It was a bit of a challenge getting photos of the Sun today as there was a lot of cloud in the sky, but I did it…that long Filament was just huge and those prominences on the limb looked spectacular.
 
Information on Spaceweather.com states its over 370,000 km long…Wow! The monochrome image is just 20 single images stacked in RegiStax6; it shows the delicate prominences in much more detail than the colour images…
 
My photos were taken with a Lunt 60mm solar telescope and a Canon 700D with a 2x Barlow lens attached. Two sets of images were captured at different exposures and stacked in RegiStax6 and combined in PS. I used the monochrome setting in the camera for the black and white image.

I’m posting this small video below to show you the beautiful prominences that were so active on the north western limb of the Sun today. The bright pink colour is just the coloured camera’s sensor being saturated with too much light, but as you can see it captures the faint prominences. (I was lucky to get these images because of all the clouds)

What a difference to see the Sun in a different wavelength of light. I know a lot of people cannot afford a dedicated (Ha) solar telescope but it’s just mind-blowing how much more activity and surface detail you can see with one of these specialised telescope.  I could not afford a new one, so I took the risk and brought a second hand one and I’ve not been happier :-D
 
Yesterday I posted a white light image and all you can see are just the Sunspots on the surface of the Sun with no activity.
 
My Lunt solar telescope is only 60mm in aperture, but the solar view is truly awesome...the Sun is one of those astronomical objects that can change in real time while your observing it, and that’s extremely exciting to see.
 
The (Ha) images were two sets of 20 images each, one set for the solar disc at 1/320th second exposures and ISO200 & the other set for the faint prominences at 1/15th second and ISO200.
 
All the images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed and combined in PS. The monochrome image is not combined just 25 images stacked with exposure of 1/30th second and ISO800, you can see a lot more detail in the prominences with this image as it’s not a composite photo.

There was a sprinkling of small Sunspots all over the surface of the Sun late yesterday afternoon at 4pm. I’ve also taken some (Ha) images with my Lunt solar scope and will post soon)
 
This image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens with a 2x teleconverter attached making a focal length of 1280mm. The lens was fitted with a glass solar filter for safe imaging of the Sun.
 
DANGER: Please do not look at the Sun with your camera lens or telescope without a properly fitted solar filter on the objective!
 
Twenty images were captured with an exposure time of 1/400th second and ISO 200, then they were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

Dawn Planets…Wow!
 
Oh Wow...what a magnificent sight it was before dawn this morning, with all the planets lined up on the ecliptic. You can clearly see little Mercury low on the horizon; I had to twist the camera and myself around to go high up the sky at the zenith near the palm trees to capture Saturn but Yay! I got it :-D
 
Those stunning colours are from the fine volcanic aerosols high up in our atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga eruption that happened last January…. the first image was taken an hour before sunrise at 5.35am and the second image at 5.50am, 45 minutes before sunrise, this is when the colours are at there most vibrant.
 
My first image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tokina 11-16mm lens @15mm; the exposure was 10 seconds and ISO400. The second image was taken with a Tokina 10-17mm fisheye lens @10mm with an exposure of 8 seconds and ISO200.

~ I used a fisheye lens so I could capture all the planets right up to the zenith on the ecliptic  ~

I woke up very early this morning and jumped straight out of bed, looked out my bedroom window and saw Venus shining brilliantly in the predawn sky. It was embedded in that volcanic dawn sky with all those incredible colours…. I was so excited :-D
 
At 5.30am here in Australia it’s still quite dark as it’s winter time, but all around and up the eastern horizon in a high broad halo you could see that gorgeous deep orange glow from these volcanic particles that are high up in our atmosphere…. it was just stunning! I also took one image of Venus reflecting on the water and a bit lower down in the picture you can just make out the elusive planet Mercury.
 
My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens set on 18mm with ISO 200 and numerous exposures times.
 
*** Tara Williams from NSW *** In answer to your question from yesterday on Spaceweather.com: I did notice that this coloured twilight glow is extending right around the horizon, but it’s ever so faint in the western sky…now that’s very interesting!
 
Thank you for asking that question, as I would never have thought about looking in the opposite direction. I’m also capturing ripples in my images even through the sky is perfectly clear, another interesting observation!!!
 
