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Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 6:45 pm
by marktownley
Back from a week away on the boat, and Sunday dawned with clearish skies, bit of haze contributing to variable transparency. I got out the HaT to try with the Na Quark, but the seeing was not up to it so backed off to the 100mm Tal refractor. Initial impressions are it is like slightly more contrasty white light, but (at this scale) less of an emphasis on granule boundaries. It's interesting to see what this Q is capable of. Camera used throughout was the PGR Chameleon 3.

Bit of plage that has recently rotated into view...

Imageex-ar-na-bw by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imageex-ar-na-col by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Then AR12712...

Imagear12712-na-bw by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imagear12712-na-col by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Seeing was rapidly falling away so I dropped down to the 60mm f6 scope to do a full disk mosaic. I'm quite surprised at the detail I get from this small scope, especially when the image is viewed full size.

Imagena-fd-bw by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imagena-fd-col by Mark Townley, on Flickr

I've been trying the flat field function in firecapture too, which, as long as transparency (and exposure) remain the same is quite effective. Not sure if anyone else is using this?

Mark

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:10 pm
by rsfoto
Hi Mark,

Very interesting that Sodium filter.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:53 pm
by MalVeauX
Looks great to me, good convection cells!

Very best,

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2018 9:10 pm
by eroel
Mark:
A very interesting light.
Best wishes,
Eric.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:10 am
by marktownley
Thanks guys!

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 1:45 pm
by Montana
A nice collection Mark, I really like the full disc at full size, very nice indeed :bow :hamster: how about taking the HaT on the boat? then you could use it on those early morning sun days and it would be over water (perfect observatory).
Alexandra

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 3:00 pm
by ffellah
Those Sodium images seem very promising, Mark: how would you configure the HaT for use with the Quark Sodium ?

Franco

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:37 pm
by marktownley
Thanks everyone. It's easy to use on the HaT - just plug it in the back like you would a regular eyepiece / diagonal and use away.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:50 pm
by marktownley
Yup. that's right Franco. I find I get better results with my Ha Quark using the native 4.3x telecentric than the HaT 2.7x.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:54 pm
by ffellah
So, just remove the Airylab 2.7X telecentric and insert the Sodium Quark with the 4x Barlow built-in, right ?

Franco

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 6:55 pm
by Valtori
Hi Mark,

Lovely shots there with Na Quark!!

Val

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:24 pm
by ffellah
Thank you, Mark.

Franco

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:25 pm
by marktownley
Thanks Val!

A shot of the mid disk from yesterday with the Na Quark and 100mm Tal.

Imagegranulation-bw by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Imagegranulation-colour by Mark Townley, on Flickr

What are the small dark arches? There is an obvious one top right, one less so to top left?

Mark

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:06 pm
by Carbon60
Good images, there, Mark. The sodium Quark looks like a nice addition to the family.

I've no idea what the arches are. You'll have to see if they show up in future images using the same setup to check if they are some sort of artefact, although looking closely there appears to be lots of similar arches and 'curls' in other parts of the image.

Stu.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:39 am
by ffellah
I like this granulation, Mark. I may give Sodium a try.

Franco

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 6:39 am
by Montana
Very interesting arches, we need one at higher power :) :) :)

Alexandra

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:33 pm
by ffellah
Hi Mark: when you user the HaT with the Quark, I assume you use a focal reducer. I do not believe you use it at F/43 (F/10 x 4.3x built in Barlow). If that is the case, what reducer do you use and at what position you place the reducer ?

Thank you,

Franco

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:45 am
by banjo
really amazing these photos in sodium, bravo !!!!!
Paul

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 5:26 pm
by THEO BAKALEXIS
Very closed granulation Mark.

Great work but i `ll want to see compare with white light to understand.

At the first i see faculae with very low power but i want to see the same area in white light to see the difference

Great work to images.

For me you are one of the best observators here.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:14 pm
by marktownley
ffellah wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:33 pm Hi Mark: when you user the HaT with the Quark, I assume you use a focal reducer. I do not believe you use it at F/43 (F/10 x 4.3x built in Barlow). If that is the case, what reducer do you use and at what position you place the reducer ?

Thank you,

Franco
Yup, I use it at f43 Franco.

I managed to get some comparison shots on Sunday morning, the transparency was poor, but I could see the sun through the haze. First off using the 100mm scope Lunt wedge and 7nm Ha filter:

Imagegran-white-light by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Then, same scope and the Sodium Quark:

Imagegranulation-Na-100mm by Mark Townley, on Flickr

The views are subtly different. Then, what things were looking through the Na Quark and the HaT - seeing not playing!

Imagegranulation-HaT by Mark Townley, on Flickr

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:41 am
by Montana
These are amazing Mark!

Alexandra

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 11:44 am
by Carbon60
Mark, Did you capture another sodium bridge??
Mark_Sodium_Animation.gif
Mark_Sodium_Animation.gif (3.72 MiB) Viewed 3637 times
It's so difficult to distinguish if these are real features, or a trick of the eye. It's interesting to note, though, that this feature does appear to connect between two pores.

Stu.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 6:11 pm
by marktownley
Yes, indeed it's difficult to say what that are, I may have to crack out my 5" scope and see how this works in Na. Certainly would be good skyburner if are capturing these features. Where did you get the diagram from? would be interested in more info about them...

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2018 10:52 am
by marktownley
No sun, no time. Hopefully soon!

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:46 pm
by DeepSolar64
Yep. What are those arches? Are they genuine, artifacts or a trick of the eye? This needs more study.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 3:53 pm
by steveward53
I have to say , the more I look at that last image the more potential "features" or "artifacts" I can see , the human eye/mind combination has an amazing knack for this , I could circle dozens on that image alone ... ;)

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 4:24 pm
by christian viladrich
The eye/brain combination is very good at finding structure. There are even psychological tests where pseudo random feature are presented to the subject in a way to probe the mind of the subject ;-)

Just for the record, in the book "Planetary Astronomy", we have a whole chapter dedicated on visual observation with a description of a number of optical illusion (contrast, size, inversion of color, etc.).

This being said, the question is whether these structures are seen at the same time with different telescopes and observers. Solar satellite images are probably one of the best tools to test this. I don't remember what is the fastest acquisition rate available on MDI/SOHO or Hinode (or others). Having a look at these could be a good step forward.
In any case, there is a huge lot of images available everywhere for people wishing to investigate this subject with a proper methodology.

BTW, the main mode of photopheric oscillation is the 5-min. There are measured as velocity oscilations and irradiance oscillations (see Foukal or other sources). Is it possible to have an optical counterpart for it ? I've never seen a mention of it in a professional paper.
Still ... large size planetary nebulae are currently discovered by amateurs using very small size telescope, and working in relation with professionals ;-)

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 5:00 pm
by arnedanielsen
Very nice Mark!

Best regards,
Arne

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:39 pm
by SteveZ
Great shots Mark. I can not wait to see more from the Na Quark.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:43 am
by marktownley
SteveZ wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:39 pm Great shots Mark. I can not wait to see more from the Na Quark.
Thanks folks for all the comments, alas I no longer have the Na Quark, I sold it.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 6:18 am
by DeepSolar64
marktownley wrote: Wed Jun 07, 2023 5:43 am
SteveZ wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 7:39 pm Great shots Mark. I can not wait to see more from the Na Quark.
Thanks folks for all the comments, alas I no longer have the Na Quark, I sold it.
To Terry, I think. I haven’t seen him on here in awhile. I hope he’s hanging in there.

Re: Sundays Sodium Sun - 3rd June

Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2023 11:57 am
by MAURITS
Always nice to see sodium images Mark.