April 10th - More AR2738

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
User avatar
MapleRidge
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 10199
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:58 pm
Location: Cambray, ON Canada
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 4340 times
Contact:

April 10th - More AR2738

Post by MapleRidge »

I had a beautiful clear day today and obligations to attend a conference at work until early afternoon...but I managed to get a short observing session in before the Sun was lost to the west. Gusty winds ruined some captures and the dome had to be opened to the west to see the Sun so no relief!

A big AR is long over due and the first look through the LS80T showed it nicely along with a bit of a flare. The image below is a composite of separate disk and limb frames, with a faint prom shooting up at the 10 o'clock position. The others were not overly detailed and burned out in the long exposure needed to capture this one. Imaged with the LS80T/B1200Ha/PGR w/ICX674 chip:
Full-Ha.jpg
Full-Ha.jpg (522.16 KiB) Viewed 590 times
Switching to the modded CR-150/DSII/B1800Ha scope with a 3x tele-extender and ASI174MM camera, three frames were selected to make this mosaic of the area around AR2738:
AR2738.jpg
AR2738.jpg (781.17 KiB) Viewed 590 times
AR2738-inv.jpg
AR2738-inv.jpg (830.33 KiB) Viewed 590 times
I was tempted to close up the observatory due to the wind and fact that the sun would be soon too far west to image but I had to test out a new filter. I have been frustrated with the poor performance of most attempts to image through the large ERF (tried both the Meade 10" ACF and Celestron C9.25 Edge), and also wanted to be able to double stack the modded CR-150/DSII scope. I picked up a Quark Combo (Chromosphere) with plans to use it for these two purposes.

I put the Quark on the 10" ACF at prime focus and focused...and to my surprise the Ha detail was pretty decent at f10:
25cm_QRK_18_04_53-ASI-2.jpg
25cm_QRK_18_04_53-ASI-2.jpg (233.79 KiB) Viewed 590 times
I added the 3x tele-extender but the seeing was not kind, so I switched to the 2x model. The image was soft, but processed up pretty well. This looks very promising, will need some more clear days and steadier skies to do more testing:
25cm_QRK_18_28_47-ASI.jpg
25cm_QRK_18_28_47-ASI.jpg (250.98 KiB) Viewed 590 times
25cm_QRK_18_28_47-ASI-inv.jpg
25cm_QRK_18_28_47-ASI-inv.jpg (227.52 KiB) Viewed 590 times
Due to the weight differences I think I will swap the C9.25 onto the mount for the next trial run (the Meade scope is at the limit to balance).

No sun in the forecast here for a few days, I just hope this AR hangs on ;)

Questions and comments are always welcome,
Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14209
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8418 times
Been thanked: 8165 times

Re: April 10th - More AR2738

Post by Carbon60 »

Good images, Brian, under challenging conditions. The FD is nice and crisp.

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42274
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20442 times
Been thanked: 10248 times
Contact:

Re: April 10th - More AR2738

Post by marktownley »

An excellent set there Brian! Oh the challenges these larger apertures bring :)


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
MapleRidge
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 10199
Joined: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:58 pm
Location: Cambray, ON Canada
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 4340 times
Contact:

Re: April 10th - More AR2738

Post by MapleRidge »

Thanks for your comments and support Stu and Mark :bow

The large aperture scopes certainly have their challenges...just hoping to have a system working and know how to make the best use of it by the time we start to climb out of the minimum ;)

Brian


Brian Colville

Maple Ridge Observatory
Cambray, ON Canada

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/185395281@N08/albums

10'x15 Roll-off Roof Observatory
Takahashi EM400 Mount carrying:
C14 + Lunt 80ED
Deep Sky Work - ASI294MM Pro+EFW 7x36/Canon 60D (Ha mod), ONAG
Planetary Work - SBIG CFW10, ASI462MM

2.2m Diameter Dome
iOptron CEM70G Mount carrying:
Orion EON 130ED, f7 OTA for Day & Night Use
Ha Setup: Lunt LS80PT/LS75FHa/B1200Ha + Home Brew Lunt Double Stack/B1800Ha on the Orion OTA + Daystar Quantum
WL, G-Band & CaK Setup: Lunt Wedge & Lunt B1800CaK, Baader K-Line and Altair 2nm G-Band filter
ASI1600MM, ASI432MM, ASI294MM Pro, ASI174MM, ASI462MM
Post Reply