8 years and 1000 Sunspots later

This week a new Sunspot with number AR3040 was observed. No big thing, but for me it was. Going back in time to april 16, 2014, I made my first picture of Sunspots. That day the Sun was covered with 9 sunspot groups (AR2032 - 2040). The picture was made using my Nikon D60 camera and Dobson OrionXT12.

8 years later and 1000 sunspots later I'm still fascinated by Sunspots. Every time when imaging a new Sunspot  my skills are increasing. On top of this I invested in my equipment and software and this resulted in much better pictures of Sunspots. I'm now imaging Sunspots in white light, CaK and H-Alpha.

Zonnekijkdag 3 juli Averbode

Op zondag 3 juli zal sterrenclub Helios-Averbode deelnemen aan de Zonnekijkdag. Vanaf 13h00 tot 17h00 zullen Helios leden hun zonnekijkers opstellen en informatie geven over onze eigenste Zon. Dit alles gaat door Het Moment van de abdij van Averbode.

Comet C/2017 K2 (Panstarrs) and IC4665 session 2

Image of session 2 with 5x90s exposure of Comet C/2017 K2 (Panstarrs) and openstar cluster IC4665 (Summer Beehive Cluster).

Setting : TLAPO80/480 f/6 with ASI2600MC
Lights 5x90s, darks, bias, flats and darkflats
Software : N.I.N.A, Stellarium, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI

Comet C/2017 K2 (Panstarrs) near IC4665 Summer Beehive

Last night, June 21, Comet C/2017 K2 (Panstarrs), an Oort Cloud Comet, was observed near IC4665 (Summer Beehive).

Setting : TLAPO80/480 f/6 with ASI2600MC

Lights 5x60s, darks, bias, flats and darkflats

Software : N.I.N.A, Stellarium, APP, CS4, DeNoise AI

Solar Imaging and False Colours when using H-Alpha and CaK filters

As I'm imaging the Sun with a monochromatic camera the result is typically gray. I'd like to add colours when imaging in H-alpha and CaK. This is what I found when using Photoshop (Cs4) :

For H-alpha imaging (page 356 of Solar Astronomy):

Use of levels to change the "midpoint" of each colour RGB and finaly RGB aswell.

R = 1,3 - G = 0.44 - B = 0.2 and RGB =1.8

For Ca-K imaging :

Use "image, adjustments, fotofilter" and adjust RGB colours to 150;33;255

Next change contrast +/-10, colourtone -10 and saturation by +10. Last change histogram with +10/15.

Supergranulation Cells in CaK

My image of Sunspot AR3030, 3032 and 3039 shows some interesting features. Looking near the limb a bright structure is visible, called the chromospheric network. The image shows also some cells of the chromospheric network.

More information was found via this link 

Setting : TAL 200K f/8.5 with ASI290MM and focal reducer x0.5

Filter : Solarfilter ND3.8 and CaK filter

Software : SharpCap Pro, AS3!, IMPPG and CS4

Sunspot AR3030-32-39 in CaK

Imaging Sunspots AR3030, AR3032 and AR3039 in CaK.

Setting : TAL200K f/8.5 with ASI290MM
Filter : Baader ND3.8 and CaK

Software : SharpCap Pro, AS3!, IMPPG and CS4