The Dark Side Observatory - Solar Photography

Solar Photography

Sunspots - April 22, 2024

Here is another image from yesterday's solar imaging - check out all the sunspots!
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI071MC camera, glass solar filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ASIAir Pro, processed in SharpCap Pro v4.1 and Registax, best 20% of 1500 frames. Image Date: April 22, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Solar Mosaic - August 23, 2024

This is a two-panel mosaic of today’s sun in white light, artificial color. From SpaceWeather.com “SUNSPOT NUMBERS AT A 20-YEAR HIGH: For the second month in a row, the monthly-average sunspot number is cruising toward a 20-year high. The current value, around 230, would eclipse every month since Sept. 2001, which occurred during the peak of old Solar Cycle 23. The current cycle (Solar Cycle 25) was not supposed to be this strong, and it may become even stronger before Solar Max is finished.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI462MC planetary camera, glass solar filter, Celestron CGEM-DX mount, ZWO IR/UV filter, ZWO 0.5x focal reducer, best 20% of 2000 frames, Autostakkert+Registax, unguided, focus with a ZWO EAF, captured using SharpCap 4.0, controlled with a ZWO ASIAir Pro. Image Date: August 23, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Solar Prominence - August 23, 2024

This is a two-panel overlay showing a nice solar prominence on August 23rd. The prominence and surface features were each captured using the best 20% of 2000 frames
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ASI462MC camera, Daystar Quark Chromosphere, ZWO 0.5x Reducer, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO UV/IR Filter (2”), focus with a ZWO EAF, captured with SharpCap Pro v4 and processed using Autostakkert and Registax. Image Date: August 23, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

The Sun - July 31, 2023

A stacked view of yesterday’s sun showing quite a few sunspots. Imaged in white light (glass filter), best 20% of 500 images. Solar cycle 25 is the current solar cycle, the 25th since 1755, when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began. The peak solar activity month is currently estimated to be July 2025.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera, best 20% of 500 images, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, captured with SharpCap Pro and processed in Autostakkert. Image Date: July 31, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Solar Eclipse from Erie, PA on April 8, 2024.

Solar Surface

Spent several hours in the driveway doing some solar imaging - very active sun right now! This is just a section of the solar surface.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI462MC camera, Daystar Quark Chromosphere, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro mount, ASIAir Pro, processed in SharpCap Pro v4.1 and Registax, best 20% of 1500 frames. Image Date: April 22, 2024. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Today’s Sun - April 20, 2022

Today’s sun (April 20, 2022) in white light with some HUGE sunspots coming into view.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Orion Glass Solar Filter, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, best 15% of 1000 frames, processed using Autostakkert and Registax. Image Date: April 20, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Large Solar Prominence - May 10, 2023

Large solar prominences viewed yesterday, Earth is shown as an approximate size comparison.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ASI462MC camera, Daystar Quark Chromosphere, ZWO 0.5x Reducer, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO UV/IR Filter (2”), focus with a ZWO EAF, captured with SharpCap Pro v4 and processed using Autostakkert and Registax. Image Date: May 10, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Our Star in White Light - May 18, 2023

Here is our star showing some sunspots through an Orion glass solar filter (white light).
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED Telescope, ZWO ASI2600MC camera running at ambient temperature, best 20% of 500 images, Sky-Watcher EQ6R-Pro pier mounted, ZWO EAF and ASIAir Pro, processed in Autostakkert and Registax. Image Date: May 18, 2023. Location: The Dark Side Observatory (W59), Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Solar Halo - May 31, 2021

Captured this beautiful solar halo yesterday while doing some solar imaging in the observatory.
Tech Specs: Canon 6D, Samyang 14mm f/2.8, hand held. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, Pennsylvania. Image Date: May 31, 2021.

Partial Solar Eclipse - June 10, 2021

A view of the partial solar eclipse from Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Tech Specs: Canon 6D, EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM lens + 2x III extender, ISO 2000, 2 seconds, f/5.6, 400mm, Thousand Oaks Optical 77mm solar filter. Image date: June 10, 2021. Location: Broad Mountain, Carbon County, PA, USA.

The Sun - April 2, 2022

Yesterday’s sun in white light, pretty active with a lot of sunspots. A few dark areas from dust in my imaging train that I didn’t catch.
Tech Specs: Orion 8" f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope, Orion Glass Solar Filter, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ASI071MC-Pro, ZWO AAPlus, ZWO EAF, best 10% of 1000 frames, processed using Autostakkert and Registax. Image Date: April 4, 2022. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA (Bortle Class 4).

