Sunday, January 24, 2010

Solar sketch 24 January, 2010

The skies this morning were quite clear and steady, and despite needing to get out for a mountain bike ride, I decided that I had time to fit in a 30 minute look at the Sun.  I am "training" to ride with some friends in the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo mountain bike race on Feb. 13th and 14th.  You can count on an exciting blog entry should I survive the event.  While the truth is that I will use any excuse to avoid early morning exercise, observing is my first passion, and I was quite content to delay the ride this morning and watch in close-up detail as the Sun thawed the desert.

Active regions 11041 and 11042 continue to show a wealth of detail.  Both regions contain spots, with AR 11042 appearing brighter.  In addition, 11042 shows three distinct bright areas.  There are some fine filaments around 11041, as well as two distinct brigt areas within.  There are many small to medium size prominences today with the prettiest to the NW and SE.

Instrument:  Lunt 60mm Ha/BF1200
Eyepiece:  Baader Hyperion Zoom at 12mm
Time of sketch 1630-1700 UT January 24, 2010

Solar Diameter: 32.49'
Carrington Rotation: 2092

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