I was finally able to set up my telescopes on the sun this morning and take a look at what is undoubtedly the most activity I have observed since I started observing the sun with my own scopes. The past two weekends have presented terrible sky conditions, and even yesterday I was clouded out. Whatever this solar cycle turns out to be, it is fun to see El Sol ramping up in activity. I made two sketches this morning, first one in white light and about an hour later I made one in Hydrogen Alpha. The white light sketch below was completed at 1550 UT (8:50 AM MST) using my TEC 140 APO and a Lunt Solar Systems Herschel Wedge, under nearly perfect seeing conditions. No atmospheric turbulence was noted, and I was able to utilize magnifications approaching 200X. There are numerous spots in both active regions (AR) 11166 and 11169. In addition to these regions which are approaching the western limb, there are 5 spots noted in AR 11172, and three spots noted in the northern hemisphere right on the central meridian. These three spots correspond to plage noted in my hydrogen alpha observation further down. To the right of my sketch, is an image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory taken at 1600 UT, just 10 minutes after my sketch. Note that it is reversed east-west from my sketch.
I then grabbed a second cup of coffee and started in on an observation and sketch of the sun in hydrogen alpha. The seeing was beginning to get back to average, but the sun was still a sight for sore eyes that had not observed the Sun since February 24th. The sketch was completed at 1657 UT (9:57 AM MST) using my Lunt Solar Systems 60mm pressure tuned hydrogen alpha telescope. As mentioned there is a bit of plage on the central meridian that corresponds in location to the three spots noted above. This area is not yet designated an active region but will no doubt be AR 11173 shortly. AR's 11166 and 11169 are quite bright and contain several spots as well as many fibrils. 11171 is quite large in the southern hemisphere with a long dark filament snaking through. This region was not noted in white light, yet appears as the largest region in hydrogen alpha. Near the east limb AR 11172 displays weak plage and some short dark filaments within. To the right of my sketch is another image from the Solar Dynamics Observatory taken at 1654 UT, during the time I was drawing. Again, the image is reversed east-west from my sketch.
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