In checking SpaceWeather.com, I saw that there is a new spot on the surface of ol' Sol. Well, at the moment I don't have much to do. I got my usual scope that I use for solar, my C80-HD. As I picked it up, I saw that the focuser was racked out for my barlow. This isn't good. I usually use this scope for the Sun and Moon, and I leave it locked on focus for the Moon so the Sun is always in focus as well. Not this time. And I know the whole disk won't fit into the barlow.
So, I trudged outside and set the scope with my Canon T3 on the back and Baader film on the front, and put all that on my old CG4. Finding the Sun was easy; you can get it pretty accurate just using the shadow of the scope. Next I had to find focus.
This was easier to do when there's a big spot to focus on. I couldn't even see this on at 10X on the camera screen. Well, the edge of the disc will have to do....
Anyways, I'm not too thrilled with these; I think the focus is still a tad off, and the ever-present white haze wasn't making that any easier. I shot these at ISO 100 and 1/1000 sec exposure, I should have went with 1250 as I feel they're a bit "blown out" at the core. The Sun is just so bright, even with most of its light blocked out with the filter and fast shutter speeds on the camera.
So here's 20 stacked images, the first processed in ImPPG and the second in Registax. The Registax version has too much of an "edge", but it was more of an experiment. And obviously, the spot is on the upper left.
Hope it's clear tonight; I'm curious as to how far my focus is off
All the best everyone and be healthy
Member of the RASC
