Solar observations

Excellent atmospheric conditions this morning for solar observation!  This was somewhat of a surprise considering that the last several nights (of course with no moonlight), have featured wind, dust, and generally unfavorable conditions.  A "cold" front has passed through leaving temperatures this morning in the mid 70's with highs only predicted to reach 92!  I set up my Lunt Solar Systems 60mm solar scope, grabbed a cup of coffee and enjoyed a relaxed observing and sketching session.  While the sun is only mildly active, there were several interesting features.  Below is my sketch completed at 1528 UT (8:28 MST) as well as an image from Thomas Ashcraft taken at 1446 UT (7:46 MST).  Keep in mind that the images are reversed E-W.

Active region 11081 displayed a wealth of detail in Hydrogen Alpha, including 3 spots and a long thin filament following the region.  The most interesting features, however, were in the northeast where there is a group of complex and bright prominences that are associated with a dark and "barbed" filament as well as some plage. It will be interesting to see if this area develops over the next day or so.  To the right is a high resolution image of the northeast limb captured by Cloudynights solar forum contributor Steve, that compares favorably with my sketch.

Below left is a hydrogen alpha image taken by the SOHO spacecraft at 1319 UT (6:19 AM MST), and to the right is a hydrogen alpha image from the Solar Monitor website taken at 0950 UT (2:50 AM MST).  Both of these images are also reversed E-W from my sketch above.

Finally, well before the sun rose at the Lost Pleiad Observatory, Cai-Uso Wohler in Denmark captured this fantastic image of a "lift-off" prominence that departed the northwest limb.  The earth has been added to the image for scale.