September 2016
September 30th 1525 GMT
I had an early finish on Friday. The Big Bear images showed a blank Sun, so I bypassed white light and went straight to hydrogen alpha light with my PST.
The solar disc looked bland and I took some full disc shots and close-ups using my normal method.
September 28th 0720 GMT
I bin scanned the Sun when I arrived at work but did not see any sunspots.
September 27th 2015 GMT
I waited for dark and took 10 light and 10 dark frames of Alcor and Mizar, in the Plough. I used ISO6400, 300mm focal length and 3 seconds exposure.
I was unable to move to other targets, as it clouded over!
Unfortunately, neither Deep Sky Stacker nor Microsoft ICE were able to stack the images, so I just processed the best image in GIMP.
September 26th 2010 GMT
There was lots of cloud around, most of it moving. It was not worth trying to photograph anything. I did manage to bin scan some objects. I could see all of the main stars of Melotte 20, an object that is rather reliable on poor occasions. I tried to find the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) but I could not find it through the cloud. I could find M15 through a small gap. I found Epsilon Lyrae and Delta Lyrae and I could even get them in the same field of view as each other and Vega. I split Albireo and that was that.September 25th 1510 GMT
I checked the Sun with my PST. It seemed rather bland apart from a facula. I took full disc and quadrant shots.
September 25th 1430 GMT
I bin scanned the Sun but did not see any sunspots.September 24th 1055 GMT
Despite the presence of sunspots on the Big Bear images, I could not see any through my binoculars.
September 24th
The Sun was quiet in hydrogen alpha light, so I just took some full disc frames,
September 24th 1025 GMT
I took some frames of the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/1000 second exposure.
September 24th 2330 GMT
Although there was still cloud around, the patches in between the cloud were clear. I set the camera at 180mm focal length, ISO 400 and 4 seconds exposure.I shot a few frames of the Pleaides (M45) and Hyades.
I took an untimed "bulb" exposure of the Pole Star at 300mm focal length.
I then shot some dark frames for the first few frames.
I did some similar frames of Melotte 20.
I finished with another untimed long exposure of Polaris at 180mm focal length.
September 23rd 2110 GMT
There was lots of thin cloud around. Due to early starts for work, I had not done any night viewing nor photography for a few nights, so I went out with my binoculars.First up was Melotte 20. I could see some stars but only the brighter cluster members. The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) took several goes to find. I found the double stars: Alcor/Mizar, Albireo, Epsilon and Delta Lyrae, Nu Draconi and 16/17 Draconi. I also found the Pleiades (M45), M13 and the Wild Duck Cluster (M11).
I did not proceed with a photo shoot.
September 23rd 1250 GMT
I bin scanned the Sun in a clear sky but did not see any sunspots.September 23rd 0720 GMT
I took a few shots of the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 400 and 1/1000 second exposure.
September 22nd 1225 GMT
With less than an hour of summer to go, I bin scanned the Sun through a clear patch in the sky. I did not see any sunspots.
September 18th 2330 GMT
The Moon was just past full, so I repeated the same set-up as the night before.
September 17th 0735 GMT
I checked the Sun in hydrogen alpha light with my PST. The disc looked bland, in contrast to the Big Bear images. I was going to follow-up with a white light shoot but cloud rolled in.
September 16th 2150 GMT
I missed the penumbral lunar eclipse due to cloud but it cleared enough later to snap the Moon with my PST and Mak. I used ISO 400 and 1/4000 second exposure. The Moon seemed brighter than usual and I had trouble keeping it in the field of view, due to its apparent size. I was sure that the "supermoon" tag would be used a lot. It was too bright to consider constellation or deep sky photography.
September 16th 1250 GMT
Despite the clear conditions, I was unable to see any sunspots when I bin scanned the Sun.September 13th 2030 GMT
I bin scanned the Moon under hazy conditions but could see Linne clearly. There was a green fringe, rather than the usual blue or red. I decided to have a quick shot, so I took 12 frames with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 800 and 1/4000 second exposure.
September 12th 1205 GMT
I bin scanned the Sun through various layers of moving cloud but did not see any sunspots.
September 11th 2000 GMT
I took a few frames of the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm focal length, ISO 800 and 1/4000 second exposure.
September 11th 0950 GMT
I checked the Sun in hydrogen alpha light with my PST and saw some prominences. Most of the solar disc seemed rather bland.
September 11th 0930 GMT
I took some solar frames with my Mak and DSLR. I used ISO800 and 1/4000 second exposure. I was pleased to capture some sunspots that had not been visible in binoculars.
September 10th 2150 GMT
Conditions were far from great, with the Moon in the west and some thin cloud scattering the moonlight. I used the Moon to help achieve focus then took some frames of Melotte 20 and the Pleiades (M45) at 300mm with ISO 800 and 2 seconds exposure.
Unfortunately, the lack of a working cable release showed with only two frames of the Pleiades (M45) working.
September 10th 2040 GMT
I took 142 full disc lunar frames with my Mak at ISO 800 and 1/2500 second exposure.
September 10th 1705 GMT
After a wet day, it finally cleared enough to bin scan the Sun and the sunspot group was close to rotating off.
September 8th 1230 GMT
I bin scanned the Sun in a clear sky and I saw that the sunspot pattern had changed again.
September 7th 2030 GMT
I took a few frames of the Moon with my DSLR at 300mm, ISO 800 and 1/4000 second exposure. Unfortunately, the focus was poor.
September 7th 1655 GMT
The awful weather continued but I was able to see that the sunspots had rotated after work and changed shape a bit.
September 6th 1315 GMT
After some quite awful weather, it finally cleared for a brief moment to allow me to see some sunspots. It is possible that I could have missed several smaller ones.
September 2nd 1755 GMT
It finally cleared, so I managed to record the sunspots before the Sun sunk below the nearby houses.
September 1st 0950 GMT
I bin scanned the Sun but, despite the presence of sunspots on the Big Bear images did not see any.
