Wed, 06/20/2018 - 15:54
Hi All,
I'm new to solar observing and would like to get some feedback on my set up and first two tentative observations
My equipment consist of:
- 6" F/8 Newtonian
- 50X, 75X, and 100X Brandon eyepieces
- Full aperture Baader white light solar filter
- Baader solar continuum eyepiece filter
Last two mornings my observations were:
Date = 06/19/2018, Time = 15:00 UTC, Sky Conditions = Fair/Hazy, Count = 38 (3 clusters and 8 spots @ 75X)
6/20/2018, 14:32 UTC, Clear/good, 51, (3 clusters and 21 spots)
Thanks in advance.
Steve TST
Hi Steve,
All your equipment looks OK. The magnification may be a little high at 75 X, perhaps reduce that to less than 50 X if you can. If you haven't already, please read the Solar Observing Guide: https://www.aavso.org/solar-observing-guide
And download the SunEntry software from here: https://www.aavso.org/sun-entry If you have problems with the login you'll have to post a message to Sara Beck sara@aavso.org
When you first login to the SunEntry please make sure your Header information is correct. And welcome to solar observing!!
Rodney
Thanks Rodney, I'm looking forward to contributing to the group.
I'll stick to 50x for my observations and review the manual.
Take Care
Steve
Hi Steve
Here are my observations for those dates:
19
G
0738
2
4
24
2
0
4
0
2
4
DMIB
20
E
0740
3
18
48
3
0
18
0
3
18
DMIB
Don't be surprise about the difference, those groups were changing a lot and you did the estimations 7 hours after mine.
My material is a refractor 102/1000 with a white light glass objective filter. Magnification 50x.
For fun I attach the sketch I did June 20th.
Hi!
Is there someone from the Solar Obs Section who will attend the Warwick meeting? For reasons that are too complicated to explain here I've got a few questions (concerning the history and future of sun-spot counting in more general terms) that I'd like to discuss with people who are participating in this section.
CS
HBE
Michel,
Apologies for the long delay, I didn't notice that you attached a sketch to your post above. Your drawing is exceptional and i appreciate you sharing .
Steve
Hi Steve,
Your count is way too high for this latest Active Region 2737. There is only 1 group and perhaps 8 to 13 sunspots at most. Not sure what you mean by clusters, but seems like you thinking a 'cluster' is a group. Please look over this Sunspotsandpores.pdf (attached).
Perhaps try to reduce your magnification and eyepiece to around 25 mm.
Rodney
Hello Steve, welcome to solar observing! I will echo Rodney's recommendation of taking a look at the solar observing manual. Only modest equipment and safe solar filters are necessary for observing the Sun. I use a TeleVue 76mm Apo with a Nagler 7mm Type 6 eyepiece and full aperture white light filter. I hope you will enjoy safe solar viewing!
Larry Krozel
Sorry Folks, I was just looking through some old post and commenting on Michael's drawing that I missed originally. The sunspot count mentioned in the first post was from 20 June 2018 when I started this thread.
I've appreciated all the advice and suggestions you all have provided and have implemented them in my solar observing program.
FYI From my notes: My last count was on 02 April 2019, 1 group / 6 spots, @50X.
Again apologies for the confusion.
Take Care
Steve
Edit: I did some digging and believe the count made in the original post was for active regions 2713, 2714, 2715. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Steve