The Sun on 19 February 2013

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Nothing special should be read into my use of an OIII filter. I like to use a narrow-band filter with these optics and camera because, even with my solar filter, a lot of light comes through and this reduces the intensity to more manageable values. Also monochromatic light removes any chromatic dispersion that a monochrome camera cannot detect. I have tried both a 12-nm Hα and an SII filter; the former works well but could cause confusion with the very-narrowband filters used to image solar prominences, and the SII filter produces a much weaker image than the OIII.

The whole Sun. Move your mouse pointer over the image to see the designations of the spots.

Date and Time: 19 February 2013 12:20 UT
Camera: Atik-1HS
Telescope: 270 mm SLR with OIII filter
Capture: K3CCDTools. Exposure 1/500", gain 30%, 606 frames
Processing: Registax6. 1 alignment point, 150 frames stacked. Gaussian wavelets Scheme 2.

There are two groups here (see the mouseover). Group 11678 is a new one which appeared only the day before, whereas group 11671 rounded the limb 9 days ago.

My fourth scheme of enhancements in Gaussian wavelets is fairly aggressive and makes the sunspots appear darker than perhaps they were, but this enables us to see more detail in this complex group.

Date and Time: 19 February 2013 12:56 UT
Camera: DMK 21AF04
Telescope: LX200 at Prime Focus and OIII filter
Capture: ICCapture. Exposure 1/120", gain 500, 1732 frames
Processing: Registax6. 2 alignment points, 150 frames stacked per alignment point. Gaussian wavelets Scheme 4.

This is the only other large group visible at the time. The other spots were weak and single and I failed to get anything interesting from them. See my note above about my Wavelet scheme 4.

Date and Time: 19 February 2013 12:59 UT
Camera: DMK 21AF04
Telescope: LX200 at Prime Focus and OIII filter
Capture: ICCapture. Exposure 1/120", gain 431, 1731 frames
Processing: Registax6. 1 alignment point, 150 frames stacked. Gaussian wavelets Scheme 4.

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		The whole Sun. Move your mouse pointer over the image to see the designations of the spots. Date and Time: 19 February 2013 12:20 UT Camera: Atik-1HS Telescope: 270 mm SLR with OIII filter Capture: K3CCDTools. Exposure 1/500", gain 30%, 606 frames Processing: Registax6. 1 alignment point, 150 frames stacked. Gaussian wavelets Scheme 2.
		There are two groups here (see the mouseover). Group 11678 is a new one which appeared only the day before, whereas group 11671 rounded the limb 9 days ago. My fourth scheme of enhancements in Gaussian wavelets is fairly aggressive and makes the sunspots appear darker than perhaps they were, but this enables us to see more detail in this complex group. Date and Time: 19 February 2013 12:56 UT Camera: DMK 21AF04 Telescope: LX200 at Prime Focus and OIII filter Capture: ICCapture. Exposure 1/120", gain 500, 1732 frames Processing: Registax6. 2 alignment points, 150 frames stacked per alignment point. Gaussian wavelets Scheme 4.
		This is the only other large group visible at the time. The other spots were weak and single and I failed to get anything interesting from them. See my note above about my Wavelet scheme 4. Date and Time: 19 February 2013 12:59 UT Camera: DMK 21AF04 Telescope: LX200 at Prime Focus and OIII filter Capture: ICCapture. Exposure 1/120", gain 431, 1731 frames Processing: Registax6. 1 alignment point, 150 frames stacked. Gaussian wavelets Scheme 4.