The Sun 31-5-09 - Spectacular tall prominence in NW!

Set up for imaging at 9.55UT and was amazed to see a tall hook shaped prominence in the NW. It looked like a cloud capped spike to start with then the "cloud" slowly curved over to re-connect with the surface. It had faded rapidly by 11.00UT and was gone by 15.00UT. The new AR in the NE still has only one main spot and about 3-4 pores. Tried the Herschel wedge today for the first time imaging and was very pleased with the results, clear granulation, sunspots and pores.

The Sun 30-5-09 - Small new AR in NE

The returning AR 11016 has finally decayed along with the small AR seen last on the 24th. Now there is a new SC24 spot in the NE which already shows one spot. Only three very small proms on show.

The Sun 24-5-09 - AR's and Proms

AR11016 is still present with its AR filament. The small new AR in the east still has no spots. Small proms only in N, S , E, and W.

The Sun 23-5-09 - New small AR in east

A small new AR has appeared in the east which is currently un-numbered by NOAA but appears to have two fledgling spots forming. The returned AR 11016 is still viisble with its AR filament. Proms are in the west, east and south. The western group has a complex hedgerow of multiple arches.

The Sun 21-5-09 - AR11016 and 11017

The returning AR11016 is on the central meridian now and sports a nice dark active region filament with obvious barbs connecting to the surface. AR11017 is over on the west limb now and about to vanish over the limb. Two fairly insignificant proms in the west.

The Sun 17-5-08 - 3 Active Regions still visible

A lucky break in the cloud at midday allowed me to grab a few quick images in CaK and Ha of the active regions. All three are still visible with the new one (11016 returning) in the east now visible in Ha too and showing some flux detail, but no spots so far. There is still a spot in 11017 along with some small pores and the AR to the west of 11017 continues to disperse and decay. There is a tall spike prominence on the west limb. All images with north at top and east to left.

The Sun 16-5-09 - 3 active regions on the sun

For the first time in around a year there are now three active regions on the sun. The two SC24 regions are now in the north west and include 11017 which still displays a couple of small spots and the decaying companion active region further west which is very dispersed. The new active region which has just appeared in the north east is actually a repeat showing for AR 11016 according to the NOAA - this is an SC23 AR. Prominences are generally small today. The Ha view of 11017 and its companion is still quite impressive with lots of fibrils and small AR filaments.

The Sun 12-5-09 - Last views before the rain and cloud!

Its forecast for solid rain and cloud over at least the next four days so I was happy to get a final view of the active regions today after work. AR1 continues to decay while AR2 is hanging in there with a single spot on view in CaK. A nice spiky prom close to the AR's on the east limb.

The Sun 11-5-09 - Active Regions and filaments

Lovely clear blue sky today after work although the seeing was a bit turbulent. The two active regions continue their trek westward across the disk and AR1 is now breaking up quite a bit as it decays. AR2 continues to spread and there is still a definite single sunspot present when viewed in CaK. There is a nice dark filament separating the two AR's and some good proms in the east, west and south. A great day's activity !

The Sun 10-5-09 - New sunspot in second AR

Just had a single five minute break in the cloud today which let enough sun through to get an image although I was still shooting through thin cloud to capture the footage. This is 300 of 1200 frames stacked. The detail is surprisingly good with very well defined plage and a sunspot can clearly be seen in the plage of the second AR that is just rounding the limb. Flare activity continued today with most in the A Class range and one reaching B0 Class. DMK41 and Lunt CaK 100mm

The Sun 9-5-09 - A Class Flare seen in CaK

Had to image in two separate sessions today due to intervening cloud and rain. Caught the Ha and CaK disks this morning at 11.30BST then imaged the active regions in more detail between 17.10 and 18.10 BST. The new AR is further round in the NE quarter now and the second can just be seen right on the limb. The first AR (nominally 11017 if it forms a sunspot) consists of two primary S- shaped strands of plage. While watching the active regions at 17.15 BST (16.15 UT) I noticed an area brightening rapidly in the plage. I dashed inside to confirm it was a flare on the GOES X-Ray flux monitor and it was peaking at A-Class, this was a first for me watching a flare brighten live! This second AR has been a hot bed of activity over the last 24 hours with many small eruptive prominences. The A-Class flare was subsequently confirmed by Thomas Ashcraft in Mexico who caught it as a radio burst at 16.14 UT.

Solar Radio Burst Image courtesy of Thomas Ashcraft, Mexico

The Sun 8-5-09 - New Active Region - 11017 ?

A new active region has rounded the NE limb and its an SC24 cycle region! Actually there will be two on the earth side of the sun soon as we have been following their progress from the far side via the Stereo Behind satellite. The second one looks like it will be brighter and more active. Two linear stripes of plage make up the new AR but no sunspot has been seen so far.

Th Sun 6-5-09 - Disk and Proms

Just managed to catch these late and low on the horizon at 17.50 UT. Nice set of small wispy proms in the west with some detailed structure plus another set of low arches in the east - west is at bottom of images.

The Sun 3-5-09

Grabbed some late images after the cloud cleared tonight. Not much to see except the main prom and a couple of faint small filaments.

The Sun 2-5-09 - Impressive Loop Prom!

Had some better than average seeing this morning at 8.30 UT and I couldn't believe the great view via the PST with very sharp and large proms in each quarter of the disk. There was a perfect double loop in the north west, the best of its type that I have seen so far. I took a series of disk and prom shots between 8.34 - 9.15 UT.

Later on I made a short 25 frame animation of the main loop between 10.34 and 11.10 running at 1/15th sec. This was a slow burning prom with very little change in shape except at the apex of the arch where the plasma curls over. It looks like the prom changed shape and got more active after I was imaging judging by later images and animations posted on the Cloud Nights Solar Forum. Lots of cloud after 10.45 caused some brightness changes in the animation as a few of the frames were shot through a thin cloud layer.