Solar Tornado using Sol'Ex

Capturing a Solar Tornado with my Sol'Ex in the morning of August 17, 2025.

Sun Aug 17, 2025 G-Band

The Sun in G-Band on August 17, 2025

Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Moon at sunrise

 At UT3h21 this morning I was able to capture Mercury which was only 3° above the horizon. The sky was special with Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and the Moon and a golden hour background.

Helium D3 line

Imaging the Sun in the Helium D3 line (HeID3). For details see picture.

Sun on August 17: H-alpha and CaIIH and K line

Using my new Sol'Ex by James R. I'm making progress to get the images sharper and sharper. But it's not yet 100% sharp, mainly in one area. So more works to do. Turing the collimator wheel about 10times "in" starting from H-alpha settings, I got a really sharp CaII H ad K-line sundisk.

Solar Scintillation Monitor SSM3 and SharpCap

After downloadoing the latest version of SharpCap (adjusted for the SSM3 bug) I connected my Solar Scintillation Monitor SSM3 (See https://www.analog-astronomical-device.ch/solar-scintillation-monitor). . Using the tools menu and selecting Solar Scintillation Monitor, the SSM3 can be connected. The result works very good with a good graphic follow up.

Overal seeing below 2 arcs with moments even lower.

The increase is due to upcoming high clouds

For instructions to connect the SSM3 with SharpCap see https://forums.sharpcap.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=48907#p48907 (New Feature : Support for Solar Scintillation Monitors).

1 Year to Go : Total Solar Eclipse August 12, 2026

1 Year to go for the Total Solar Eclipse of August 12, 2026 which starts in Greenland, over Iceland and Spain.