Sun Photos and Info
5:16pm, just as
it was starting, zoomed in.Sony Cybershot at f/6.3 using
eyepiece projection (26mm eyepiece on a 8" Meade
SCT), Saline, MI.
5:17pm, just as
it was starting, a wider view.Sony Cybershot at f/6.3 using
eyepiece projection (26mm eyepiece on a 8" Meade
SCT), Saline, MI.
6:35pm, quite a ways along with
some dramatic cloud wisps.Sony Cybershot at f/6.3
using eyepiece projection (26mm eyepiece on a 8"
Meade SCT), Saline, MI.
05:26am, a little
less than an hour before end Nikon Coolpix 990 at f/4,
1/119th second using eyepiece projection (25mm eyepiece in
10" Discovery dob on tracking mount), Holly, Michigan.
05:37am, about 40
minutes before end Nikon Coolpix 990 at f/3.7, 1/5 second
using eyepiece projection (26mm eyepiece on Meade ETX 90),
Holly, Michigan.
05:47am, 3rd
contact, about 30 minutes before end Nikon Coolpix 990 at
f/3.7, 1/13 second using eyepiece projection (25mm eyepiece in
10" Discovery dob on tracking mount), Holly, Michigan.
06:05am, just a few
moments before end Nikon Coolpix 990 at f/4.0, 1/34 second
using eyepiece projection (25mm eyepiece in 10" Discovery
dob on tracking mount), Holly, Michigan, through a tiny hole in
suddenly thick clouds. 
June 10th, 2002 solar eclipse
animation [note that this is almost 900K in size]. I didn't manage to
get imaging started until after the eclipse had started, so I ended up
missing about 20-30 minutes. Each frame is a 0.013 second exposure at
f/3.75, Meade LX10 (using an SBIG FR237 focal reducer designed for the SBIG STV)
binned 2x2 and filtered through a Thousand Oaks Type 2+ solar filter,
and green and blue 1.25" filters threaded onto the nosepiece of the
focal reducer. The animation is 93 frames each 1 minute apart. No image
processing has been performed on individual frames or the animation.
The photos below here were done using my LX10 (200mm Schmidt Cassegrain)
using a Thousand Oaks Type 2+ solar filter and the STV's built-in
neutral density "lunar" filter.
Christmas 2000 solar eclipse
animation
March 30th, 2001
Wide field of view of large sunspot
group. [f3.75, STV, 0.001 seconds with lunar filter, wide mode,
home]
Midrange field of view of large sunspot
group. [f3.75, STV, 0.001 seconds with lunar filter, normal mode,
home]
Zoomed in view of large sunspot
group. [f3.75, STV, 0.001 seconds with lunar filter, normal mode,
home]
September 25th, 2000
Wide angle view of large sunspot group.
This nicely demonstrates the wide field of view attainable using the
SBIG focal reducer and extender tube combination, yielding f3.75
with the f10 LX10. The STV was in "wide" mode for this photo,
meaning the entire chip was used with a binning of 3x3. False color
added.
Narrower view of the same sunspot group
and one on the limb. This photo was taken using the SBIG focal
reducer without the extender tube yielding ~f/6. Also, the STV was
in "normal" mode, which uses 640x480 of the chip binned 2x2
(resulting in a 320x240 image). False color added.
Midrange view of the same large sunspot
group. This photo was taken without any focal reduction help
(therefore it was taken at f10). For this photograph, the STV was
again in "normal" mode. False color added.
Narrowest view of the same large sunspot
group. This photo was taken without any focal reduction help
(therefore it was taken at f10). For this photograph, the STV was
in "zoom" mode, which uses only the central 320x240 of the chip but
not binned at all (resulting in a 320x240 image). False color added.
Midrange view of the sunspot on the limb
in the first two images. Notice the faculae, the bright
"cracks" surrounding this sunspot group. This photo was taken with
the SBIG focal reducer and extender tube (there at f3.75) and with
the STV in "normal" mode. False color added.
September 23rd, 2000
Wide angle view of the very large sunspot
group and some surrounding sunspots. Taken in STV "wide" mode at
~f3.75 (focal reducer and extension tube and with the star diagonal
in - and, mistakenly, slightly out of north alignment.) False color
added.
Narrower view. Taken in STV "normal" mode
at f3.75 (using focal reducer and extension tube). False color
added.
Another narrower view. Taken in STV
"normal" mode at ~f3.75 (using focal reducer and extension tube and
with the star diagonal in - and, mistakenly, slightly out of north
alignment.) False color added.
Narrow field of view. Taken in STV "zoom"
mode at ~f3.75 (using focal reducer and extension tube). False color
added.
Narrow field of view. Taken in STV "zoom"
mode at ~f3.75 (using focal reducer and extension tube). False color
added.
A narrow field image of a sunspot group in
advance of the large sunspot group. False color added.
March
30, 2001 (2:30pm), one of the largest sunspot groups in the last
decade. [f10, 1/250th second, Fuji Superia 800, Meade T-adapter]
June 09,
2000 (4:30pm) A nice string of sunspots and one nice large
cluster swinging into view. [f10, 1/125th second, Fuji Superia 800,
Meade T-adapter]
June 10, 2000 (1:30pm) Everything above
rotated slightly. [f10, 1/125th second, Fuji Superia 800, Meade
T-adapter]
May 17,
2000 (2pm) A couple nice sunspots. [f10, 1/500th second, Kodak
Gold 400, Meade off-axis guider as T-adapter]
May 18,
2000 (11am) A couple nice sunspots. [f10, 1/250th second, Kodak
Gold 400, Meade T-adapter]
May 20,
2000 (2:15pm) A couple nice sunspots. [f10, 1/250th second,
Kodak Gold 400, Meade T-adapter]
May 21,
2000 (3:30pm) A couple nice sunspots. [f10, 1/250th second,
Kodak Gold 400, Meade T-adapter]
May 20,
2000 (2:30pm) [f10, 18mm eyepiece, 1/8th second, Kodak Gold 400,
Meade T-adapter]
May 20,
2000 (2:30pm) [f10, 26mm eyepiece, 1/8th second, Kodak Gold 400,
Meade T-adapter]
May
20, 2000 (2:30pm) [f10, 26mm eyepiece, 1/8th second, Kodak Gold 400,
Meade T-adapter]
A sequence of sun images, taken over the course of several days, showing the rotation of the sun and the slow change of its sunspots. Individual photos below.
Click the image to step through images of subsequent days
