The Dutch Observatory

Clear skies after nine days of clouds.  Since my last observing session, a spot AR2773 was named and showed for less than a day twice.  However, in CaK and Ha this area still shows nicely.  I tried to capture it in 540nm but I only see a number of very small pores.  Today full disk images and a close up of the mentioned region, as well as a closeup of a small plage visible in CaK in the SW quadrant.

I did not have enough time to finish my normal observations on the Fall Equinox.  Cirrus clouds and contrails streaked the sky, which made for a very challenging session.  Well, the sunspot did not come around, but we see a very nice faculae in the 540nm close up, and possible a very small pore.  The same area shows as a nice plage in Ha.  However, I could not get an equal exposed Ha image.  Too many clouds were streaking through.  So this is the best I got.  One item to note is that the area is Cycle 25 polarized.

Clear Skies after another series of cloudy days.  The Sun remains spotless for spotless day 31 in the current streak, but Stereo-A images reveal that a spot might be coming around the NE-limb.  But so far no spot to see yet.  In the meantime we could observe a very nice prom on the SE limb.  Today full disk images and closeups of the mentioned prom.

A few clouds this morning but time enough for some images.  The Sun remains spotless, although a new area of activity seems to have emerged in the NW quadrant approaching the Western limb.  It is nicely visible in CaK and Ha.  I wonder if this might develop into a new active region.  Today full disk images as well as close ups of the 2 areas in Ha and CaK.

Clear skies for the early observing session.  The Sun remains spotless for spotless day 23 in the current spotless streak.  Two small filaments are visible today.  One in the NW and one in the SE.  In addition we have a nice small prom in the NW.  The small plage I was following a few days ago still shows up in the CaK and Ha, but now it has rotated to the SW.  Today full disk images and close ups of some of the mentioned regions.

Had to image today through a haze.  Another spotless day.  The small plage in the SE becomes more distinct today.  Maybe something on its way?  The NW filament has almost turned to the far side of the Sun.

September 8, 2020
A Short Summary of CR2234
Carrington Rotation CR2234 covered the time period from 2020-08-11 1150 UT – 2020-09-07 1745 UT.
The observations can be viewed in my Solar Archive for CR2234 which can be accessed at: http://ceastronomy.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=50864
The rotation brought us 21 spotless days, with a spotless streak of 17 days. The rotation showed us 3 named Active Regions AR2770, 71 and 72.  AR2770 extended from the previous rotation for another 2 days.  Another region which was named AR2771 was visible concurrently with AR2770 for one day.  However the new region was short lived with 2 days only.  A third region AR2772 was visible for 3 days starting on 08/19/2020.  The regions were very small at 10 millionths, with AR2772 being the exception by growing to 20 millionths for one day on 08/20/2020, on which day also the maximum wolf number of 24 was observed.  Overall Solar Activity remained Very Low with the total Active Region Area for the rotation measuring only 90 millionths, while the rotation increased the spotless days count since solar maximum to 825 spotless days. Finally, during the period SWPC reported 2 A-class, 13 B class, and no C-class flares. The largest B-Flare, a B3.9 was observed on 08/19/2020.

Even though that solar activity is Very Low, it is also interesting to note that 14 of the last 17 named Active Regions since January 1 of this year were Cycle 25 polarized.
This time I would like to feature some images showing an unnamed, interesting feature that passed by, towards the end of the rotation.
Clear Skies,
Theo Ramakers

Just enough time for my session, and then the clouds came.  The Sun remains spotless for day 18 in the current spotless streak, and the first full  day of Carrington Rotation CR2235.  The filament in the NW is still visible and as well as a small filament in the SW.  The Western limb shows some faint and small prominences.

Clear skies with good seeing.  Another series of Spotless Sun images.  Full disk images as well as close ups of the observed areas of the last few days.  For me these images mark the end of Rotation CR2234.  We’ll see what CR2235 has in store for us.

Another day with clear skies for my session, but the Sun remains Spotless.  The features I have been following in the last few days are now approaching the Western limb.  The small bright area I saw two days ago near the SE limb is now much more distinct and can be seen as a small plage in Ha and CaK, and the faint prom in the SW can still be seen. Otherwise, the Sun is quiet.