Sunspot AR2786

Today’s sunspots including the large sunspot AR2786. Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat51, Sky Watcher EQ6R-Pro Mount, Thousand Oaks Optical Solar Filter, ZWO ASI290MC, ZWO ASIair Pro running beta software v1.5.1 in video capture mode, processed in Autostakkert! and Corel PaintshopPro. Image Date: November 28, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Sunspot AR2804 - February 25, 2021

Some rare clear skies allowed me an opportunity to capture Sunspot AR2804 earlier today, a nice little sunspot group. Nothing fancy, just a white light glass filter on Meade 12” scope.
TECH SPECS: Meade 12” LX-90, Celestron CGEM-DX pier mounted, ZWO ASI071mc-Pro, Antares Focal Reducer, Meade White-Light Solar Filter. Captured using SharpCap v3.2, stacked in Autostakkert, sharpened in Registax, final image in Corel Paintshop Pro. Image Date: February 25, 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Solar Prominence - May 17, 2021

Nice solar prominence on the Sun yesterday.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter, ZWO 0.5x Reducer, SharpCap Pro v3.2, best 20% of 5k frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 17 May 2021. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

FLICKR Explore Image of the Day for May 19, 2021

Solar Halo

I snagged this image of a solar halo while biking the Lehigh Gorge rail trail on May 19th. Jane and I were just talking about seeing some mare’s tail clouds (cirrus clouds) earlier. Did you know these are caused by ice particles high in the atmosphere that are refracting and reflecting the light passing through them?
EarthSky.org states that, “That’s why, like rainbows, halos around the sun – or moon – are personal. Everyone sees their own particular halo, made by their own particular ice crystals, which are different from the ice crystals making the halo of the person standing next to you.” (ref: https://earthsky.org/space/what-makes-a-halo-around-the-moon).
Tech Specs: Apple iPhone X. Date: 19 May 2020. Location: Lehigh Gorge State Park, Pennsylvania, USA.

Sunspot AR2765 - June 9, 2020

Sunspot AR2765, from SpaceWeather.com "New-cycle sunspot AR2765 is crackling with B-class solar flares."
Tech Specs: iOptron ZEQ25GT mount, Williams Optics Redcat51, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter. Best 25% of 2500 frames captured using Sharpcap Pro. Image date: June 9, 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Solar Prominence - July 2, 2020

Nice solar prominence on yesterday’s sun! Earth was added to give a rough idea of the size.
Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat 51, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + ZWO 2" UV/IR filter, SharpCap, best 25% of 5k frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 2 July 2020. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

Solar Prominence's - July 13, 2019

Small solar prominence yesterday, July 13, 2019.
Tech Specs: Williams Optics Redcat 51, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter, SharpCap Pro v3.0, best 10% of 2k frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 13 July 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

Solar Prominence - July 27, 2019

Interesting double loop solar prominence on the Sun yesterday. High temperatures and poor seeing didn't allow for any type of details to be captured.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter, SharpCap Pro v3.0, best 15% of 5k frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 27 July 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

Huge Solar Prominence - July 29, 2019

Huge solar prominence on the Sun earlier today. Earth image for a "rough" comparison of size.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter, SharpCap Pro v3.0, best 15% of 500 frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 29 July 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

Sunspots 2740 and 2741

A quick view of sunspots 2740 and 2741 on May 8, 2019. According to SpaceWeather.com (for May 9, 2019), “GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on May 11th when a coronal mass ejection (CME) grazes Earth's magnetic field. The source of the CME is big sunspot AR2740, which propelled the solar storm cloud in our direction three days ago. Auroras could appear as far south as the US-Canadian border.
Tech Specs: Meade 12" LX90, focal reducer, Canon 6D, Meade White-Light Solar Filter. Best 20% of 2000 frames. Image Date: May 8, 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Solar Prominences - June 11, 2019

Small solar prominence on the sun captured on June 11, 2019.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher Esprit 120mm ED Triplet APO Refractor, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere, SharpCap v3.2, best 10% of 1000 frames. Image date: 11 June 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA.

Solar Prominence's - July 10, 2019

The same active region as yesterday was creating some really nice prominence's 24-hours later.
Tech Specs: Sky-Watcher 120ED Esprit, ZWO ASI290MC, Daystar Quark Chromosphere + Daystar 2" UV/IR filter, 0.5x reducer, SharpCap Pro v3.0, best 10% of 1k frames, AutoStakkert, Registax. Image date: 10 July 2019. Location: The Dark Side Observatory in Weatherly, PA, USA.

Big Sunspot AR2738

Here is a quick view of big sunspot AR2738 rotating into view.
Tech Specs: Meade 12" LX90, focal reducer, Canon 6D, best 20% of 2000 frames, Meade White-Light Solar Filter. Image Date: April 9, 2019. Location; The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Sunspot AR2738 Through Clouds

Single frame capture of sunspot AR2738 through passing clouds.
Tech Specs: Meade 12" LX90, focal reducer, Canon 6D, Meade White-Light Solar Filter. Image Date: April 11, 2019. Location; The Dark Side Observatory, Weatherly, PA, USA.

Sunspots 2740 and 2741

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