Televue Powermate and Big Barlow

New image scale available from here on. I now have a 2" Televue 4x Powermate in tandem with a Televue 2x "Big barlow" and a spacer. The resulting image scale (0.0665 arcsec/pixel) is well beyond what is reasonable for a 6-inch refractor, but having 15 or so pixels across a resolution element (~1 arcsec) allows aggressive removal of the webcam image resampling and compression artifacts. That I am able to get images at this scale at all is due to being fanatical about scattered light in the optical system. I'm now adding false color, which appears to enhance perceived contrast.

AR0076 on August 18, 2002

This is a small spot in its declining phase that swung into view at the eastern limb on August 12 and gradually shrank over succeeding days, finally disappearing around August 22, about three days before reaching the western limb. Notice in this image the nearly complete lack of any penumbra, as well as the grains clogging the umbrae.

AR0079 on August 18, 2002

Click on the thumbnail to see a 1/2 scale image (76 kB). For the full-resolution image (141 kB), click here instead.

AR0050 on July 29, 2002

Click on the thumbnail to see a 1/2 scale image (78 kB). For the full-resolution image (143 kB), click here instead.

AR0036 on July 21, 2002

AR0030 on July 16, 2002

This magnificent complex was easily visible with the unaided (and filtered!) eye.
Click on the thumbnail below to see a 1/2 scale image (104 kB).
For the full-resolution image (206 kB), click here instead.
For a movie clip, click here (.avi, 3.3 MB, 63 seconds, 320x240 at 10 f/s; reduced from the original 680 MB recording done at 640x480 and 5 f/s).

AR0008 and AR0016 on June 29, 2002

AR9973 on June 1, 2002

AR9934 on May 4, 2002

1.25-inch Herschel Wedge

I now have a 1.25-inch Herschel wedge from INTES (Ukraine).  From here on, solar images will be aquired with this instead of the Baader solar film filter.  The views are much better contrast with the wedge.

Jupiter and Io on March 8, 2002

Jupiter and Io, 6-inch (150mm) refractor, on a heavily-overcast night just before the clouds shut things down.

Jupiter and company on March 1, 2002

Jupiter, Io, and Europa, 6-inch (150mm) refractor.

evolution of AR9800

AR9800 showing rapid evolution over 24 hours (January 26 and 27, 2002)
A 14-second movie of AR9800 on January 27, 2002, illustrating the effects of atmospheric seeing. Note the waves passing from left to right, due to an upper-level disturbance passing over the region.

1.7 MB .avi
2.2 MB .mpg

The AVI file is better quality than the MPG. The 10 fps video is a stretched, blurred (to remove pixel defects due to Philips driver interpolation problems), sharpened, and highly compressed copy of the original AVI captured at the telescope. Observation details are the same as for the Jan. 27 still frame shown above. Orientation of the movie is South up, West to the left.

AR9787 on January 26 and 27, 2002

AR9801 on January 26, 2002