Deirdre Kelleghan  skysketcher@gmail.com
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I went out that day  to sketch the AR 2339 in h-alpha but when I saw this massive Hedgerow type prominence on the limb it had to be done. PST 40 halpha scope ,8mm eyepiece / 50X
Pastels and Conte on black paper. 13:33 UT May 13th 2015
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June 18th 2014 A  full solar disc experimental sketch .
PST 40 / 8mm eyepiece /50X  15:52 UT

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Continuing my drawing experiments in order to capture the complex sun.
Active Regions , Plage, Sunspots , Proms, Filaments and Mottling East Limb July 1st.14:19 UT / PST 40 / 8mm eyepiece/ 50X / Wax Crayon and Conte on black card. The long river of plage was really distintive and very complex.

Active Region 1944 January 9th 2014: a white light pencil sketch and h alpha pastel sketch

Active Region 1734 May 5th 2013

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One hour of cloud free sky = Active Region 1734 May 5th 2013 PST 40 with 8mm eyepiece. Pastel on black paper 15:00UT – 15:50UT with brightening in the area close to larger spot observed at 15:38 UT. Sketch is 5X4 inches

May Day Filaproms

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May Day Filaprom East Solar Limb sketch - PST 40 with 8mm eyepiece - h alpha
09:30 UT - 09:50 UT and 10:10 UT Pastels , Pencil , Conte May 1st 2013
I was fascinated watching this large U shaped filaprom hanging off the East limb this morning.
Drat I was out of some of my usual sketching material so just went at it another way. As sketched and observed the first view , it seemed to me that the U shaped thin filaprom had another one anchored to it at two points. It was difficult to see the filament part of the lower prom so if it was coming off the higher loop it was unusual in that aspect. The lower filaprom was huge and it appeared to change shape rapidly. So to show it changing shape I just used the same limb sketch to draw it a second and third time under each other. In reality the position of the feature had not changed that dramatically in the short time. However the shape of it did , in particular I liked the lower prom which had a circle of nothing within this swirling exuberance this morning.
Then it rained :-(

Here is a gif of AR Sunspot 1711 April 2nd 2013 - drawings are below with details

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White light drawings

1711

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AR Sunspot 1711 April 2nd 2013 - 11 :11 UT
200mm objective stopped down to 50mm. Telescope FL 1,200mm
14 mm eyepiece with Baader filter paper.
Pencil on paper


1711

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AR Sunspot 1711 April 2nd 2013 - 14:02 UT
200 mm objective stopped down to 50mm. Telescope FL 1,200mm
14 mm eyepiece
with Baader filter paper

Pencil on paper


Easter Saturday North  Limb proms and filaments on the solar disc.  March 30th 2013

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I was looking at the Sun Now on the Solar Dynamics Observatory site. Oh that long filament and interesting north  limb proms seemed like a target for my PST. So yes observed it and then drew it. Easter Saturday North  Limb proms and filaments on the disc. 13:00 UT - 13:55 UT PST 40 - 8 mm eyepiece using Pastels , on black paper.



East limb proms January 12th 2012

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Sketch East limb proms 93,000,000 miles away from Bray Co Wicklow
January 12th 2012
10:50 UT - 11:20UT
PST 40 / 8mm TVP eyepiece /50 X
Pastel and Conte on black paper
Seeing good
Sketch is 9 inches X 4 inches on A4

Active Region 1654 January 15th 2013

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Bray Co Wicklow Ireland

Jan 15th Active Region 1654 - PST 40 h alpha Sketch / 8 mm eyepiece / 50 X - up scaled by eye. 10:42 UT - 11:28 UT Pastel , Conte on Black Paper This region was very complex indeed. My first view of it was yesterday  morning. OH boy how to sketch it. ? I tried the binoviewers but they gave too much information to my eyes for the time I had available.  So I went back to the 8mm set up and settled down for a sketch. The sun had some interference from chimneys from time to time but the view was awesome. Indeed the limb of the sun was full of proms of all sizes while filaments wriggled over the surface like snakes on sand. There were no bright bursts from the active region as I sketched. Long areas of plage were flanked by some leaping dark rope like filaments these were flanked closely in parts by fibrils. The entire AR was solar eye candy. The sun and its massive action was then masked by high cirrus clouds so no chance of a white light sketch.




