Last night we had 5 inches of snow to fall here in Edneyville N.C. It's a sloppy wet snowfall and is melting rapidly as the day progresses. I have observed a number of times in the snow in nighttime astronomy but this is the first time I can recall observing by day in the snow. It does make it a challenge to see details on the solar disc due to the bright glare the snow causes. One has to really shield their eyes! I used my hat, then jacket hood and my hands!
Coronado SolarMax II 90 DS. 32x, 44.5x and 64x ( Ha )
First off I study the disc for filaments in doublestack. I easily see three of them. A longer one in the SW oriented N-S and a small one approaching the south-central area of the disc. I also see a very easy one near the limb in the SE. I can also with difficulty see a tiny one further south in the south central part of the disc and another difficult tiny one in the SE to the SE of a beforehand mentioned filament located there. That's a total of 5 in the southern hemisphere. But again only three are easily seen. The two smallest ones would have been invisible in the SMII60. I also can see another one, this one without too much difficulty almost on the NW limb above a group of prominences. That makes the total I have found raised to 6.
I see two prominence groups on the solar limb today. Both are visible in doublestack but the best views are in singlestack. The group on the SE limb look like 3 jagged teeth! I can see some detail within them but seeing limits this considerably. I do see a couple more tiny ones in their vicinity. The NW limb shows another group. I see three within the group. The center one is taller and is the easiest to see.
I can see the mottles easily today despite the below average seeing. It seems that on average the 90 picks them up better than the 60 does. Despite the seeing. I can see the spicule layer too on the limb with a close look. Seeing won't allow resolution of the individual spicules or a high enough magnification to get a better look.
Celestron NexStar 102GT w/Altair wedge and 540nm filter. 50x and 55.5x ( WL )
The solar disc shows very little detail in white light continuum. With difficulty I can see a small patch of faculae almost on the limb in the SE. I could not see it at all without the Baader 540nm filter. I could not see a corresponding plage component in that location in Ha. The only other detail at all that I could see was the barely visible solar granulation. No spots or pores could I see today.
Carpe Diem!
James
- GONGCerroTololoHa_2-7-21.jpg (662.27 KiB) Viewed 278 times
- SEfaculae_SDOHMIc_2-7-21.png (439.78 KiB) Viewed 278 times
- Snowlar Observing!.JPG (281.2 KiB) Viewed 278 times
- Snowlar Observing 2.JPG (212.32 KiB) Viewed 278 times
A slow start to winter here, but it has settled in cold with lots of snow now.
