Sun in H-alpha Light
 Solar prominence time-lapse animation
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While in junior high
school....long, long ago, I was particularly impressed with a
16mm film we watched in science class that contained time-lapse footage
of solar prominences shot with a coronagraph or prominence
telescope. When I
finally got my first astronomical telescope a short time
later, I was incredibly disappointed to learn that with it I would not
be able
to see those
fascinating
tongues of fire dancing along the limb of the sun..... Mondo fast
forward to 2009; I now have that telescope / H-alpha filter that
finally
allows
me to see those amazing prominences, and associated chromospheric
phenomenon.
And, to my delight, just in time to see solar activity increasing
towards solar maximum several years from now. . I went with a front mounting H-alpha filter, a Lunt LS50F, so I could mount and use it on different telescopes. The 50mm aperture of the filter is quite modest by today's standards, but thus far, an amazing amount of fine structure has been both observed and imaged. . I am particularly interested in studying prominences and filaments, and learning how they work. Recently I have been viewing and imaging their various forms by way of line of sight doppler effect, essentially tuning the filter off line into the blue and red wings of H-alpha, then producing a doppler gram from the resulting images. Though results are not quantitative, they do help to more clearly reveal plasma moving toward and away from viewer line of site. Often prominence and filament plasma viewed in the blue wing will show structure that is not visible in the red wing and vic-versa. I have also begun to experiment with time-lapse videos of prominences like those that excited me so when I was young. The time-lapse animations add a 3rd dimention to views of active plasma along the limb. Particularly exciting are flare related prominences. New, August 20th: I have acquired a Daystar ION 0.8 Angstrom H-alpha filter with a 100mm energy rejection filter. I intend to use the 100mm f/28 system exclusively for solar promience photography. You can see early efforts with the system at http://www.lafterhall.com/solar_prominence_photography.html New, August 30th: Time-lapse video of bubble and plumes in a quiescent prominence at: http://www.lafterhall.com/solar_prominence_bubbles_plumes_28aug2011.html |
Surge prominences
Activated solar prominence and massive arching surge prominence
AR11261, doppler comparison, H-alpha CWL and blue wing filtergrams
AR11260, H-alpha CWL, blue wing and red wing, 25 July 2011
Active Regions AR11263, AR11261 and AR11260, 29 July 2011, H-alpha montage
Time-lapse animation of AR11260, approximately 50 minutes.
Quiescent solar prominence, h-alpha, dopplergram, Lunt LS50F
Quiescent solar prominence, h-alpha, dopplergram, Lunt LS50F
AR11244, quiescent filament, H-alpha, Lunt LS50F
activated solar prominence, erupting prominence, h-alpha filter, Lunt LS50F
AR11236, sunspots, H-alpha filtergram, doppler, H-alpha blue wing, H-alpha red wing, Lunt LS50F
Spray eruptive prominence time-lapse movie, solar astrophotography, Lunt LS50F
Eruptive Prominence and activated prominence, 10 June 2011, solar astrophotography, Lunt LS50F
Spectacular surge and spray prominence activity along the north east limb, 27/28 May 2011
Flare loops in AR11195 time-lapse animation
Flare loop times-lapse animation.
Time-lapse movie of activated prominence over AR11178
Activated solar prominence over AR11178
activated filament, filament eruption, doppler effect, Ha CW, Ha blue wing & red wing, Lunt LS50F
H-alpha filtergrams and dopplergrams of active region filament over AR11180
H-apha filtergrams and dopplergrams of active region filament over AR11176
Solar filament evolution in AR11171
Eruptive prominence and rebounding plasma dropping back into the chromosphere Lunt LS50F
Active Region AR11164 - sunspots, active region filaments, plage, flare
Active filament sequence, AR11164 Lunt LS50F DMK21
active filament and sunspot group, AR11163 & AR11164, blue wing H-alpha, red wing H-alpha, 5400 Angstrom continuum, Lunt LS50F
Flares and surge prominences, lower corona and chromosphere pairs - region at north-east limb that eventually was designated AR11160
Ellerman Bombs in AR11158, blue wing and red wing H-alpha, Lunt LS50F
Massive solar prominence / filament
Solar prominence dopplergram, blue wing and red wing H-alpha
Very active prominence, considerable mixing obvious over a 45 minute period
2.0 Angstrom bandpass composite image of solar prominence, blue wing, centerline and red wing H-alpha
Active region 11140 ans sun spot imaged at centerline H-alpha and -0.5 Angstrom, blue wing
Active region 11142 and dynamic filament, H-alpha center line and -0.5 Angstrom blue wing
Seeing conditions were not a favorable as there were 6 Dec. 2010, see below, but activity in the same southeast region is still very much evident.
