Solar prominences on May 12, 2009
Sketch and Details by Stephen Ames Jr.
Is ole sol finally waking back up?
Crayola Cerulean for plage
Conti White pencil for filament
Crayola Aqua Green pencil for proms
white 20# paper with Aqua Green disk
I scan into photoshop and invert.
Blue skies,
Stephen Ames Jr.
Solar Prominences on April 4, 2009
Sketch and Details by Stephen A. Ames Jr
Crayola Cerulean pencil for plage
Crayola Aqua Green pencil for proms
White Conti pastel for filaments
white 20# paper with Aqua Green disk
I scan into photoshop and invert.
Blue skies,
Stephen A. Ames Jr
Solar Prominences on March 26, 2009
Sketch and Details by Stephen A. Ames Jr
Crayola Aqua Green pencil for proms
white 20# paper with Aqua Green disk
I scan into photoshop and invert.
PST 2x Barlow and Vixen Zoom
Blue skies,
Stephen A. Ames Jr
February 25th, 2009
Crayola Aqua Green pencil for proms
Crayola Cerulean for Plage
White Conti Pastel for filaments
white 20# paper with Aqua Green disk
I scan into photoshop and invert.
PST 2x Barlow and Vixen Zoom
Blue skies,
Stephen A. Ames
Solar Prominences on February 13, 2009
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix
2009 Feb 13, 1600UT – 1700UT
Solar prominences in h-alpha, western limb
PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix
DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.
Temp: 3° C, Humidity 60%
Seeing: Wilson 3, Transparency: poor
Scattered, winds 7mph from NNW
Alt: 34.4, Az: 159.2
Approximately 30° inward from the eastern limb, a crescent-shaped plage was seen with a dark dot during my h-alpha observation. No AR was noted in white light. There were a few proms scattered about to the north and south, but the prominences on the western limb really stood out. At first glance it looked like two detached proms, but adjusting the outer etalon and increasing magnification, that section of limb came alive with prominence structure.
North is to the 4.5 o’clock position and west is the 2.5 o’clock position in my sketch.
Solar prominences 2009 Feb 05, 1655UT – 1725UT
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix
2009 Feb 05, 1655UT – 1725UT
Solar prominences in h-alpha
PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio USA
Erika Rix
DS 60mm Maxscope, LXD75, 21-7mm Zhumell
Sketch created scopeside with black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ crayon and pencil, white Prang watercolor pencil.
Temp: -6.4C, Humidity 49%
Seeing: Wilson 3, Transparency: poor
Mostly clear with thin layers of cirrus, Winds: 3.5mph SSW
Alt: 23.7, Az: 139.1
There was an area that I suspected was a new AR just NW of center while observing in h-alpha. It appeared to have two small plage with a single tiny sunspot to the west of them. After pulling out the ETX70 with a white light filter, all that I could see were moments of visible granulation and there were neither faculae nor pores to be seen.
To the south, in h-alpha, there was a very bright smaller prom with several tiny fingers of proms around it. Heading about 30 degrees west around the limb I noticed a thick medium sized prom that was very faint and the base of it was nearly impossible to see.
On the NW limb were two slender proms that on closer inspection it was obvious that they were actually one intricate arch of a prominence with delicate tendrils attaching at different points within it. A filament was visible to the north of it, nearly reaching to the limb.
Other than a short thick filament to the north about 15 degrees in from the limb, as well as a few tiny proms not already mentioned, I just soaked in the surface view and called it a day.
Solar NOAA 11003
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix
2008 Oct 05
Solar – featuring SE quadrant and NOAA 11003
Erika Rix, PCW Memorial Observatory, 40.01/-81.56
Observation details:
AR 11003 was not visible to me in white light using my ETX70 with a TV8mm plossl. I did see granulation on and off, transparency isn’t too great today. I almost thought I detected this region briefly, but couldn’t confirm it.
In h-alpha using my Maxscope, the area was lit up very nicely by bright slender plage making some of the background around it appear darker in comparison to the rest of the disk. I didn’t see any sunspots within the active region.
There were many prominences scattered around the limb and a very short, almost spot-like filament in the southern hemisphere west of the AR.
Sketch details:
This case is a perfect example of getting carried away with fitting in all the details and then losing touch on size and contrast. The active region was smaller in real life and a little further away from the limb. I continued on with the sketch anyway, marking the error in my report and off to the side of the sketch, since it was still an accurate representation of the AR within itself.
The prominence set on the limb is accurate in size, but I rendered it too bright, again getting carried away with my markings while trying to mark in the details within the prom.