Full Solar Disc May 14th 2012

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May 14th 2012 - Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland
Details:
First light for my Binoviewers PST 40 2X20mm Eyepieces 2X Barlow = 40 X 09:00 UT - 11:50 UI Pastels on black paper WOW what a view , what a challenge! This was difficult , the filaments were not as dark as I have drawn them. I have to work out a way of doing the fine details filaments offer, this will take some time. The sun is awesome, and even though I know that some areas are lower than others it is not really that easy to show the layers. I look forward to more views and will improve on this sketch in time.

December 6th 2010

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September 1st 2011

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September 1st 2011 Solar Sketch East limb proms,Active Region 1283 , Magnetic field lines, Large filament. 10:50 UT
PST 40 / 8 mm TVP eyepiece - 50 X
Pastel , Conte, Pencil on black paper

There were  several  proms on the solar limb but these on the eastern limb seemed to be the most interesting.
Some of the magnetic field lines around AR 1283  stood out for several seconds in good detail so I sketched them in with pencil over the pastel. That's why they appear a little shiny as pencil does that  when used over pastel.

Obviously I am re tuning and re focusing the telescope constantly  to capture all these features on the same plain , on a piece of paper. The sketch is CD size.

AR1146

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Active Region 1146 February 28th 2011 / PST 40/8mm TVP eyepiece /50 X

Active Region 1057 April 1st 2010

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.Solar Active Region 1057 PST 40mm 8 mm TVP eyepiece.
April 1st Hazy conditions now and again.
Pastels , pencil on black paper
13:30 - 02:45 UT

Active Region 1024

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July 6th 2009
Bray , Co Wicklow

AR 1024 July 6th 09:15 UT PST 40 8mm TVP eyepiece - 50X. Pastels and Staedtler Ergosoft Pencils on black paper. Seeing - Wilson Scale 3 Some very fine detail visible , the AR is not as busy as the 4th of July. The flares seem less active. I just managed this one sketch before the clouds rolled in again. The AR fibrils stood out very clearly from time to time , the plage was much less vibrant than July 4th. The mottling held well defined patterns over large areas. One of the sunspots appeared larger than previous and the penumbra was visible without going up and down the bandwidth of the scope. I sketched in the spots alone first then tuned the scope to pick out the other details visible in the h alpha. Today I decided to use pencil over pastel to try to achieve as exact a sketch as I could.

Active Region 1029

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After days of rain and cloud , a short break revealed the huge Active Region 1029. The plage was very bright , the active region fibrils were not as pronounced as I would have liked. For the few seconds of clarity now and then the fibrils were visible packed tightly like the material in an iris. A very bright flare grew out of almost nothing and caught my eye, a distraction to the main event. I was lucky that I could include it as my page was big enough to accommodate it in proportion. My sketch starts with tuning the bandwidth to eliminate everything bar the sunspots. I then re tune and re focus the scope  to look closely  and get a clear view of the many elements in my target. 11:00 UT - 11:55 UR Solar Flare spotted at 11:40 UT PST 40mm / 8mmTVP eye/50X

Solar Active Region 0960

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PST 40
Williams Optics Binoviewers 20mm eyepieces
Schmincke Soft Pastels/300gm Paper/Pencil
09/06/2007
12:37UT - !3:37 UT

That  particular  afternoon I just focused my eyes on Active Region 0960 and took a closer look at the active region filament. I looked closely at the swirling motionless movement that this interesting area offered me.

Active Region 0960

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10/06/2007
12:00UT - 13:50UT
Active Region 0960

PST 40
Williams Optics Binoviewers 20mm eyepieces
Schmincke Soft Pastels/300gm Paper/Pencil



I decided to follow  the active region 0960 for a second day. I was interested to see how it had changed since Saturday . The paler areas around the spots was much more evident and the active region filament appeared less prominent. The plage seemed to be breaking up. So far this pale grey pastel is doing the granulation or the swirling dots until I think of a better solution.

Active Region 0960

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AR 0960 and proms
07:00UT - 07:50 UT Proms - 07:50 UT
11/06/2007
Ireland

PST 40
Williams Optics Binoviewers 20mm eyepieces
Schmincke Soft Pastels/300gm Paper/Pencil

I got a look at this region early on the 11th, it was different again to the other views.

You may think pale grey is an odd choice for depicting this area around the active region. In observing the swirling movement and powerful shapes,it is a least a defining colour . I am thinking about other ways of showing this busy sub drama, which is acted out around areas of major league drama on the visible surface of our life giving star.


Here is a slideshow of a few of my solar sketches - you can turn on off the captions if you like . If you want to ask me a question send me an e mail to skysketcher@gmail.com

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