Sunspot Region AR2651

Testing the pier mounted 127mm Meade Apo-refractor with white light filter. Observed double sunspot on the solar limb - believe this to be Sunspot Region AR2651(false colour)

"The gusting wind and high level hazy cloud, together with the sunspots' location close to the solar limb, made imaging this region problematic.  The pier dampers performed well and were effective in reducing the vibrations created by the wind.  The intermittent cloud however, prevented sharp images of the sunspots being aquired.  The white light filter had not been used since the 'Transit of Mercury' observations and is in need of some urgent refurbishment before further use.  This priority work will be undertaken by our dexterous 'Observatory Instrumentation Engineer and Associate Astronomer' - Jolene McSquint " - Kurt Thrust - current Director of the Jodrell Plank Observatory.

Widefield view of Sunspot Region AR2561 (false colour)

Enlarged view of  spots with faculae showing as brighter surface areas (false colour)

 

Image of the Earth added to show the scale of AR2651. Most spots range in size from about 1,500 km (932 miles) to around 50,000 km (31,068 miles) in diameter. Once in a while, huge sunspots the size of Jupiter show up on the Sun's surface.

The last three above images have benefitted from the applied skills of the Observatory's ' Imaging Team Leader' -  Pipp Stakkert.