Maybe we can blame this very unusual cold weather on these volcanic particles too ; -)

The video below was taken with my Canon 70D camera at 6.16am just 20 minutes before sunrise. The golden colours were magnificent just like liquid gold; you can still make out bright Venus in the eastern sky.
~ It was breathtakingly beautiful ~

Wow! The sky last night was just spectacular with the whole western and north-western sky aglow with a halo of bright orange light. Everyone out walking was looking up at the sky and taking pictures…the colour was even more vivid than the last images that I’ve been posting here over the last couple of days :-)
 
This volcanic dust is from the Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption that happened back in January and it seems to have settled up high in our atmosphere here in the Southern Hemisphere…. I’ve noticed that the particles must be very fine as the stars shine through the material, unlike when there’s a bush fire and the sky is very opaque. 
 
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2022/sun/nasa-mission-finds-tonga-volcanic-eruption-effects-reached-space
 
 My images were taken at 6.pm an hour after sunset with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens set at 18mm. The first image is an exposure of 4 seconds and ISO 200; second image is an exposure of 6 seconds and ISO 200.  

We had another beautiful clear evening here last night to capture those glorious colours in the western sky that are produced by the volcanic aerosols high up the atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga eruption. These images were taken an hour after sunset at 6.00pm and you can see that arc of material clearly across and up the western sky.
 
The first image is looking directly west and you can see Canis Major with the bright star Sirius and the fainter constellation of Canis Minor with Procyon.
 
The second image is panning around to the northern sky to capture the waxing crescent Moon that’s also in the halo of the volcanic dust with Canis Minor and the constellation Gemini.
 
The orientation of the constellations must look strange to everyone who lives in the Northern Hemisphere, as we see them here in the Southern Hemisphere upside down, we truly do live in the land down under ;-)
 
Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-400mm set at 18mm on a camera tripod with ISO 200 and 6-second exposure (1st Image) and 3.2-second exposure (2nd images).

​We had our first full day of sunshine after many weeks of rain to take a lovely picture of the Sun with my Lunt solar telescope.
 
There were some lovely prominences firing away on the western limb with one of them arcing out into space and curving back toward the limb. You can see the sunspots AR3023, 3024, 3026 & 3027 all nearing the western of the solar surface.
 
The images were taken with a Lunt 60mm PT solar telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached.
 
(Two sets of 20 images were taken with two different exposures to capture the solar disc and the faint prominences and then those two images were combined in PS)

This was the breathtaking view after sunset this evening, with the sky ablaze with the most brilliant orange colours caused by those aerosols high up in our atmosphere from the volcanic Hunga-Tonga eruption.
 
(Observation) I've noticed that these volcanic particles are so fine that you can view the stars, planets and Moon quite clearly through the material, unlike when terrestrial dust or bushfire particles are scattered in the air that blocks out the starlight.
 
The most vibrant colours are always seen about 45 minutes after the Sun has set and can be anywhere from bright orange to glorious pinks and purples…. tonight we were treated with fiery orange :-o
 
My image was taken at 6.00pm (AEST) with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens set at 18mm, the exposure was 3.2 seconds and ISO400…It looks like Tara Williams in NSW has also seen and photographed this beautiful coloured sky tonight and yes Tara… they were indeed insane!  :-D

****************
~ Observing these volcanic aerosols from the Hunga-Tonga eruption ~
 
Peter Lowenstein from Mutare, Zimbabwe, Tara Williams from NSW, Australia and myself are continuing to post our observation on Spaceweather.com of this phenomenon that’s occurring in our Southern Hemisphere skies.
https://www.spaceweather.com

We are hoping that these observations and images may help any scientific community that may be monitoring these volcanic aerosols…. please contact me on my contact page if you are interested in our observations and I will pass on your details to the other observers, Noeleen 
​
 *********************************************************

This is the first clear sunset sky that I’ve seen in over three weeks and what a lovely surprise to see such stunning colours from those volcanic aerosols that are still in the atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption.  You can see the full constellation of Orion within these coloured particles.

I’ve also notice that Tara Williams in NSW and Peter Lowenstein from Zimbabwe have also posted their observations of these volcanic aerosols on Spaceweather.com over the last couple of days…Hello to the both of you :-)
​
My Images were taken at my dark sky site at Leyburn where I have my Stardust Observatory with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm lens, with a 4 second and 6 second exposure and ISO200.

A short video with my Canon 70D camera of the volcanic coloured sky taken an hour after the sun had set.