Explore the Universe - Sunspots

Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to take a look at some large regions of sunspots.  We are heading toward a solar minimum in the current cycle so sunspots won't be as frequent.  This also means that flares will occur less often and be less intense.  The aurora won't extend to southern areas as much and will mainly be observable nearer the polar regions.

Sunspots are areas on the Sun of lower temperature caused by an increase in magnetic field concentration.  They appear as darker regions when viewed through a telescope with a proper filter.  Some sunspots can grow so large they can be viewed with the naked eye using proper eye protection.

An observation for the solar system category in the Explore the Universe certification is sunspots.  I used an external webpage to determine the current view of the Sun before taking out the telescope.  Spaceweatherlive.com is a great resource for all things solar.  Below is a link to the sunspot regions currently present on the Sun.

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/sunspot-regions

After determining the size and number of spots I took the time to photograph the Sun through the telescope with a proper filter.

Sunspots

Unfortunately it was slightly cloudy at the time but the sunspots still stood out.  A complete record of my observation is shown below with an image of what was expected.

Sunspot Observation Record

Last night I was also able to have the opportunity to volunteer at the Fish Creek Star Night.  More than 600 members of the public attended to take in presentations, guided walks, environmental education and sights in the sky.

Fish Creek Star Night

The first hour and a half was dedicated to observing the Moon since it was too light to see anything else.  When the Sun started to set I moved my telescope onto the Orion Nebula.  A lot of people loved this sight.  It really is beautiful.  When the nebula fell below the roof of the building I immediately switched to the familiar M35 open cluster at the foot of Gemini.

By the time a few hundred people had a chance to witness the cluster I moved over to Mizar and Alcor.  These stars are an optical double forming the second star in the handle of the Big Dipper.  Through a telescope you can see that Mizar itself has a visible companion separated by 14 arcseconds.  Research done in 2009 indicates Mizar and Alcor could be gravitationally tethered to each other.

The last sight of the evening was Jupiter which was just rising in the southeast.  All four Galilean moons were visible and it marked the first time many had seen the planet through a telescope.

This week should be fairly clear for some good sights.  The first quarter moon will be up in the sky tomorrow and I hope to get an image to add to my Moon Phase observations.  Also, comet 41P will be next to Alpha Draconis this evening and about 2° away tomorrow evening.