Even though I’ve made the errors, I’ve marked them accordingly and still have a successful sketch from my observation. I say successful because I’ve still achieved my goals of in depth study of the Sun through sketching and managing to record my observations of these features regardless of two areas of errors that I stated. Sometimes sketching can be like patting your head and rubbing your belly at the same time. The results can make you giggle, but you still trying your hand at it.
I grabbed the black paper closest to me today, so that was the Artagain paper. White Conte’ chalk, Conte’ pencil, and white Prang pencil were for the white areas. Contrast added with a stick of charcoal and a black pen. No erasing was done and blending of the solar surface was done with my finger tips. No blending was done after that.
I added a -15 brightness after taking a photo of my sketch with my Rebel outside in diffused lighting. My new scanner is still giving me fits scanning in my sketches, so I find it easier to take photos of them until I can master the new machine. Taking a little more time out of my day than I should have for fun, I managed white light and h-alpha viewing.
Sun (H-Alpha)
Sketch and Details by Ernest Shekolyan
Hi!
That is my picture of Sun on 7 May 2007 (13:40 msc). PST Coronado + 10 mm Super (Synta).
Interesting features: bird-like active chromispheric flash in center of solar disc and a number prominences on the limb. Graphite pencil, white paper, then photocopy and processing in ACDSee (coloring, soft, some additional manual drawing).
Sincerely yours, Ernest Shekolyan
H-Alpha Sun
Sketch and Details by Erika Rix
PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio, USA, Lat: 40.01 / Long: -81.56
Erika Rix
Temp: 54.0°F / 12.2 °C
Winds: 5.8 mph NW, clear turning to partly cloudy
Humidity: 53%
Seeing: very poor 2/6
Transparency: 4/6
Equipment:
Internally double stacked Maxscope 60mm, LXD75, 40mm ProOptic Plossl, 21-7mm Zhumell, ETX70AT, 8mm TV Plossl
Sketch Media:
H-alpha – Black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ and Prang pencils, white vinyl eraser.
White light pores created in Photoshop.
New active region in the ESE quadrant was visible with two crescent shaped plage facing each other during the h-alpha observing session. In white light, seeing was very poor making it invisible at first glance. Eventually my eyes were able to see two dark specks in the AR, appearing to be only umbrae, with the more easterly one slightly darker and thicker.
No faculae were noted in white light.
Of the prominence activity in h-alpha, the long line of southern prominences had filament reaching out over the disk on the far western edge. The large eastern edged prom in this line was leaning at a crook to the east (right) in my FOV. It was also the faintest of the four more prominent prominences around the Sun’s limb.
Sun – Featuring NOAA 10987, 10988, 10989
Sketches and Commentary by Erika Rix
2008 March 26, 1335ST – 1452ST (1735UT – 1852UT)
Solar H-alpha and White Light
PCW Memorial Observatory, Zanesville, Ohio, USA, Lat: 40.01 / Long: -81.56
Erika Rix
Temp: 57.0 °F / 13.9 °C
Winds: West 18 mph gusting to 25 mph
Humidity: 33%
Seeing: 5/6
Transparency: 2/6
Alt: 50.4 Az: 157.5
Equipment:
Internally double stacked Maxscope 60mm, LXD75, 40mm ProOptic Plossl, 21-7mm Zhumell
ETX70 AT, tilt plate, 8mm Televue Plossl
Sketch Media:
H-alpha – Black Strathmore Artagain paper, white Conte’ and Prang pencils, white vinyl eraser.
Added –5 brightness, +30 contrast after scanning in color at 300 dpi. Tilting Sun program used for digital Sun insert.
White Light – white copy paper, #2 pencil, .5mm mechanical pencil, photographed sketch instead of scanning for better contrast.
It was said that today NOAA 10989 produced an M2-class eruption causing a CME. I have to say that each of the three active regions had very bright plage seeming to curve around the dark specks of sunspots within each region. It’s not often I get such a great view of the sunspots themselves in h-alpha, but today 10988 had the largest umbral area and they all had one or two smaller dark spots. I could hardly wait to pull out the ETX70 with a white light filter to see the sunspots themselves in much greater detail.
Prom activity was very modest. After 3-4 strolls around the limb tweaking the Etalon, 6 areas of very small prominences came to view. The filaments on the disk were showy, especially the large blotchy one to the south of 10988.
With the white light filter, facula was clearly viewable around 10989, reaching out in several directions. Penumbrae were seen in most of the sunspots. I had hoped to increase magnification for a closer view, but with transparency becoming worse, as well as viewing in white light in the front yard rather then in the protection of the observatory, the white light view was already too soft. Increasing magnification would have made it impossible.
