Giant sunspot, AR3664. EOS R7 and RF 200-800mm lens.

[Dennis]

On Friday 10th May 2024, I managed to play hide-and-seek with the intermittent cloud cover and record this giant sunspot, AR3664 which has been classified as a 'Carrington-class' sunspot.

The Carrington Event was a large solar storm that took place at the beginning of September 1859, just a few months before the solar maximum of 1860.

I used the Canon EOS R7, RF 200-800mm and RF Extender x1.4 mounted on the Tak EM 200 Temma II to grab 75 frames which I then Aligned/Stacked in Autostakkert!4, deconvolved in Wavesharp and then finished in PS CC.

1120mm, 1/1,000 sec, F16, ISO400.

Here are a couple of examples showing the effects of the poor seeing due to the jet stream. One of the better frames and one of the more seeing-affected frames.

They are single, full-res crops (Raw SOC) taken at the same settings but 17 seconds apart.

I also fitted the RF x2 Extender to give 1600mm, but the seeing was so poor that all the images were very soft and lacking detail.

Dennis.

[RichardJ (Richard)]

Lovely full disc Dennis. If only the weather cooperated…

Richard.

[Dennis]

Thanks Richard, I guess I can’t really complain about the seeing conditions as I was fortunate enough to find some clear patches to shoot through.

Here is an example of one of the better frames vs one taken under poor seeing, taken some 17 seconds apart with the same gear and settings.

Dennis

[Derek Klepp]

Good effort on the quick grab Dennis I was in Tassie but unfortunately came home the day before the event.All clouds and showers here at Yelgun.
Cheers Derek

[Dennis]

Thanks Derek, the Canon RF 200-800mm zoom is useful in that you can locate the target at the 200mm end and then zoom in all the way to 800mm.

Cheers

Dennis

[Derek Klepp]

Dennis I have recently got the OM 150 -400 mainly for Telemacro of insects but was thinking of using it in a similar way just have to find my baader Solar film I have put in a safe place.Still cloudy here this morning though.Also Steve Massey actuall got the top of the Aurora from Hervey Bay so definitely a powerful flare.
Derek

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by Derek Klepp

Dennis I have recently got the OM 150 -400 mainly for Telemacro of insects but was thinking of using it in a similar way just have to find my baader Solar film I have put in a safe place.Still cloudy here this morning though.Also Steve Massey actuall got the top of the Aurora from Hervey Bay so definitely a powerful flare.
Derek

Yes, these modern lenses, sensors and processing software make it so much easier to record fairly decent images using a quick, basic, back garden set up.

I just plonk the Tak EM200 Temma II tripod down on its 3 pads in the grass on the back garden, fit the camera/lens and this has me rough polar aligned which is all I need.

No complicated set up or software routines required, making it more appealing when you spot half an opportunity with the clouds and weather conditions.

Does that lens come with the built-in x1.25 Extender?

Dennis

[Derek Klepp]

Yes Dennis that’s the one .Although mine is a second production line one and is made in OMs Vietnamese factory had about a 2 month wait.After lugging around heavy Canon gear over the years these smaller OM setups are good for travel but I do notice the slight noise increase.

[Dennis]

Originally Posted by Derek Klepp

Yes Dennis that’s the one .Although mine is a second production line one and is made in OMs Vietnamese factory had about a 2 month wait.After lugging around heavy Canon gear over the years these smaller OM setups are good for travel but I do notice the slight noise increase.

Thanks Derek, I had a Pentax KM 35mm SLR back in the 70's and coveted the Olympus OM-1 SLR when it came out, it was so much smaller and lighter than the big SLRs of the day.

Cheers.

Dennis