I returned to England in the early hours, only to be
greeted by the same weather I left. I checked the Sun with the PST
in cloudy conditions and could only make out some minor granulation.
However a prominence was visible in the photograph at the 3 o'clock
position.
Sep 9th
After what seemed a lifetime of bad weather, I finally
got my PST out in Rijswijk, Holland at 08:00 GMT, accompanied by
my class. Conditions were difficult, with the solar disc shimmering
but we managed to see 2 prominences at 8 o'clock and 11 o'clock but
only one came out in the fill disc photo.
Unfortunately, there were no more usable shots, although
this one is highly marginal.
I had another go at 14:35 GMT. One prominence was clear
visually but the other was difficult to make out. Neither of them
turned up in the photos.
Sep 10th
I woke up (not deliberately!) at 03:00 GMT and, not being
able to get back to sleep, looked out of the window and noticed that
it was clear, despite the previous evening's rain. I went to the hotel
roof and checked the scene. There was enough light pollution and haze
to deter me from trying constellation shots but not enough to prevent
me from bagging a few Usual Suspects. I could make out the Orion Great
Nebula (M42) as a misty patch and the Beehive (M44) was just about visible,
low in the east. The Hyades and Pleaides (M45) showed rather well and I
could see the full extent of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). Low in the west,
Alberio split, as did Delta and Epsilon Lyrae.
Sep 11th
At 08:55 GMT, I checked the Sun. No prominences were visible
and only superficial granulation could be seen.
I was not able to extract anything from the close-ups but,
at least they are saved.
I tried again at 10:35 GMT but the session was disrupted
by moving cloud. Again, very little detail was visible.
A check of the close-ups was not encouraging.
At 17:05 GMT, I caught the Moon in binoculars in the twilight
between a gap in the cloud. It appeared about 9 or 10 days past new
and Tycho was already showing its rays. Copernicus was sitting nicely
on the terminator.
Sep 13th
First day back in England and I attempted a PST viewing at
10:35 GMT. Only minor granulation features were visible and the Sun
was clouded out soon after I took the full disc shots.
At 11:10 GMT, the conditions were a bit clearer and I managed
a full shoot, with a small prominence visible at the 9 o'clock position.
Unfortunately only the full disc shot shows any trace of the
prominence.
Sep 14th
Due to insomnia, I was out snapping the Moon at 02:10 GMT but
it clouded over before I could see or photograph anything else.
Sep 15th
I popped out for a look at the sky at 20:20 GMT. Although most
of the sky was covered by cloud, there was a small clear patch around
Jupiter. I looked with the bins and saw 2 moons to the east. I saw some
background stars of Sagittarius and Capricorn but no deep sky objects.
Parts of the Moon were visible through moving gaps in the clouds and
I could see some small craters and parts of Tycho's ray system.
Sep 18th
Due to insomnia, I was out at 02:20 GMT with the Startravel. Conditionswere
hardly ideal but were much better than the few days before. There was
a lot of thin cloud scattered by moonlight but some of the brighter background
stars were visible. I did a lunar shoot followed by some experimental
shots of the Pleaides, which showed up well, despite the conditions.
I processed the full disc lunar shot and left the rest until later.
Unfortunately, I had disturbed the focus and could only extract useable
detail from one close-up.
Sep 19th
At 20:00 GMT I went out for a bin scan. There was lots of mist
near the horizon. Jupiter showed Ganymede and Calisto on each side of
the planet. M13 and M11 were poor but visible and my attempts to find
M30 failed again, although I did find Alpha Capricornus. Melotte 20 showed
well and M31 showed some structure but was far from its best. I split the
summer doubles Alberio, Epsilon and Delta Lyrae, 17/17 and Nu Draconi
and Alcor/Mizar but it wasn't the greatest of sessions.
I was out again at 22:00 GMT and did an extensive shoot of the
Moon. I also attempted the Pleiades through the finderscope and took
some experimental shots of Albireo.
The remainder of the photos were processed later.
Sep 20th
I did a shoot with the PST at 09:10 GMT. 2 small prominences were
visible at the 3 o'clock position but it was otherwise very quiet.
The other photos were processed later but only the prominence shot
came out.
Sep 24th
After another run of bad weather, I bin scanned the Moon from Risjwijk
at 06:00 GMT around sunrise. It was a waning crescent and some of the
southern craters were still showing, while the bright limb was especially
bright, with Grimaldi prominent.
Sep 25th
I did a hydrogen alpha photo shoot at 08:30 GMT. There were some small
prominences visible but no sign of the reported active area on the main
disk, just some granularity features.
I tried again at 13:55 GMT. The prominences had disappeared from view
but I could see the reported active region and two small sunspots.
The full disc shot didn't show any detail but I managed to get some close-ups.
I popped out for a bin scan at 21:10 GMT. There was a lot of haze around,
so viewing was very limited. Jupiter didn't show any moons and the Andromeda
galaxy was very poor. I split Alberio, Delta and Epsilon Lyrae and the Draco
doubles. The Pleaides and Melotte 20 were poor but the Hyades stood up well
to the bad conditions.
Sep 26th
I did a hydrogen alpha shoot at 09:10 GMT and saw prominences at the 6
o'clock and 12 o'clock positions. However, only the one at the top of the
disc came out.
There were 2 sunspots visible in "white light" again.
I went for a bin scan at 20:50 GMT. Conditions were a bit better than the
night before but there was still some haze around. I saw all of Jupiter's
Galilean moons, with three to the west and one to the east. I could see
the Wild Duck cluster (M11), Andromeda Galaxy (M31) and M15 but none were
anywhere near their best, although M31 did show some structure. I could
see most of the double stars but Alpha Capricornus was not visible. To the
east, Perseus was low down and M34 was poor but Melotte 20 showed its main
stars.
I returned out at 21:50 GMT and Taurus had risen above the trees. The Hyades
and Pleiades were clearly visible, although not at their best. I was able
to get a nice shot of Perseus. I also caught Taurus rising over the trees.
Sep 27th
I checked out the Sun at 08:15 GMT. Any trace of sunspots had vanished, although
they were still just about visible in the Big Bear hydrogen alpha pictures.
The prominences from the day before had appeared to "grow".
I had another go at 11:50 GMT.
At 19:15 GMT, I repeated the bin scan from the night before. However, the
conditions were more hazy and, apart from the double stars, the only deep
sky objects visible were Melotte 20 and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31).
Despite the conditions, I managed a snap of Cassiopeia.
