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Achernar in emission
Malcolm Locke has posted in some other forums his observation that Achernar is currently in emission at the Ha wavelength. My own spectrum from Friday is attached - you can see the characteristic split lines indicating a rotating disc of ionised hydrogen, at relatively high inclination (i.e. edge on to us). The blue peak is from the side of the disc coming towards us; the red peak is the other side, receding from us.
This might be of interest to folk with an SA 100. You won't see the split at the low resolution of the SA100. But there's a good chance, with a star as bright as Achernar, that you can get a decent look at the spectrum visually at the eyepiece. I've never seen an emission line with my own eyes - I'll give it a try myself once the clouds clear.
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