On September 19,
2004, the SVAA defied major flooding to gather at the Bucknell
Observatory for a session with the DayStar University Series 0.7Å
hydrogen-alpha filter on the Clark refractor. Our attention was
first drawn to a large flame-shaped prominence.
(Afocal photograph with an Olympus 2040Z, hand-held.)
(Afocal photograph with an Olympus 2040Z, hand-held.)
There
were other, smaller prominences scattered around the disc, such as this
interesting shape,
and an interesting S-shaped
filament near a sunspot group. (Unfortunately, the surface of the
sun didn't photograph well with our primitive attempts.) After
well over an hour with everyone taking turns at the eyepiece, the
largest prominence was still present almost unchanged
(if anything, it had grown
slightly, with some faint extensions which couldn't be photographed due
to the overwhelming brightness of the sun's face.)
Chris Provost attempted prime-focus photography with his Meade LPI (Lunar/Planetary Imager), a tiny CCD camera with a USB interface,
but once again the lack of contrast proved an insurmountable issue.
Chris Provost attempted prime-focus photography with his Meade LPI (Lunar/Planetary Imager), a tiny CCD camera with a USB interface,
Before closing the dome, we
removed the H-alpha filter and attached the old eyepiece-projection rig,
which gave us a good view of the
two small sunspot groups that were present.
