It was very exciting observing the Sun late yesterday afternoon, as there were some very large active prominences around the solar limb.
 
The one on the northern limb was very fine and looked like it may take off and detach, the other two on the western limb were starting to interact with one another and connect.
 
And to make it more interesting there was another very large active prominence showing itself on the eastern limb…There was also a lot flaring around those two large sunspots AR3296 & AR329 on the solar surface Wow, it’s all very exciting now as we head toward solar maximum!
 
The images were captured with a Lunt 60mm solar scope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached. 20 images were captured one set for the solar disc and one set for the faint prominences and combined in PS CS4.

It was such a beautiful clear day here today that I just had to take some pictures of our Sun :-)

My images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and a Canon 100-400mm lens with 2x tele converter, 20 images were captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS CS4.

​Exposure time was 1/500th second and ISO200.

We had a lovely clear night for this special event, it was quite interesting to see the soft shadow on the Moon as it entered into the Earths penumbra, the outer limb stayed very bright.

The eclipse began at 1.14am, with maximum at 3.22am and ending at 5.31am and visually you could not see much difference in the light on the surface of the Moon until at maximum.

I have taken an image at each phase of the eclipse for the photo montage, I used a Canon 70D camera and a Canon 100-400mm lens with a 2x tele converter attached,  making a focal length of 1280mm. Multiple images were captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

This is my second eclipse in two weeks as I experienced the incredible Total Solar Eclipse on board the P&O Pacific Explorer on the 20th April at Exmouth in Western Australia….Wow, that was so amazing :-)

We are away camping at the moment at Lennox Heads in NSW and this was the view of the full moon rising.
It was just so gorgeous like a golden orb hanging in a deep purple sky.  

We are experiencing some incredible volcanic coloured skies that are just so pretty :-)
​
Looking to the western sky you can see the constellation of Orion going down and Venus to the lower right again in that beautiful dusty coloured sky. Images were taken with a Canon 70D camera a Tamron 18-400mm lens.

On the first day of May there were a few active prominences firing away around the limb of the sun with a nice little arch prominence to the south that was interesting to watch as it wavered in space.

​There was also some solar flare activity around those active sunspots with a new one coming into view on the eastern edge, now designated AR3293.
 
The images were captured with a Lunt 60mm solar scope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached. 30 images were captured one set for the solar disc and one set for the faint prominences and combined in PS CS4.

~ Coloured Sky ~
 
I got a call from my astro friend Tara Williams from Pottsville in NSW to go look outside and look at the sky…Oh Wow, this is what I saw the whole sky was this stunning purple and pink colour, thank you Tara it was awesome!
 
You can also see the constellation of Orion going down in the western sky with the brilliant planet Venus in the lower right of the picture.
 
The colour is produced by fine particles high up in the atmosphere from the Hunga-Tonga eruption that happened back in January 2022. It’s very unpredictable as it comes and goes and can only be seen for about 20 minutes before sunrise or 20 minutes after sunset.
 
Image taken with a Canon Power Shot G7X Mark 11 camera on manual focus that was hand held, with an exposure of 1second and ISO200 :-)

​We were on our flight from Brisbane to Perth to view the solar eclipse at Exmouth when I looked over toward the window and saw this beautiful sunset.
 
I asked the passenger if I could please take some images and this is what I got. I took many images to make sure it wasn’t an artefact with the window or Sun reflections but yes; it’s there in every image so it’s real. Just one of those strange optical illusions that you get when you’re flying high up in the sky.

​I think it may be called a letterbox sunset :-)
 
Isn't flight just amazing, in just over five hours you can go from Brisbane to Perth with a flying distance of 3600km right across Australia from east to west…incredible!

Yay! My husband and I are going on this wonderful cruise to see the eclipse and flying to Perth on the 16th April 2023. We’ll stay a night in Freemantle first before getting on the ship for a 9pm sailing on the 17th April 2023.
 
I’m a bit concerned about being on a moving surface like but I’m sure the ship will stop while the event is happening so we can capture our images. It’s a five-hour flight from one side of Australia to the other but how exciting!!!
 
Totality is only for 58 seconds so if anything happens…blink and you’ll miss it!
Is it worth all the money and trouble to go see it…you bet it is :-))
 
Please see the information on the cruise below; perhaps you may be able to make it too…
 
https://www.pocruises.com.au/cruises/solar-eclipse
 
This once-in-a-lifetime 5-night cruise is an opportunity to view a Hybrid Solar Eclipse that will track over the North West Cape of Western Australia, including Exmouth. Pacific Explorer will be in a prime position to catch a glimpse of the first Hybrid Solar Eclipse to be visible from Australia in 1000 years. Also known as the King of Eclipse’s, our unique vantage point will put us in place to observe the sun, moon and Earth’s discs aligning. Certainly an event not to be missed!

We have invited special presenter partners to entertain and educate you as we cruise up the coast. Professional astronomers from the Astronomical Society of Australia, will give lectures, Q&As and during networking sessions share their knowledge on eclipse and astronomy basics, cutting edge astronomical research occurring in Australia and other special topics. And of course there will be stargazing to explore the Southern sky and cultural knowledge.

​More information can be found at the main Western Australia Government website at:
https://ningalooeclipse.com/
 
https://ningalooeclipse.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Ningaloo-Eclipse-downloadable-booklet.pdf
 
Also at the Gravity Centre in Perth at:
https://gravitycentre.com.au/2023-exmouth-solar-eclipse/
https://gravitycentre.com.au/
​

​I drove up to Mt Tamborine to try and capture an image of Mercury low on the western horizon just after sunset and… Oh Wow, what a wonderful sight it was to see with all the stunning colours of sunset and the fine volcanic particles producing these incredible pink crepuscular rays right across the horizon.
 
As it got darker, I also captured Venus close to the Pleiades star cluster; it was such an awesome evening :-)
 
My images were taken on the 11th April 2023 with a Canon 70D camera and a Tamron 18-400mm lens on a tripod.

This was the beautiful sky that I saw before sunrise, I think the colours are more subdued than the images that I posted on my website and also Spaceweather.com on the morning of the 6th April…but you can still see the result of those volcanic aerosols in the atmosphere :-)
 
Image taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-400mm lens set at 18mm, the exposure time was 1/125th second and ISO200 with the camera on a tripod.