Recent Solar adventures

October 3, 2025 — We had been having quit a lot of trouble lately, recording data and reproducing images of Sun with prominences. There was some early success but even those images were a struggle to produce. Taking a look at suggested camera settings found in an article on solar imaging, one thing stood out — gain! We had nudged the camera’s gain setting upward and that’s not helpful and certainly not recommended; the setting should be very low or even zero! A few adjustments in data capture parameters was all it took to make a big difference in image processing and results!

We’re very pleased with Barlow-boosted views, shown here, though we’re still having some issues with achieving even lighting across whole-disk views — just can’t seem to get them tuned right with the Coronado SolarMax III. Visual observing was also very good, especially with the TeleVue 10mm eyepiece. October 3 conditions: Clear sky, temperature of 74°F, light southeast wind.

#2025 #astronomy #astrophotography #chromosphere #hydrogenAlpha #prominences #solar #sun #sunspots

High-tech Silhouette, by Tom Williams

This H-alpha image of the sun features the silhouette of the International Space Station transiting the eastern solar limb. Crossing the field of view in just 0.2 seconds, ISS transits of the sun are particularly rare from any one location on Earth. The sun was active and a prominence can be seen right next to the station’s transit location.

@photography
#atrophotography
#Sun
#ISS
#prominences

#Prominences and #Filaments on the Active #Sun
#Astronomy #Picture of the Day

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240615.html

#APOD

The fun continues now with a look at the prominences visible during the event. They were outstanding during totality to the unaided eye, very bright and pink. Photos have a difficult time showing the dramatic range in brightness. These are from a D850 and 500mm lens.

#Nikon #D850 #Eclipse #astronomy #Pittsburg #NH #solareclipse #prominences

Full disk solar image from a week ago.

Was a spectacular clear day but somewhat compromised by smoke from north western Canada (I'm on the far east coast!).

Some #prominences are faintly visible. My solar processing still needs work :=)

#Autostakkert, #IMPPG and #GIMP for processing and colourization. 70% of 1000 frames stacked.

#Solar #Filament