I took these images of the Sun late yesterday afternoon with the little Seestar S50 smart telescope. I just love the detail it shows on the surface of the Sun. The active Regions AR 3790, 3792 & 3799 are quite large and active and may have a high change of producing a CME in the next couple of days…Images taken with Seestar S50 with attached solar filter, 20 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed n PS at full disc, 2x settings.
 
Sunspot numbers at a 20 year high as reported on Spaceweather.com on the 23rd August 2024.

SUNSPOT NUMBERS AT A 20-YEAR HIGH: For the second month in a row, the monthly-average sunspot number is cruising toward a 20-year high. The current value, around 230, would eclipse every month since Sept. 2001, which occured during the peak of old Solar Cycle 23. The current cycle (Solar Cycle 25) was not supposed to be this strong, and it may become even stronger before Solar Max is finished.

​Please read more at:
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=23&month=08&year=2024

~ The Sun: Our Spectacular Star at Runaway Bay Library ~
 
I had a wonderful time at the Runaway Bay Library presenting one of my lectures on our amazing star the Sun. This topic is very close to my heart as I’m an avid solar observer and I was able to share all my solar experiences with everyone who came along to the presentation.
 
These included showing all my images of the Sun, solar eclipses and beautiful aurora along with rare pictures of the two transits of Venus.
 
Everybody learnt how dynamic the Sun really is and how safely they can observe solar events themselves with the right equipment.
 
A great time was had by all and thanks you again to the librarians from the Runaway Bay Library who provided a safe and happy place for the event.
 
Please find some photos below from the evening, happy and safe solar observing, Noeleen Lowndes :-D

​~ The most sunspots on surface of Sun for Cycle 25 on the 10th August 2024 ~
With huge sunspot group AR3780
 
Today the solar surface has so many sunspots on its surface with the huge sunspot AR 3780 featuring prominently near the centre of the Sun.

My images were captured with a ZWO SeeStar S50 smart telescope with the solar filter attached, 20 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.
 
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has just made this statement below….Wow!
https://www.noaa.gov/
 
SOLAR CYCLE 25 LIKELY REACHED THE HIGHEST SUNSPOT NUMBER IN OVER 20 YEARS:
​published: Friday, August 09, 2024 18:27 UTC
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/solar-cycle-25-likely-reached-highest-sunspot-number-over-20-years
 
Solar Cycle 25 likely reached the highest sunspot number yet - a value of at least 299. The Space Weather Predicition Center (SWPC) non-official, estimated daily sunspot number for August 8th was 337, a value not observed since March 2001.
 
However, the official SSN is determined by the World Data Center - Sunspot Index and Long-Term Solar Observations (WDC-SILSO) and it's Solar Influences Data Center (SIDC) at the Royal Observatory in Belgium; and their initial daily estimate for August 8th was 299.
 
They will report out the official number by September 1st.
​Visit their webpage at: https://www.sidc.be/SILSO/home and as always visit our webpage for the latest space weather information and forecasts.

Today there are many more sunspots on the Suns surface; activity is really firing up now with every day new sunspots developing, it’s very exciting!
 
White light images taken with a Seestar S50 telescope with a solar filter attached, 15 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.
 
Information below is from Spaceweather.com on the 29th July 2024.
https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=29&month=07&year=2024
 
SOLAR ACTIVITY IS HIGH: Sunspot complex AR3765-67 is crackling with strong flares--and they're getting stronger. An impulsive X1.5 flare this morning at 0237 UT caused a deep shortwave radio blackout over Japan, southeast Asia and Australia (map).
 
CANNIBAL CME ALERT: A series of M-class flares over the weekend hurled multiple CMEs toward Earth. According to a NOAA model, the first two CMEs merged to form a potent Cannibal CME. Strong G3-class geomagnetic storms are possible when it reaches Earth on July 30th.

It’s a lovely clear day here today for observing our beautiful Star, lots of small sunspots are sprinkled all over the solar surface with two larger active groups AR 3751 & AR 3759 in the centre of the solar disc.
 
White light images taken with a Seestar S50 telescope with a solar filter attached,
​15 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 and processed in PS.

I woke up very early to find that our bedroom was bathed in a soft red light; I jumped out of bed and looked outside to see this glorious red coloured dawn sky…Wow!
 
I ran quickly downstairs to grab my iPhone and flew outside to capture some images before it faded into the morning light.
 
What a beautiful sight to behold, the colours were amazing, now for some science :-)

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

Rayleigh and Mie (Extract of article)
Some of the most picturesque clouds occur close to sunrise and sunset, when they appear in brilliant yellows, oranges, and reds. The colors result from a combination of Rayleigh and Mie scattering.
 
