The sunspot is now looking very small in the 127mm refractor telescope as it rotates towards the western limb of the Sun on the 11th June 2020. During this afternoon observing session I was racing against time as cloud was coming all across the western sky.
 
After taking some images with the refractor I quickly removed it off the Pro HEQ5 mount and replaced it with the Lunt 60mm solar telescope to try and capture some images in Ha. (I always use this tracking mount when using both these telescopes)
 
It was really lucky to get a break in the cloud to capture just two AVI movie movies of the area with the Ha telescope before the whole sky clouded over and that was that…no more observing!
 
The white light image was taken with a 127mm refractor telescope that was fitted with a glass solar filter and using a Canon 700D camera.

​Just one image was captured with an exposure time of 1/320h second and ISO400.  The Ha image was taken with the Lunt solar telescope and a ZWO ASI120MC-S camera attached capturing an AVI movie file and stacking in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4.

It was quite late in the afternoon by the time I could finally take an image of this new sunspot on the surface of the Sun. I was having a lot of trouble trying to get some close detail on the sunspot and really could not understand why?
 
After packing up, I looked up towards Mt Tamborine and saw the reason why, a huge forest burn off was taking place and a large plume of smoke was spreading across the western sky. Because of where my telescope was setup between the two houses I was unable to see this smoke, Oh well, at least I was lucky enough to got some images of the sunspot even though they were a bit smoke affected :-)
 
My images were taken on the 5th June 2020, with a 10inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that was fitted with a glass solar filter and using a ZWO ASI120MC-S camera with a focal reducer attached. The full disc image was taken with a Canon 700D camera, exposure time was 1/500th second and ISO200, 12 images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. The sunspot looked quite small on the full disc of the Sun.

This new sunspot is from the next Solar Cycle 25, please read more about this from
​Dr Tony Phillips who pens the excellent website Spaceweather.com
https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2019/12/25/reversed-polarity-sunspots-appear-on-the-sun/
 
Another site to keep a daily eye on the Sun is NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) at: https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov

When I looked out my window late this morning, I saw this most amazing colourful ring right around the Sun. I flew downstairs, grabbed my camera and ran outside to capture it before it disappeared. I tried to block out some of the bright Sun with a wild grass plant that I found in the garden and it worked perfectly J
 
There is a lot of science behind one of these 22-degree halos around the Sun and for it to be displayed for us to see there has to be the right shape and size ice crystals in the sky. I’m always on the look out for them when this high cirrostratus cloud in covering the sky, you also can see a lunar halo when the Moon is in a larger phase…. so as I always say keep looking up, you never know what you’ll find!
 
To find out more please go to a couple of informative websites below:
Les Cowley, Atmospheric Optics website at:
https://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/circular.htm
​
There is an excellent explanation and diagrams on how a Sun Halo is produced on the
WW2010 University of Illinois website at:
http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/opt/ice/halo/22.rxml

Image taken with a Canon G7x Mark11 on manual focus, with ISO125 and exposure time of 1/200th second.
(Be very careful not to look directly at the Sun, use your camera screen to safely compose the shot)

I could not believe my eyes when I looked outside late yesterday afternoon and saw this most beautiful rainbow in the sky; it was so vivid in colour and right before my eyes a double bow developed. As I moved around the garden I could see its reflection in the water…it was just stunning!
 
I had to keep running inside to change lenses to capture the whole rainbow and finally settled on my Tokina fisheye 10-17mm lens set on 10mm to capture the double rainbow. When I went out onto the boat pontoon I was so surprised to see that the reflection in the water made a full circle rainbow…how cool was that :-)
 
Images were taken on the 24th May using a Canon 70D camera and assortment of lenses grabbed very quickly from my camera bag using a Canon 10-20mm lens & Tokina fisheye lens.

To find out more about rainbows please go our own
​Australian Government Bureau of Metrology (BOM) website at:
http://media.bom.gov.au/social/blog/899/ask-bom-how-do-rainbows-form/

I was on my way home when I saw these amazing coloured iridescent clouds in the sky and just had to stop the car to take some photos.
 
These clouds were very dramatic with some remarkable shapes, including one that looked like it was breaking free to fly across the sky…with some of our home restrictions being lifted now from COVID-19 that’s exactly the way I’m feeling too :-)
 
Cloud iridescence is an optical phenomenon caused by sunlight scattering through the small ice crystals in the clouds; you can also see the Sun in both of the images that is the source of this beautiful display.
 
The images were taken with a Canon G7X Mark11 camera on manual focus, both with ISO125 and exposures of 1/1250th second & 1/1000th second.

In these difficult times with the Corona virus you just have to look for the beauty in all things, while looking at the water yesterday morning I saw all these beautiful little Suns being reflected in the water and it made me smile at how beautiful they were :-)
 
They are called Sun glitters and I took the image with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens. I had to do a very fast exposure to capture the Sun sparkle at 1/2000th second and set the aperture at F29, ISO640.
 
