The Sun on April 17, 2024
April 17, 2024
Tags: Solar Astronomy, Astronomy, Astrophotography, Photography
WARNING: When observing the Sun, be sure to do so safely! Use only equipment that is designed specifically for that purpose and is produced by reputable manufacturers. Follow their directions closely. Do not improvise your own filter material for solar observing. If you are careless, you risk instant and permanent vision loss or injury.
When I have a look at the Sun most days, the view is usually more interesting in H-alpha. But not today.
To be sure, my double-stacked 60mm Lunt H-alpha solar scope delivered a satisfying view of several active regions and a rather detailed picture of the chromosphere overall. But in white light, countless tiny sunspots scattered across much of the solar disk was somehow more impressive to observe.
After I was done using my 60mm Lunt and my 90mm achromat equipped with Herschel wedge for visual observing, I switched to my 4" Mak with glass white light solar filter for a quick photograph:
In Digital Photo Professional, I tweaked the above image by changing white balance to white priority, drawing black and white points together in the gamma adjustment pane, and increasing overall brightness, contrast, highlight brightness, and sharpness all by relatively small to moderate amounts. I confess that the result is still a bit muddy, but those edits did draw out at least some of contrast pop I remember seeing at the eyepiece.