cycle. Prominences are also small and long filaments are relatively rare.
As such, l am quite happy that l had bought almost full equipments during the last cycle and observed all those active activities. Next today's sun.

[superiorstream]

Sun, 1 Dec 2021.
In 540nm...... Sunspot 2899and 2900 visible as 3 sunspots at the edge of the southern belt. All three showed umbra with a small penumbra.
In the northern belt, only sunspot 2902 is visible to me as 3 ultra tiny spots with no penumbra.
I can't see 2901 and 2903 honestly.
In Cak...... 2901 and 2902 show up as bright regions in the northern belt and
2903, 2899 and 2900 show up as bright region with 2899 and 2900 with 3 spots. Also in between these 2 regions lies another bright region.
In Ha double stack...... In the northern belt, 2901 and 2902 show up as bright region and in between them 2 small filaments are visible.
In the southern belt, only 2899 and 2900 show up as a bright spotted region, the edge of which had a small but fat filament.

[yltansg]

Glad to see solar observing promoting in schools. Great work Alfred.
As of this sunspot cycle, its quite disappointing as the sunspots are SMALL. Activities are low if compared to the previous cycle. Prominences are also small and long filaments are relatively rare.
As such, l am quite happy that l had bought almost full equipments during the last cycle and observed all those active activities. Next today's sun.

Thank you for your reply, Mr Chia.

So far, the Sun is behaving like NOAA's Space Weather prediction that Cycle 25 (current cycle) will be be a weak one, like the weak Cycle 24. Hopefully we can see more good size sunspots and activities near its peak in 2025. Like you, I have procured most of my equipment and looking forward to putting them to good use and also getting more students and members of the public excited about our Sun.

Alfred

[yltansg]

Sun, 1 Dec 2021.
In 540nm...... Sunspot 2899and 2900 visible as 3 sunspots at the edge of the southern belt. All three showed umbra with a small penumbra.
In the northern belt, only sunspot 2902 is visible to me as 3 ultra tiny spots with no penumbra.
I can't see 2901 and 2903 honestly.
In Cak...... 2901 and 2902 show up as bright regions in the northern belt and
2903, 2899 and 2900 show up as bright region with 2899 and 2900 with 3 spots. Also in between these 2 regions lies another bright region.
In Ha double stack...... In the northern belt, 2901 and 2902 show up as bright region and in between them 2 small filaments are visible.
In the southern belt, only 2899 and 2900 show up as a bright spotted region, the edge of which had a small but fat filament.

Thanks for the report, Mr Chia.

Mr Chia and solar enthusiasts:

I only managed to do 1 imaging session on 28 Nov in the last 2 weeks. It was a very cloudy day and I was very glad to capture some images in the vicinity of AR 2900:


The images were taken with a C11 (fitted with D-ERF) and Daystar Quark Chromosphere etalon.


Alfred

[superiorstream]

Hi Alfred
Unbeatable closeup Ha photos of the sun's sunspots and as expected...... With daystar equipments.
Thanks for sharing.

[yltansg]

Hi Mr Chia and solar enthusiasts,

7Dec - There was a 1 hour imaging window interspersed with thin clouds. I used the Solar Spectrum H-Alpha SUNA (0.65 Angstrom) on a Celestron C11 fitted with a full-aperture D-ERF for this session. On this day, the features of the Sun look like one from a solar minima. There was hardly any feature of a solar maxima. Guess the Sun also takes a break from time to time.

If you look closer, you can see H-Alpha granulations! Please do a right click to see the image in its full resolution.

Compared with the Daystar Quark H-Alpha etalon (which are rated at 3-5 Angstrom), I am of the opinion that the Daystar Quark produces images with greater details.

Cheers.

Alfred

[yltansg]

9 Dec - Comparing HA images from Daystar Quark and Solar Spectrum SUNA.

Today I finally managed to use the Quark and Solar Spectrum SUNA etalons with the C11 in the same imaging session.

There is a big difference in image quality between the Quark and SUNA is obvious. To do SUNA justice, I need to get it to work at its optimum configuration and settings.

The poor image from the SUNA may be caused by excessive heat going into the SUNA. I have placed an order for a 35nm HA filter to be placed before the SUNA and I will be trying to find the best cooler setting for the SUNA.



Alfred

[superiorstream]

After a period of almost no activity the sun burst into action in both the northern and southern belt. Although not spectacular as the sunspots are small, BUT ITS worth to image in Cak as all active regions show up as bright patches....... Showing the extent of activities on the sun. Here goes....

[superiorstream]

Sunspot 2916 to 2619 region in southern belt
In Ha.... Show up as 3 big spot surrounded by a bright region..... With no attached filaments.
In Cak.... Show up as 3 black spot surrounded by a bright region
In 540nm..... 3 big black sunspots with lightbridge and lots of smaller spots changing size daily.
Sunspot 2912 to 2917 in the southern belt
In Ha.... As a bright region only
In Cak.... As a bright region only
In 540nm.....As 2 tiny spot, one of which only as a spot and the other a tiny spot surrounded by even other hard to see spots.
Sunspot 2918 in the northern belt
In both Ha and Cak..... Spotted surrounded by a bright region., quite a large region
In 540nm......clearly a sunspot region with lots of small sunspots.
Sunspot 2915 in the northern belt
In both Ha and Cak.... Only as a small bright region., spotless
In 540nm...... Spotless., not visible
Besides the above, a small spot in the southern belt is rotating into view. Its only a spot and still unnamed.
Hence as we can see both belt are giving a good show.