Large quiescent prominence, H-alpha centerline, blue and red wing and prominence dopplergram
Prominence dopplergram made up from images shot in blue and red wing H-alpha light
A very active, post eruption prominence from 06 Dec. 2010. Above is the quiescent prominence over a one hour period in H-alpha center line light.
Below are H-alpha prominence dopplergrams made from blue and red wing images, approximately -1.0 and +1.0 Angstrom, respectively.
The dopplergrams clearly show extensive movement of plasma. Velocities reach as much as 50km/sec, line of sight.
Prominence Dopplergram, Blue Wing, Red Wing, H-alpha centerline
Prominence Dopplergram, Blue Wing, Red Wing, H-alpha centerline
Prominence Dopplergram, Blue Wing, Red Wing, H-alpha centerlin
Small flares and surges in a prominence.
Coronal clouds, active prominence over AR11121, quiescent prominences.
Massive quiescent prominence on the western limb, 27 Oct. 2010
Massive quiescent solar prominence on the western limb, 27 Oct. 2010
Coronal 'bomb' sequence, western limb, interactive with outgoing AR11117 & AR11119
Time lapse coronal 'bomb' sequence
Massive quiescent filament near AR11112 - small filament outbursts
Seeing conditions allowed a relatively detailed close up of AR11112 and neighboring quiescent filament
Quiescent prominences and surge prominence, development sequence, Lunt LS50F
Subflare and filament outburst near sunspot in AR11109, Lunt LS50F
Sequence development of quiescent prominence, Lunt LS50F
Doppler effect study of quiescent prominence, Lunt LS50F
Doppler effect study of AR11108 and sunspots, red light continuum, Lunt LS50F
Rapid development and fading of subflare near sunspot in AR11106, sequence, Lunt LS50F
Solar prominences / filaments passing over limb of Sun, Lunt LS50F
Quiescent prominence coming over eastern limb, Lunt LS50F
Active Prominence sequence, Lunt LS50F,
Surge prominences / sub flares, AR11106, Lunt LS50F
Flare and surge prominences
AR11101 and surge prominence, Lunt LS50F
Quiescent filament, doppler effect, Lunt LS50F
A very active quiescent prominence, 12 frame sequence, 22 Aug. 2010
Lunt LS50F, Stellarvue SV102ED @ f/14, DMK21
Coronal rain, single condensation rapid decent, 21 Aug., 2010
Lunt LS50F, Stellarvue SV102ED @ f/14, DMK21
Arching and suspended active prominences along NE and NW limbs. The suspended prominence on NE limb stayed stationary for over 24 hours with little change.
Looping prominences over departing AR11093 and AR11099 along the north west limb, 17 August 2010 UT
Rapidly evolving surge prominences over a period of 12 minutes, 15 August UT
Lots of solar prominence activity, particularly the large and active prominence along the south east limb, 11 August 2010
A very sizable active solar prominence that persisted for several days in early August 2010
A sequence of images showing the development of the active prominences, August 4th through the 5th, 2010
The very rapid outburst of a small eruptive prominence - within minutes the outburst was over
Relatively high resolution close up views of the August 7th, 2010 active prominence - note the numerous sprays and surges
A very active sun - prominences shot with the 66mm f/6 refractor and DMK41 camera - occulting disk was added in post processing
Full disk image of the chromosphere with filaments and sunspot in AR11093
Spectacular eruptive prominence on 29 July, 2010 - portions of the prominence reach a height of 1/3rd solar radius above the limb
29 July, 2010 eruptive prominence - sequence shows two separate regions lifting away from the limb - as the last of the plasma dissipated, bright points of light blinked on and off over periods of minutes
Dynamic Solar Observatory (DSO) video of the coronal mass ejection associated with the eruptive prominence images above.
