Solar 1 - First Solar imaging

We got a few breaks in the clouds today so I decided to give my new Celestron Solar filter a whirl.

OTA: 120mm Achromatic Refractor with x3 ED Barlow

Camera: Nikon D3100 14.2mp

Mount: CG-4 mount
Filter: Celestron Solar filter

Exposure: 15sec AVI video

ISO: 100

I must say I am quite happy with this result and I'm glad the sun put on a show with this huge sun spot. The footage took a bit of tweaking in After Effects, mainly to increase the contrast, which really brought out the detail in the sun spot. It was also a little over exposed so decreasing it darkened the image, allowing for more detail to come through.

I can't wait to get my hands on a Hydrogen-Alpha filter! The sun spots are awesome, but the prospect of photographing solar flares, granulation, coronal mass ejections is just too good to ignore. They are pretty darn pricey though.

Solar Maximum 2012

University College Corks very own Dr. Paul Callanan talks about this years solar maximum, coronal mass ejections and the resulting displays on earth, known as the aurora borealis.

Paul is also in charge of the X-Ray Binaries Research Group in UCC

Irish Astronomy Blues

I feel the need to prove that I've at least tried to do some astronomy during our recent bout of bad weather. One night did provide fairly good seeing but photography was right out of the question as I was dodging the clouds for most of the evening.

I'm starting to believe what I heard another Irish amateur astronomer say, which was something like; "Irish astronomers are all masochists!".

However, after acquiring a fine Celestron solar filter for my scope, I now have twice the time in which I can be disappointed by the weather. I was really looking forward to getting one seeing that we have a solar maximum coming this year. Speaking of which I'm also hoping to see some Aurora this year. Something people further north have been lucky enough to enjoy already.