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.

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.

​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/
​

~ Volcanic Sunset cruising past the volcanic basalt plugs of the Glass House Mountains 5th March 2023 ~
 
On Sunday the 5th March 2023 at 4pm we left the port of Brisbane on the cruise ship Carnival Luminosa and by 6.30pm we were cruising past the magnificent north QLD coastline where can see the many volcanic mountains of the Glass House Mountains.
 
It was so fitting to see the volcanic coloured sunset with these ancient craggy volcanic remnants in the foreground that formed from volcanic activity over 25 million years ago. Captain Cook named these mountains when he explored the eastern coast of Australia in 1770, the peaks reminded him of glass kilns in his native Yorkshire.
 
Some of the mountain pecks on show that I've named in my photo are Mount Beerwah, Mount Coonowrin (Crookneck), Mount Ngungun, Mount Tibberoowuccum and Mount Tibrogargan.

To find out more about this incredible area go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_House_Mountains
 
On our cruise we were lucky enough to have a balcony cabin, the ship was going quite fast but the sea was calm so I was very lucky to be able to capture these beautiful sunset images :-)

​As an added bonus as it good darker, Jupiter and Venus made an appearance with some pink crepuscular rays from the volcanic dust.
 
I’ve made up a slideshow below to show all the different colours the sky went through from 6.30pm until 6.50pm.
 
All images were taken with a Canon 70D camera and Tamron 18-400mm lens that was on a tripod
from the balcony of the ship.

~ The (Ha) Sun with solar filaments, sunspots and active prominences on 26th February 2023 ~
 
On the 25th February a magnetic filament connected to sunspot AR3229 near the northern limb of the sun erupted producing a reaction of events that could lead to a geomagnetic storm on Earth in the next couple of days. (Information from Spaceweather.com)
 
This is image of the Sun in (Ha) on the 26th February with some of that activity still present on the surface with prominences around the solar limb and some dark filaments on the surface.
 
There was also activity around AR 3234 to the north in the middle of the Sun and another area in the south AR 3236.
 
This image was taken with my Lunt 60mm solar telescope with a Canon 700D camera. The colour image is a composite with two sets of exposures to capture the disc and the faint prominences that were combined in PS; the exposures were 1/320th and ISO 100.

​The monochrome image was taken with an exposure of 1/200th and ISO800.

Credit: NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory
https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov

~ Solar flare AR3217 ~
 
While observing the Sun early yesterday morning I saw a sudden brightening from sunspot AR 3217 that produced a solar flare.  It didn’t last for very long, but I managed capture it, the previous image taken in monochrome just 5 minutes before do not have that bright activity.
 
There were also quite a few active prominences all around the limb with a small looping prominence not far from AR 3217, the Suns so exciting to observe at the moment as we head toward solar maximum.
 
Images taken with a Lunt (PT) 60mm solar telescope, Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached. Twenty images were capture with an exposure of 1/200th second and ISO200. Images stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS. Monochrome images, exposure time was 1/125th second and ISO800 with the same processing.
 
The white light image was taken with a Canon 70D camera and Canon 100-400mm lens with 2x teleconverter making a focal length of 1280mm, a glass solar filter was fitted to lens for safe viewing and imaging.

There was a lot of high level cloud in the western sky late this afternoon when I took these images, I was so surprised to capture this much detail on the surface of the Sun.
 
There were many long filaments and the new sunspots AR 3214 & AR 3213 looked very active, there was also a nice prominence on the western limb.
 
Images taken with a Lunt (PT) 60mm solar telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens attached. Twenty images were capture with an exposure of 1/200th second and ISO200.

​Images were stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS. Monochrome images, exposure time was 1/125th second and ISO800 with the same processing.