At sunrise and sunset, the Sun is low in the sky, and its light passes close to the Earth’s surface where the atmosphere is most dense. As light enters the atmosphere at this angle, it refracts with the greatest bend due to this higher density, causing the light's path to lengthen, further allowing for more Rayleigh scattering.
 
Most of the shorter blue wavelengths are scattered on this longer path, leaving the majority of longer waves to continue. As light continues to move through the atmosphere, yellow wavelengths are scattered leaving orange wavelengths.
 
Further scattering of orange wavelengths leaves red as the predominant color of sunlight.
Therefore, near sunrise and sunset, a cloud's color will be whatever sunlight color it receives after Rayleigh scattering. Mei scattering scatters all remaining wavelength colors equally within the cloud.
 
To continue reading more please go to the NOAA link below:
https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/clouds/color-of-clouds
​

~ Morning Glory the sounds and beauty of dawn ~

~ The solar surface with large sunspot AR 3738 on the 12th July 2024 ~
Images taken with SeeStar telescope with solar filter

Oh my, I took my first images of the Sun with the little ZWO ‘Seestar S50’ smart telescope and all I can say is Wow!
 
The detail on the surface of the Sun (with attached solar filter) is quite amazing for such a small instrument;
you can also zoom in to 2x & 4x as shown with AR 3738 in the image posted.
 
I’m comparing this to a 80mm or 127mm refractor! Not only are the sunspots more detailed, within just a few minutes the unit had found the Sun and I was taking images without all the work of aligning a telescope mount and attaching a camera.
 
But there is a down side to this little telescope; the captured images are very small file sizes at only on average 100 KB (1920 x 1080) resolution, which is a shame.
 
I had to download the JPG images from the iPhone to the computer, then did my normal processing of stacking 15 images in RegiStax6 and processing them in PS. (I’ll also need to learn how to capture a AVI movie file)
 
Will I use it again to take pictures of the Sun, you bet I will because of the clear detail it shows on the solar surface, its portability and quick setup time.
​
​It’s a little beauty and will add greatly to my love of observing our Sun in white light  :-)

With the (Ha) solar scope there was a lovely arch prominence firing away on the lower eastern limb of the Sun late this afternoon with quite a few wispy prominences all around the whole solar limb.

In the little white light refractor telescope you could see a completely different view with lots of small sunspots sprinkled across the solar surface. Sunspot AR 3727 & AR 3719 that are at opposite sides of the Sun look like twins as they are the same size and shape as one another…. quite surprising to see two sunspots that look so alike!

The white light image was taken with Orion 80mm refractor telescope with glass solar filter attached and a Canon 700D camera plus 2x Barlow lens. The Ha images were taken with a Lunt 60mm solar telescope and a Canon 700D camera with a 2x Barlow lens.

~ Imaging equipment (Ha) Lunt solar telescope & Orion 80mm refractor with Canon 700D plus 2x barlow lens ~

~ Large Sunspots AR3712, 3713 & 3716 on western limb of Sun 23rd June 2024 ~
 
Those three large sunspot groups have now rotated toward the western limb of the Sun. There was a lot of cloud late this afternoon and I just managed to get these images with the little refractor telescope, by the time I got the Lunt (Ha) telescope set up the sky had completely clouded out!

Oh dear, I did see some great activity on the surface of the Sun in (Ha) but was not quick enough to capture it!
 
The white light images of the Sun was taken with a small Orion 80mm refractor telescope and a Canon 700D camera plus 2x Barlow lens, exposures were 1/500th second and ISO200, 25 images captured and stacked in RegiStax6 processed in PS.

~ Starry Starry Night with Savvy Seniors at Helensvale Library ~
21st June 2024 from 10.30 to 11.30 am
 
Helensvale Library
62 Sir John Overall Drive
Helensvale 4212
 
Presented by Noeleen Lowndes from the Southern Astronomical Society.

On Friday the 21st June, I had a lovely morning with the Savvy Seniors at the Helensvale Library giving them an Astronomy and Space presentation.
 
I’m pretty sure everyone will get their star charts and planetary Apps out over the next month and see what they can find in the night sky.
 
Thank you to Cathie the Helensvale librarian for inviting me to share my love of the night sky with your patrons :-)
 
To help you on your way in discovering the Cosmo please go to my Astro Links page at: https://www.mystardustobservatory.com/astro-links.html
 
FREE Star Charts at Sky Maps.com
*** Please check your latitude and download the current Sky Map ***
(e.g. I’m in the Southern Hemisphere so that is the star chart I download)
https://www.skymaps.com/downloads.html

The planetary Apps to find your way around the night sky are:
Sky Chart and Stellarium download both Apps for Free from the App store.
 
To find out more about this very friendly group of people
please see the details below with the link to the Gold Coast Libraries website.
 
https://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/libraries/Whats-on/Savvy-Seniors-858613695677
​NOTE: No need to book, just drop by on the third Friday of each month and enjoy!