A morning bin scan of the Sun revealed new activity:
At 19:05 local time (23:05 GMT) I could see both Venus and Mercury
without optical aid from a city location. A bin scan gave phase estimates
of 70% for Mercury and 85% for Venus.
I went for another bin scan at 21:00 local time. The Moon was
very bright and near full. Tycho's rays were dominating the lunar landscape.
I could see the Orion Great Nebula (and surrounding stars) and the Hyades
and Pleiades and Saturn's rings. Although I could see Canopus with the
unaided eye, my overall impression was disappointing, as I couldn't see
the Beehive and M46 and M47 in Puppis, which were well clear of the horizon
and I couldn't see M41 either.
Feb 2nd
As the morning was cloudy, I had to wait until the afternoon
to do a solar bin scan:
Feb 3rd
There was some cloud about in the morning but I managed to see
the sunspots:
Feb 4th
I returned to England early afternoon and noticed that the sunspots
had moved:
Feb 5th
Bin scanned the Sun at 13:45 through cloud but didn't see any
sunspots. However, they appeared the next day, so I included an interpolation
in the amination.
Feb 6th
Bin scanned the Sun at 13:35 and recovered the sunspots, although
one appeared as if it would rotate off very soon.
I went for a dusk photo shoot, having seen Venus in a clear
patch of sky. The best shot was at 231x magnification using my variable
polarizing filter:
The phase seemed about 70%.
Feb 7th
Although the sky was cloudy, I managed a lunchtime bin scan
of the Sun:
Feb 8th
It was cloudy like the day before but the sunspot had rotated
nearer the edge:
Feb 14th
I bin scanned the Sun (at last) at 11:55 but didn't see any
sunspots.
Feb 17th
I bin scanned the Sun at 09:50 but didn't see any sunspots.
Feb 21st
Bin scanned the Sun through thin cloud at 08:25 and didn't see
any sunspots.
Feb 22nd
Bin scanned the Sun at 14:00 through thin cloud (after a rainy
morning) but didn't see any sunspots.
I actually managed some very limited nighttime viewing at 21:15,
in what had turned out to be the worst viewing month I could remember!
Cloud covered the entire sky but the south wasn't quite as bad as the rest.
The Beehive (M44) and Saturn with its rings showed up best in the bin
scan. The Hyades and Pleiades were barely recognisable. The only
other object of note was Mizar/Alcor.
Feb 23rd
Bin scanned the Sun at 15:05 through thin cloud but didn't see
any sunspots.
Feb 24th
Although there was still a lot of cloud around at 08:00, the patch
of sky surrounding the Sun was unusually clear. A bin scan confirmed that
there really had been no sunspots visible to binoculars during the previous
few days.
The hydrogen alpha view wasn't much more exciting but at least there
were 2 prominences at about 2 o'clock. This was taken with the 10 megapixel
digital camera:
Although most photos were ruined by cloud or very similar to the chosen
ones, I managed a close-up using the 3 megapixel digital camera. It also
showed what could be an emerging sunspot to the left of the prominence.
The third photo was derived from the same original as the second but,
by using the red channel only, I revealed the prominences in more detail:
Feb 26th
Bin scanned the Sun from the Manx Telecom offices at 08:50 and noticed
new sunspot activity:
At 16:00 we checked the Moon from the training room. The contrast
wasn't as good as I've sometimes experienced in daylight but we were able
to see the maria and some craters.
I rechecked the Moon in dusk at 18:15 but there was quite a lot of
thin cloud about. I could see more craters and recognise Clavius and Tycho
but it still wasn't that good.
Feb 27th
After a cloudy morning, I bin scanned the Sun at 14:10 but didn't see
any sunspots.
Feb 28th
Again, the morning was cloudy but I recovered the sunspot from the 2
days ago:
I bin scanned the Moon an hour later. Despite still being broad daylight,
I could see Tycho's rays starting to come to prominence. I could see several
southern craters, including Clavius.
