2012-03-10 Daylight Sight Report, Solar imaging AR1429 and live stream

Date: 2012-03-10 14:00-15:30 CDT (19:00-20:30 UTC)
Location: 41d44’N 93d36’W
Weather: Clear skies, ~15d C, gusty wind

What I saw

The Sun, Active Region (AR) 1429
Meade DS-90 refractor telescope
80mm aperture black film solar filter on main objective
Eyepieces used: 25mm (40x), 12.5mm (80x), Logitech C250 CCD webcam

The sun’s active region (AR) 1429 that has produced last week’s recent solar flares has been keeping my attention lately, so I decided to try and give budget solar imaging a go this weekend — and I think the results turned out well for a first time shot at it. I was happy that seeing was decent enough to make out some nice detail around the edges of the spots at increased magnification…I can’t wait to use some better eyepieces so the view is sharper and even get a little more magnification.

For imaging and live web streaming I used a Logitech C250 CCD webcam at prime focus with the lens removed on a Meade DS-90 90mm refractor with a black film solar filter over the main objective. The final images were made from video captures from that setup, using about 1500 individual frames, then sharpened just a little.

We even had time for a short science lesson /astronomy outreach for my daughter and her friends!

In case you missed the video and want to check out what the stream looked like, check it out here on YouTube.

Photos from the weekend, click to make ’em bigger: