sunspots

[vindictive666 (John)]

gday all

this is for anyone with an solarfilter or scope

check this one out

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/...e/mdi_igr/512/

rather big one this is

[iceman (Mike)]

WOW that one is huge! i'm definitely going to put the ToUcam on that on the weekend before it disappears!

[Robby]

Might be a good generator of Aurora.
I'll ahve to keep an eye on spaceweather.com

[mch62 (Mark)]

It's the end of the world , where all going to cark it

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Far out! So much for heading into a solar minimum

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Had a look at this with a JBM solar filter this morning, very nice sunspot.
Must be huge, it has taken on a Y shape, very unusual, lots of structure & contrast.
Sunspots are always so different.
Had a go at doing some Afocal photography.
Dient work with the basic point & shoot digital, came out over exposed.
One of our club members is doing some shoots with the LPI at prime focus, as I write.
I will encourage him to post here if successful.
So much happening, action on the sun.
Humans invading the outer solar system.
This is truely a great time in history to be involved in astronomy

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Hi folks
Shaun (you will be hearing more from him )
has taken this image this morning:

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Hi All,

The photo above was taken on a 4 1/2" reflector using the LPI at Prime focus and a baader film filter.

The "banding" across the face of the sun is some high level cloud coming through during that particular shot.


The next photo was taken shortly afterwards with the exact same setup.

[vindictive666 (John)]

bewtyfull pic

wish i had the equipment to take shots like that

[iceman (Mike)]

Very nice, I just got back inside after having a look at the sunspot groups.. they're darn huge! The big one was very easily visible even with just the normal eclipse shades.

I took some ToUcam images of a couple of them, i'll process them in the next few days and post them when they're done.

Solar observing is hard though, it's so darn hot for a start and the laptop screen is almost impossible to see, and trying to focus the ToUcam? Forget it! I have no idea if my images will come out in focus yet

[iceman (Mike)]

Hi folks
Shaun (you will be hearing more from him )
has taken this image this morning

Great shots Shaun, get him to sign up Ian!

[silvinator]

Tell Shaun those are some nice shots there Ian. What a looking sunspot!

[gbeal]

Nice shots Ian/Shaun,
and to think that yesterday it looked like this.
Gary

[gbeal]

Darn,
that's twice now, too quick on the trigger.
Heres the shot.

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Nice Shot gbeal :-)
What set up are you using ?

[silvinator]

Oh wow! What a dramatic change! Do sunspots usually change that quickly? Great shot by the way gbeal

[Vermin (Tom)]

Originally posted by Robby
Might be a good generator of Aurora.
I'll ahve to keep an eye on spaceweather.com

Looks like we might get one:

MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING
Issued: 01:00 UTC on 16 January 2005
Solar Terrestrial Dispatch
www.spacew.com


VALID BEGINNING AT: 03:00 UTC ON 16 JANUARY
VALID UNTIL: 23:00 UTC (6 pm EST) ON 18 JANUARY

HIGH RISK PERIOD: 16-17 JANUARY (UTC DAYS)
MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 16-18 JANUARY

PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 50, 70, 30, 12 (16 - 19 JANUARY)

POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: HIGH

POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12-18 HOURS
MINOR BELT = 18-48 HOURS

ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR OR AFTER LOCAL MIDNIGHT

EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: LOW TO MODERATE

OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES: GOOD

AURORAL ACTIVITY *MAY* BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...
(THIS LINE IS VALID *ONLY* IF FAVORABLE STORM CONDITIONS OCCUR)

EXTREME NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TO NORTHERN NEVADA TO UTAH TO COLORADO TO
SOUTHERN KANSAS AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA TO ARKANSAS TO TENNESSEE TO SOUTH
CAROLINA.

ACTIVITY *MAY* ALSO BE OBSERVED APPROXIMATELY NORTH OF A LINE FROM...
(THIS LINE IS VALID *ONLY* IF FAVORABLE STORM CONDITIONS OCCUR)

NORTHERN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL TO SOUTHERN FRANCE TO ITALY TO ROMANIA TO
UKRAIN TO SOUTHERN RUSSIA.

SYNOPSIS...

A potentially significant coronal mass ejection has been observed
containing an Earthward-directed component. It is presently expected to
arrive sometime during the mid to late UTC hours of 16 January and has the
potential to produce periods of severe auroral storm activity. That activity,
if it materializes, may become visible well into the lower latitudes. A low
latitude auroral activity watch is being issued in concert with this middle
latitude auroral activity warning. The most intense periods of activity will
likely be late on 16 January and into 17 January (UTC days). For North
American observers, the best opportunity will be on the evening of 16
January and possibly into 17 January. A second strong CME was also recently
observed in association with another major class X2 solar flare that will
likely prolong disturbed levels of auroral activity into 17 and possibly 18
January (an analysis of this latest event is underway).

This is a potentially significant event. Observers interested in seeing
auroral activity are encouraged to watch the skies on 16 through 18 January.
Additional major levels of solar activity are possible over the next several
days.

This warning will remain valid through 23:00 UTC (6 pm EST) on
18 January. It will then be updated, downgraded to a watch or allowed to
expire altogether. For updated information, visit:
http://www.spacew.com/aurora/forum.html. For real-time plots of current
activity, visit: http://www.spacew.com/plots.html

PLEASE REPORT VALID OBSERVATIONS OF AURORAL ACTIVITY TO:
http://www.spacew.com/submitsighting.html


** End of Warning **

[shaggy]

Hey gbeal, that is great you've got that shot from the previous day. Did anyone get a chance to take any pics today to show a multi-day run? (I was busy fixing things around the house and didn't get a chance myself)

Shaggy (ie Shaun)

[iceman (Mike)]

Hey Shaun, nice to see you posting! Great images btw.

I took some avi and handheld shots of the Sun on Saturday and Sunday.

You can see them in this thread.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

And I thought that was lightening down NSW border way Any locals here know, do we get to see any Aurora here in SE QLD, cause there was plenty of light happening way down south last night about midnight. I was about 450 m above sea level. Is this a possibility?