solar_images

Imaging the sun is both rewarding and challenging. Rewarding because it's never exactly the same on two consecutive days and the spots themselves change hourly. Challenging because its heat makes the image unsteady. I focus by using a Taurus Tracker-3, which I preset on a star (at night) using the same filter setup minus the main solar filter which doesn't change focus. To produce a manageable light level, I use a Thousand Oaks Optical type-two solar filter followed by two Custom Scientific ND-1 filters; one in the tracker; the other in the CFW-8 filter wheel. This combination places sunspots within reach. In a four exposure sequence, one image is usually fair to good; a slight haze helps.

	November 15, 1999 (Mercury transit) This sunspot group was prominent when Mercury transited (special images page) and added to the viewing. This group is 200,203 km at its longest dimension. It could easily hold 16 earth sized planets!
	February 18, 2000 (weather milestone) After the most consecutive rainy days in 108 years, we had a clear half day and this spot was visible near the edge. It's just over 20,000km in diameters.
	March 11, 2000 The longest dimension of this group is 3 arc minutes; that's 125,381 km. It is just below naked-eye visibility. Some keen eyed people could probably have seen this spot.
	March 11, 2000 (group two) This is the second group visible on March 11. It was 94,040 km at its longest dimension. It was easily visible in a small scope.
	June 2, 2000 This grouping of spots was near the Sun's edge. It is 84,761 km at its longest dimension. Still not large enough for naked-eye visibility
	June 2, 2000 (central spot) This single sunspot was near the center of the solar disk. it is 84,761 km at it's longest dimension.