Summer Solar Images

 As an amateur astrophotographer, I get to see lots of stars through my telescope on clear nights.  But how about our own star up close?    I recently got solar telescope from Lunt Solar Systems (https://luntsolarsystems.com/) to observe and image our local star.   It is the smallest one they offer, the Lunt 40 mm Solar Telescope.   So far, I have been impressed at what this solar telescope can do.

So what exactly is the the difference between a regular telescope and a solar telescope?   The primary difference is the solar filter.    Lunt telescopes filters out all the light from our Sun except for a very specific wavelength to measure the Hydrogen-alpha bandwidth at 656.28 nanometers).  

I've attached my monochrome astrophotography camera on the end of the telescope to produce eye-popping images that we rarely get to see.   Why monochrome you may ask?   The monochrome astrophotography camera is able to use every pixel on the sensor to measure the incoming light that is only Hydrogen-alpha.

You can find a lot of interesting features on the Sun, especially in it's active solar cycle.   Squiggles, bubbles, dark and light spots, and flares.   So much to see as the hydrogen and helium plasma is twisted by power forces.

The large dark spots are sunspots.    The one featured above is sunspot 3363.   It is much larger than the Earth, measuring at half the size of the planet Jupiter.  The darker squiggly lines are filaments.  The outer flame like areas on the edge of the sun are flares and prominences. 

The final picture below are two images I stitched together for a whole picture of our Star.    The sun is slowly reaching it's peak in the solar cycle that generally lasts around 11 years.    We can expect more exciting activity on our local Star.

Want to learn more about the Sun?   Check out the NASA page on our local star below.

NASA Solar System Exploration

What is the color of our Sun?  Share below! 

Enjoy learning more about Astronomy and Astrophotography?   Come explore with me with my newsletters and YouTube channel.

For my Astrophotography at Bortle 5 website, visit
https://astrophotography-at-bortle-5-omsmyt.mailerpage.io/

Visit my YouTube channel for more astrophotography
https://www.youtube.com/@astrobortle5

For the latest Blogger updates, subscribe to my Newsletter
https://tinyurl.com/2arry74k