Sun with Sol'Ex Feb 2

Very good seeing this morning and a blue sky., so perfect Sol'Ex time.

Setting:

TLAPO60/360, Sol'Ex Pro version and ASI678MM

Herschel Wedge

Software: SharpCap, Inti, JSolex and CS4

Slit: Gen2 7micron and 10mm width

Sun with Sol'Ex Feb 1, 2025

First time this year .. a blue sky .. the entire day. Imaging the Sun using my Solex v3 Pro version on TLAPO60/360 and ASI678MM camera. Solar protection was done using Herschel Wedge.

Some learnings: even though I decreased ROI, the camera did had a limit on fps. This had an impact on sx/sy values. I need to deepdive into this.

CaIIH Line with Sol'Ex 2nd Gen Slit

Image made on Jan 19, 2025 with Sol'Ex Pro with 2nd Gen Slit of 7micron and ASI678MM camera.

BlueSky @pascalhilkens.bsky.social

 You can follow me now on Bluesky via @pascalhilkens.bsky.social

First light with 2nd generation Sol'Ex Slit - Observation of Sun in Spa-Francorchamps

A couple of weeks ago I installed my new slit which is the 2nd generation with a width of 7 micron is stead of 10 micron. The 3D slit holder was made by colleague Johan. Unfortunately I could not test the setting due to continious bad weather. 

This weekend I took my chance as a clear sky was predicted south of Belgium. My car was packed with all nescessary material including food and hot drinks. Special winter clothing due to freezing temparatures. I left early in the morning and picked of Walter to support the test. Destination was Spa-Francorchamps. Weather was perfect with a blue sky and an open space filled with snow.

For the test I used my EQAZ6 with Sol'Ex Pro and ASI678MM camera. My TS-TLAPO60/360 was also equiped with a Lacerta 2" Herschel Wedge. The mount was powered with a battery and PC with a Power bank Xtorm (in case of...).

Conclusion:

Weather conditions were very good, transparency and seeing very good. 

H-Alpha and H-Beta images with a lot of details. CaIIH en CaIIK have more details but unsharp. I made aswell images of Na D1, D3 and He D3; Mg b1, b2, b3.

My first image of H-alpha had a redshift of a filament of an incredable speed of 470.000 km/h (131km/s)

Second generation slit of 7micron gives more and finer details. 

Setting: 

Software : SharpCap 5, Inti, JSolex, CS4

Jupiter and Shadow transit of Ganymede

 

Temperature dropped to -5°C when shadow transit of Ganymede started.

Setting: TAL200K @f/26 with ASI224MC
ADC and IR/UC Cut
Exposure tim 27ms and 30.000 frames of which 3000 stacked.
Software: SharpCap 4, AstroSurface and CS4

Jupiter Jan 9, 2025 with GRS

I reworked by image by applying derotation using Winjupos. All in all, no huge improvements.

Jupiter and GRS

This evening some clear skies with 2 inches of snow and 0,5°C. Time to capture Jupiter with Great Red Spot. 

Setting
TAL200K f/23 with ADC and Barlow x2

IR/OV Cut filter

ASI224MC

16bit, 127fps, 30.000 frames of which 3000 withhold

Software : SharpCap 4, AstroSurface V3 Volcano, CS4

Sol'Ex Pro-AM 2024 Results (SOLAP Project)

SOLAP Project Abstract : Systematic observations of the chromosphere and the photosphere started in Meudon Observatory 115 years ago with Deslandres spectroheliograph. An exceptional collection of more than 100 000 monochromatic images in CaII K and Hα spanning more than 10 solar cycles is proposed to the international community by the BASS2000 solar database. We started in 2023 a “PRO-AM” collaboration between professional and amateur astronomers with the Solar Explorer (SOLEX), a compact and high quality spectroheliograph designed by Christian Buil, in order to record images every day, and several times per day, owing to tens of observing stations in various places. 

I joined the PRO-AM community last summer (August '24) and submitted serveral images. All of them are visible in the BASS2000 database. https://bass2000.obspm.fr/home.php

The contribution of the amateur community compared with the professional Meudon group is plotted in below table (anno 2024)

Sun Halo

 

Sun this afternoon with a faint Sun Dog, Circumzenithal arc and Sun Pillar.

Moon-Venus Conjunction

My first observation of 2025 with a nice Moon-Venus conjuction.

Setting :

Nikon D7500 with 18-200mm lens set on 90mm

Bracketing and HDR combining using CS4. Final editing with DeNoise AI.

Happy New Year 2025

Happy Astronomical New Year 2025 with many many clear skies.