Bin scanned the sun at 17:50 local time (22:50 GMT) in clear conditions
but didn't see any sunspots.
June 3rd
I arrived back in England the day before and ventured out with my binoculars
at 00:45 (23:45 GMT). There was thin cloud near the horizon in most places
but the near first quarter moon showed well in the west, with Sinus Iridium
nearly fully illuminated. The southern craters were gaining prominence. Jupiter
showed 2 moons each side. Most of the binocular doubles were on show, such
as Albeiro, Delta and Epsilon Lyrae, Mizar/Alcor and 16/17 and Nu Draconi.
Although the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) was above the horizon, it was too cloudy
to see. The only extended deep sky objects visible were M13, M92 and Melotte
111. Scans for the Whirlpool, M81/82 and the Ring (M57) revealed nothing.
A bin scan of the sun at 15:00 GMT in clear conditions revealed nothing
but there was a fair amount of detail visible on the moon, with the southern
craters starting to get prominent.
I revisited the moon and the double stars of Lyra but I was only able to
photograph the lunar phase and no surface detail with the webcam and Startravel
80.
At 22:15 it had darkened a bit more, so I had another go at Delta Lyrae:
June 5th
Bin scanned the sun at 07:40 GMT in clear conditions but didn't see any
sunspots.
I saw the moon with the unaided eye while walking Charles Stuart II (better
known as Charlie, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel). I saw something that
looked like a crater, or some feature near the north pole. Later binocular
observations confirmed it to be Plato and the Alps. Tycho and Clavius were
prominent neat the south pole.
June 8th
I bin scanned the sun at 07:40 GMT in clear conditions and saw a couple
of sunspots after more than a month.
Yabba dabba do!!!!!!
June 9th
Bin scanned the sun late morning and found that the sunspot pattern had
changed very quickly:
Went out for a dusk bin scan at 21:45 GMT. I found Mercury very low down
in the north west and I resolved it into a mis-shapen disc, suggesting a gibbous
phase. It was too low down for me to get back out with the telescope and
camera. Jupiter showed 2 moons and our (near full) moon was showing prominent
ray systems. Tycho's rays were dominating the lunar landscape (as usual) and
Kepler's and Copernicus's were also showing well. I could also make out Saturn's
rings but couldn't find Mars.
It was about an hour later that I took the telescope out.
I tried my afocal adaptor to steady the image and got a nice picture of
the moon but couldn't get the whole disc in at 77x magnification:
I managed a nice close-up of Plato and the nearby terminator edge:
I also managed the bottom right terminator:
I also caught Tycho but it wasn't one of my better ones of it:
I attempted to photograph Jupiter but it's low elevation and interference
from the lunar glare meant that only the main equatorial belts were visible
and I could see 4 moons. The photo didn't come out and the batteries went
flat.
June 10th
Bin scanned the sun at 10:30 GMT through thin cloud and the sunspot had
apparently vanished.
After an anxious second half against Paraguay, I checked the sun again
in better conditions and recovered the sunspot:
Jun 11th
I bin scanned the sun under clear conditions and noted that the sunspot
had rotated and shrunk:
June 13th
Bin scanned the sun under reasonable conditions at 07:45 GMT and the sunspot
I'd been following for the previous few days didn't show.
June 15th
Bin scanned the sun under reasonable conditions at 12:00 GMT but didn't
see any sunspots.
June 16th
I went out for a hydrogen alpha view at 06:00 GMT. The view was bland but
there were some nice prominences near the edge that I managed to photograph:
I tried an 8 Angstrom calcium K filter with my Mak and Baader filter. I
couldn't see anything through the telescope but a disc appeared on the LCD
of the camera. The photos were too dim to process.
I also checked the "whire light" view with the Mak and couldn't see any
sunspots or other detail.
June 17th
I tried another solar shoot with thinner Baader filter lent to me my Nick.
I used my Statravel 80 and could get a solar disc:
That little apart from limb darkening was visible photographically or visually,
as there were no sunspots visible in white light.
A prominence was visible in hydrogen alpha at 11:15 GMT but little else:
June 22nd
I'd travelled to Bydgodcsz, Poland 2 evenings before and had my first look
at the sun at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT). There was moving thin cloud but
had there been any major sunspot groups, I would have spotted them. However,
I didn't see any.
We tried the PST at 17:45 local time (15:45 GMT) but didn't see much apart
from some granularity.
June 23rd
I tried the PST at 15:40 local time (13:40 BST). I could not see any prominences
but picked up some granularity, faculae and one prominent filament.
June 25th
The filament I had spotted on 23rd had grown and rotated and theere seemed
to be a new active region to its left. I could also see a small prominence.
It was hot, at 13:30 local time (11:30 GMT), so I didn't stay out long.
June 26th
I had a look at the sun with some of the class at 10:55 while we were waiting
for the others to arrive. There were 3 prominence regions, with a rather nice
one at the top of the sun. We could also see granularity and some faculae.
Rechecked at 17:40 local time and saw that the prominences had grown.
June 27th
I managed to borrow a camera the next day and did a shoot at 18:15 local
time (16:15 GMT). The solar disc was very bland, with one facula and one small
prominence showing. I managed to photograph some granularity and just caught
a hint of the small prominence:
June 29th
Checked the hydrogen alpha view with the PST at 13:30 GMT and saw a sunspot,
with some small prominences and a facula.
I bin scanned in white light also, so I could capture the sunspot:
I didn't manage to get any clear pictures of the sun until 13:45 GMT when
it cleared up a bit. I managed to get a shot showing granularity but not the
sunspot or prominences:
I had another go half an hour later. The prominence on the right had grown
slightly. I could only catch the sunspot:
Bin scanned a thin crescent moon at 18:15 local time (16:15 GMT). I couldn't
see any craters but managed to see earthshine and the emerging Mare Crisium.
June 30th
Bin scanned the sun through thin cloud at 05:30 GMT and didn't recover
the sunspot from the day before.
