Since it was the first clear day in awhile, I set up for solar viewing at my
shop here in La Honda. I saw the prominence Michael and his friend saw; it
was huge and diaphanous, on the limb just rotating into view. There was spot
activity visible on the surface next to it, which had just come around. I
didn't see much other prominence activity.
I was eager to try out a new Vixen objective which I had purchased from
Antares in Canada to replace the C 80 FS which had come on the Celestron FS
tube ass'y purchased on AstroMart for $55. The Vixen was definitely sharper.
I had also just received two pair of ortho eyepieces, 9 mm and 12.5 mm for
the binoviewer, so I tried them as well.
I made an adapter for the Coronado 60 mm filter to fit the Vixen objective,
out of Mahogany, using a fly cutter on the drill press. A couple coats of
pre-cat lacquer, and it was ready to go.
The orthos were too high powered for the daytime atmospheric turbulence; so I
used my favorites, a pair of older Meade 26 mm Plossls [with short, smooth
tubes].
Using the tuner built into the BF 15 etalon diagonal I was able to see
surface detail on the solar disc. Slight doppler shifts as material advances
and recedes make them stand out in lighter orange against the red.
The clouds are back today. I'd love to see how that prominence develops, but
it looks like it may be awhile before the skies clear again.
Best wishes,
James Adams