Armchair Observations

[fealeybob14]

Got a nice view of sunspot group 2778 at noon today with the Orion Starblast fitted with a sun-filter.  No time for a photo however.  Maybe try tomorrow.  Counted 12 individual spots in the group.

[fealeybob14]

Darn ... clouds moved in after 12 noon so I didn't image that sunspot group.  Maybe in a couple of days when the sun is out.

[fealeybob14]

Was able to image sunspots 2779 and 2778 with the Orion StarBlast telescope and Orion 6.3 mpixel 'mini' color camera on Oct 30 around 12:30 pm.  Took a still image from the video and compared that to the SOHO sun image from earlier in the day as shown below.  (WOW so glad we can post images again!)

[fealeybob14]

Another sunspot group (2781) is rotating into view.  Viewed today; will photograph tomorrow! Check out https://spaceweather.com/ for details.

[fealeybob14]

Sunspot group AR 2781 is quite impressive!  It has rotated into an ideal view for observers with sun filtered telescopes.  A view from 3 days ago (11-6-2020) taken with the StarBlast 4.5 inch reflector with Orion solar filter and 6.3 Mpixel camera is shown below.  Great views and discussions continue on https://spaceweather.com
 

[fealeybob14]

A great Mars 3-D imaging video from the Pic Du Midi observatory is today's feature on https://spaceweather.com/.  A complete rotation of Mars is presented taken during the close opposition this October and early November.

[fealeybob14]

SOHO C3 shows a big coronal mass ejection (CME) today and solar flare.  The sunspot responsible should be rotating into view in a few days.

[fealeybob14]

An interesting C3 gif movie from SOHO today shows the planet Mercury nearing superior conjunction (below the sun to the right) as well as a small comet (Erasmus) entering the fov on the right in the last few frames. https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c3.gif

[fealeybob14]

Mercury (lower left) and comet Erasmus (top left) are soon to exit the SOHO C3 field of view (fov) https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c3.gif.  Sun is relatively quiet today but increased activity is in the forecast https://spaceweather.com/.

[fealeybob14]

Today's C2 SOHO images includes two small comets that were eventually vaporized by the sun.  Also see https://spaceweather.com/

[fealeybob14]

A nice SOHO C3 gif animation from today shows the two comets mentioned above and the planets Saturn and Jupiter (bright objects to the left of the sun).  Pretty cool! https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c3.gif.

[fealeybob14]

Another interesting SOHO C3 gif animation from today shows bright Jupiter, less bright Saturn moving to solar conjunction; a small sun grazing comet appears near the end of the video at the 8-oclock position. https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c3.gif

[fealeybob14]

SOHO shows some interesting solar activity on it's latest C2 and C3 videos https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/gif/.  Venus appears on the right in the C3 as it closes in on superior conjunction.  Sun has 2 new sunspot groups. https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_igr/1024/latest.html

[fealeybob14]

Venus, moving to superior solar conjunction has entered the fov of SOHO C2 imaging https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c2.gif.  Will pass within 2 degrees of the sun on March 26th https://in-the-sky.org/news.php?id=20210326_11_100.

[fealeybob14]

C2 gif movies from today show Venus moving away from its superior sun conjunction.  Note also what appears to be a small sun-grazing comet (probably vaporizing) early on the 31st of March. https://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c2.gif