DSO coronal mass ejection animated GIF (8 Mb)
Very active prominences showed significant structure change over a period of minutes
Prominence at left can be seen straddling the limb with anchor points on the visible chromosphere
Active solar prominence from 10 July 2010
Tenuous cloud prominence
Detached cloud prominence
Small solar flare and resulting surge prominence rising above the chromosphere, 6 frame sequence from 8 July 2010
Doppler effect study of AR11087 in H-alpha
Spectacular eruptive solar prominence from 19 June 2010
Sequence of images showing lift-off of solar prominence, 19 June 2010
Sequence of images of active quiescent prominence, 19 June 2010
A splendid, massive quiescent prominence, 17 June 2010
Quiscent solar prominence
Spectacular quiescent solar prominence, 6 frame sequence over 25 minute period, 5 June 2010
Eruptive solar prominence throws up towering column of plasma, 3 June 2010
Solar active region AR11054, H-alpha centerline, blue and red wings, 13 March 2010
Extended quiescent solar prominence viewed center line and blue wing H-alpha, 25 April 2010
Extended quiescent solar prominence, 29 April 2010
Quiescent solar prominence in the midst of numerous faint surge and spray prominences, 25 April 2010
A solar sub-flare just out of view over the limb sends up a sizable surge prominence, 7 frame sequence from 18 April 2010
Filaments and plages viewed in H-alpha center line, blue and red wing, 24 April 2010
Study of sunspots in AR11057, H-alpha center line and several steps into both blue and red wings of H-alpha, 27 March 2010
Surge and spray prominences associated with developing active region along the solar limb, 13 February 2010
Doppler effect study of AR11045, imaged in the light of H-alpha center line, and, blue and red wing H-alpha, 7 February 2010
Equipment
WARNING! The sun cannot be viewed with just any telescope or pair of binoculars. WARNING!
Very special filters must be used on the telescope to avoid serious eye-damage, or, total loss of eye sight.
 Lunt LS50F SV102ED DMK21 |
Lunt LS50F Hydrogen-alpha filter is used on a 4" ED refractor for close up viewing and imaging. When attached to the 2.5" f/6 ED refractor the system becomes a pseudo prominence telescope, allowing me to image the entire solar disc. A solar wedge system with green continuum filter is used with the 4" refractor for white light viewing and imaging. DMK21 and DMK41 monochrome USB video cameras are used on the equipment pretty exclusively. I seldom view through eyepieces, preferring the considerable flexibility of adjusting the view on the laptop monitor for exposure, gain and gamma. |
 DMK21 DBK21 SV102ED Losmandy GM8 |
The entire system is carried on a Losmandy GM8 mount. Note the small solar finder scope that uses a pinhole to project a tiny solar image on a translucent screen. |
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A roll around computer cart fitted with a dark cloth is used while viewing the laptop monitor. The focusers on both scopes are easy to reach and adjust while still under the cloth. I do need to stand up, though, to tune the H-alpha filter. This is probably as close as I will come to having an observatory.... |
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Two fans are used on the computer cart, one to help cool the laptop (out of view in this image), the other, the white tower, blows air on me. I will shortly replace the black felt with a lighter weight, dull silver cover which will be opaque to sunlight, and be cooler to work under. With the telescope slow motion controls there at the laptop, and comfotably seated, I can spend extended periods of time viewing and imaging both the chromosphere and prominences with either scope, avoiding prolong skin exposure to direct sun. |
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