It was mostly cloudy today; so, I decided to shoot during the least dense periods of cloud cover and limit the AVI captures to 100 frames. I typically shoot 120 seconds and that produces 1-2K frames. I then stack the best 20%. That approach allows for optimal noise reduction, but it sacrifices resolution since the sun is dynamic – particularly the prominences. So, prominences may appear a little softer because of motion artifact.
Today’s H-alpha image, comprised of the best 20 frames of 100, shows prominences along the NE, NW and SW limbs. These are highlighted in the gallery posted at the end of this page.
The sunspot image shows four active regions although AR4104 has become quite faint.
The major prominences appear in the gallery below. Note that in the second frame, a loop prominence, plasma appears to be streaming from one end of the loop to the other.
Prominences inject solar plasma into the solar corona – the outermost shell of solar atmosphere. Recent improvements in coronal imaging show “solar rain” caused by plasma entering the corona and then falling back into the chromosphere. It’s quite amazing!