​On the 29th September 2015 the Sun released a huge solar flare that resulted in a massive explosion from sunspot area AR2422. I set up my Meade 80mm refractor telescope with a glass solar filter attached to the front lens of the scope and took some images of the solar surface at prime focus with a Canon 700D camera. Then I put a 2x barlow lens in the system and took my images.
 
There were 20 images stacked in RegiStack6 and processed in PS CS4, exposures times for the images were 1/640th second and ISO 200. RegiStax6 is very good at stacking solar, lunar and planetary images.

​The H-alpha image was taken with a 80mm Lunt solar telescope using a Canon 700D camera and a 2x Barlow lens.

​~ Sunspot AR2422 crackling with solar flares ~

Information from the Spaceweather.com website on the 29th September, explaining the activity around these dark sunspots on the solar surface.

Dark sunspots like these nearly always course solar flares…so I’m always on the look out for them. What is a solar flare please go NASA’s gsfc website which explains them in detail at:
http://hesperia.gsfc.nasa.gov/sftheory/flare.htm
​

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded this M7.6 category explosion on the 28th September 2015, 29th September (AEST) in Australia. SDO website at: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov

Media release by NASA on the Sept. 25, 2015
 
The Rich Colour Variations of Pluto

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Pluto on July 14, 2015. The image combines blue, red and infrared images taken by the Ralph/Multispectral Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC). Pluto’s surface sports a remarkable range of subtle colors, enhanced in this view to a rainbow of pale blues, yellows, oranges, and deep reds. Many landforms have their own distinct colors, telling a complex geological and climatological story that scientists have only just begun to decode. The image resolves details and colors on scales as small as 0.8 miles (1.3 kilometers).   
 
Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI
http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/the-rich-color-variations-of-pluto

There was this huge ‘hedgerow prominence’ on the solar limb today, a hedgerow prominence is a massive cloud of plasma held aloft by solar magnetic fields. They sometimes look like waterspouts…like this one today.

Image taken on the 18th September 2015 with a Lunt solar telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached. Some information taken from the Spaceweather.com website on the 18th September 2015:

GIANT PROMINENCE: The biggest thing on the sun today is not a sunspot. While most sunspots are about the size of Earth, this enormous prominence measures dwarfs our planet:
 
A "hedgerow prominence" is a massive cloud of plasma held aloft by solar magnetic fields. NASA and Japanese space telescopes have taken high resolution images of similar prominences and seen some amazing things such as (1) tadpole-shaped plumes that float up from the base of the prominence; (2) narrow streams of plasma that descend from the top like waterfalls; and (3) swirls and vortices that resemble van Gogh's Starry Night.

Latest update on the Guinness World Record for Most People Stargazing Across Multiple Sites in a Country. (Australia)
 
As of the 4th September 2015 we are still waiting for confirmation, but as you see from the numbers below Australia has smashed the current record of 3007 from Mexico…but it has to be made official by the Guinness Book of Records.
 
MP Karen Andrews office will let us know as soon as they do, the latest information is from the Facebook site at:  https://www.facebook.com/events/465352910311941/
 
Current tally is 8366 with 38 sites having reporting evidence. There were 3 sites, which were rained out, one site which didn’t meet the Guinness requirements and several which withdrew due to logistical difficulties. We’re still waiting on evidence from other sites, which will be finalised by COB Monday when we submit our evidence pack to Guinness World Records. We’re hoping for confirmation of Australia’s newest world record by Thursday.
 
​Please see a slideshow below of some images that I took on the night. Our Astronomy club had over 25 telescopes for people to look through…thank you to all our members, I was so proud of you all for making it such a wonderful night for everyone, Noeleen :-) 

The Southern Astronomical Society members support the Hon Karen Andrews event for Science Week 2015 with a Guinness Book of Records Stargazing event  on the 21st August 2015
SAS website at http://sas.org.au