I’m always looking out on how the Sun is interplaying around me and if I find any more wonderful things I’ll share them with you…please keep safe and happy…
 
TO find out more about this phenomenon please go to a couple of websites:
https://psl.noaa.gov/outreach/education/pdf/glitter.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_glitter

~ Our Sun on 20_02_2020 ~
 
I just had to take a photo of our Sun today for this special numerical date of the 20th of February 2020, because it’s such an awesome date to remember the year when solar minimum occurred…. and Yes, the Sun’s still ever so quite and spotless today :-)
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm Tamron lens with a 2x converter (focal length 1280mm) with a glass solar filter attached to the lens for safe solar imaging. The exposure time was 1/400th second and ISO 320, 10 images stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4.

To read more about our quite Sun and solar minimum please go to this excellent article written by Dr Tony Phillips from Spaceweather.com
https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2019/12/17/sunspots-set-a-space-age-record/
 
If your are interested in keeping an eye on what the Suns doing daily, then please go to NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory website at:
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Goddard Space Flight Centre has just released two YouTube videos to celebrate
​SDO’s 10th Anniversary of watching the Sun.
Please see below the short video...'SDO Celebrates a Decade of Watching Sun'

Below is the longer and informative video called
‘Highlights From SDO’s 10 years of Solar Observation’
 
In February 2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — SDO — is celebrating its 10th year in space. Over the past decade the spacecraft has kept a constant eye on the Sun, studying how the Sun creates solar activity and drives space weather — the dynamic conditions in space that impact the entire solar system, including Earth.
 
Since its launch on Feb. 11, 2010, SDO has collected millions of scientific images of our nearest star, giving scientists new insights into its workings. SDO’s measurements of the Sun — from the interior to the atmosphere, magnetic field, and energy output — have greatly contributed to our understanding of our closest star. SDO’s images have also become iconic — if you’ve ever seen a close-up of activity on the Sun, it was likely from an SDO image.

~ Solstice Sun ~

Today is the summer solstice here in Australia, this is a time when we have the hottest weather and the longest day of the year, unlike the people who live in the northern hemisphere who today are experiencing there shortest day of the year and it’s probably very cold…isn’t our world an amazing place!
 
I took this image at 2.30pm this afternoon through quite a lot of smoke haze with the surrounding landscape having a soft yellow hue that was filtering down from the sky.
 

I couldn’t help myself, but the Sun looked so bland that I decided to have a bit of fun and made a
​ ‘Sunny Christmas Bauble’ to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year :-)
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and an 18-400mm lens with a 2x teleconverter. There were eight images stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4. The exposure times were 1/100th second and ISO 500.

​~ Spotless Sun on the 19th December 2019 ~

​I have not taken many images of the Sun lately because it’s been so quite and the surface just so bland to look at.

But when I read on Spaceweather.com that the sunspot inactivity has now broken an all time space record, then I just had to get the camera out and record the event…and Yes, as you can see from my image, it’s still spotless :-)
 
We are now really and truly in the mist of solar minimum and one of the deepest since solar records began!
 
I've also captured a beautiful sunset photo today and because of the smoke haze there are all these awesome colours on display...very pretty.

SUNSPOTS BREAK A SPACE AGE RECORD: Solar Minimum is becoming very deep indeed. Over the weekend, the sun set a Space Age record for spotlessness. So far in 2019, the sun has been without sunspots for more than 270 days, including the last 33 days in a row. Since the Space Age began,
​no other year has had this many blank suns.
 
The previous record-holder was the year 2008, when the sun was blank for 268 days. That was during the epic Solar Minimum of 2008-2009, formerly the deepest of the Space Age. Now 2019 has moved into first place. 
Solar Minimum is a normal part of the 11-year sunspot cycle. The past two (2008-2009 and 2018-2019) have been long and deep, making them "century-class" Minima. To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days.
Last week, the NOAA/NASA Solar Cycle Prediction Panel issued a new forecast. Based on a variety of predictive techniques, they believe that the current Solar Minimum will reach its deepest point in April 2020 (+/- 6 months) followed by a new Solar Maximum in July 2025.
​This means that low sunspot counts and weak solar activity could continue for some time to come.

Solar Minimum definitely alters the character of space weather. Solar flares and geomagnetic storms subside, making it harder to catch Northern Lights at mid-latitudes. Space weather grows "quiet." On the other hand, cosmic rays intensify. The sun's weakening magnetic field allows more particles from deep space into the solar system, boosting radiation levels in Earth's atmosphere. Indeed, this is happening now with atmospheric cosmic rays at a 5-year high and flirting with their own Space Age record. It's something to think about the next time you step on an airplane. Stay tuned for updates!
https://spaceweather.com/

This is what our skies are like here at the moment; the sky is full of dust and smoke from our severe drought out west and all the bushfires.  Our fire fighters are doing an incredible job of saving homes and many people are out helping our beautiful wildlife, which are also suffering in this 40C degree heat.
 
At last, thank goodness rain is forecast in the next couple of days, in the mean time it does make for some incredibly fiery sunset displays, even the water looks like it’s on fire!
 
Images were taken from Jabiru Island Park at Paradise Point with a Canon G7 X Mark 11 camera on manual focus; exposure was 1250th second and ISO125.