Solar Image: 11 January 2015

Here is the solar image for 11 January 2014 along with their 3D rendering of the transiting sunspot groups. I've been able to follow AR 2257 since January 7 and here is a little animated GIF showing the development of AR 2257.

AR 2257 currently has a McIntosh class of Dki and NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of flares. As of this post it released 3 C-class flares today.

Solar Image: 10 January 2015

Today is a bright & sunny Saturday morning. There are several sunspot groups in the Sun today. I've been receiving good feedback for my 3D rendering of transit ARs from the solar imaging community that I've decided to add them to my usual whole disk white-light images (which are now posted at the sidebar of this blog). The 3D render brings out much detail in the umbral and penumbral structure of the sunspot groups.

AR 2257 is growing in size and may pose a threat for M-class flares. It currently has a McIntosh class Dki and released 3 C-class flares yesterday (C 9.6, C 1.8, C 1.9).

Another sunspot group that seems to be growing in size is AR 2259 [Eko] with two C-class flares yesterday.

You can check out my paper on Sunspot data extraction through 3D rendering at:

• Philippine Journal of Astronomy (June 2014)
• RTU ESS: Sunspot Data Extraction Using 3D Isophote Rendering

You can also choose to join our solar community on Facebook at Solar Activity.

Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

I've only gotten back in Manila from the holidays and decided to take a shot at comet Lovejoy. I wasn't able to do it earlier since I left my usual gear (camera and travelscope) while away since we didn't have much space in the car. Comet C/2014 Q2 was first spotted by Terry Lovejoy last August.

Anyways, I decided to take out my dobsonian and scanned for the comet which is now in Eridanus. The moon and Manila's light and air pollution made it a bit challenging to observe the stars of Eridanus.

I was able to spot the comet by using omicron eridani (Keid & Beid) as my reference point. These stars were relatively bright and close enough to the comet's current position. I took multiple frames of the comet each at 1.3 seconds only given that my setup had no tracking capacity. Unfortunately I couldn't stack them together either since my laptop had limited memory to run conventional stacking softwares.

I ended up my night by taking a shot at Jupiter and the moon.

To aid you in searching for Comet Lovejoy, you can check out it's current position at TheSkyLive. Happy hunting! :)

Solar Image: 22 Dec 2014

I had to image in between brief moments of sunlight through gaps in the clouds. Seeing wasn't that good so I opted to do some 3D isophote rendering of the three largest transit-ARs. The two large sunspot groups receding from the solar disk have been actively flaring; in fact AR (1)2242  produced an intense X1.8-class flare on Dec 20 00:27 UT.

Optics, Atmosphere & Astronomy

Several atmospheric phenomena exist that usually catches our eye. They usually result from optical effects in the atmosphere such as refraction, diffraction, scattering, etc. The most commonly known atmospheric effect is that of rainbows. The presence of water droplets in the atmosphere causes the sun's light to be reflected and refracted into its component colors. Here are some other atmospheric effects:

Cloud Iridescence - this rainbow colored cloud results from diffraction of light by tiny water droplets or tiny ice crystals. Diffraction is the process of bending light around an object.

 

Corona - Coronas are 'crowns' of light around the Sun or Moon. This process results also from the diffraction of light. Diffraction generates interference patterns that disperses the light outwards and sometimes into its component colors.

Halo - results from refraction of ice crystals in the upper atmosphere (cirrostratus clouds). The ice crystals are usually formed as a result of a LPA (low-pressure area) hence it is usually associated with upcoming rain or cloudy weather.

Silver Lining - another diffraction result that happens in the edges of clouds

Blood Moon - a total lunar eclipse results from atmospheric lensing. The atmosphere of the Earth acts like a lens that bends light. The component of the visible spectrum that is bent the most is that of the red end of the spectrum. So as the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment happens the red light is bent by the Earth's atmosphere and shines on the surface of the Moon. You can actually see the same effect happening as the Moon rises opposite to the Sun. Close to the horizon the Moon appear reddish orange and then turns yellowish as it continues to ascend and finally into the normal hue once it is no longer affected by the lensing.

Some atmospheric optics are more common than you think:

Blue Sky - The blue color of our sky is a result of Rayleigh Scattering or the scattering at certain wavelengths. Molecules of Nitrogen and Oxygen in the air are effective at scattering the blue component of the visible spectrum so light from the Sun is scattered in all directions.

White Clouds -  another scattering phenomena known as Mie Scattering. This results from cloud droplets of sufficient size (approximately 20 micrometers) being able to scatter light at all wavelengths.

Blood Moon 2014

We were initially set-up at Trinoma to have a good view of the moonrise. However, the cloudy skies made us want to call it a night. As we were leaving the Moon began to appear. One jeep ride and a short run after we were able to setup the telescope (thank God its a Dobsonian) and image away. Bible study goers at the UCCP-CHR as well as jeepney drivers joined in as we observed. Here are some of the images I took:

Citizen Science - How a Non-Scientist Can Contribute to Science

Astronomers have always had two distinctions - the amateur and the professional. Now, when we say amateur we don't mean a newbie or something. In astronomy, the term amateur means individuals who have no formal education in astronomy (not actual scientists in the field of astronomy). They include a large range of individuals who are either beginners, enthusiasts or even those with large contributions and discoveries. Usually amateurs have more time on their hands to do observations than professionals. Some professionals have close to 0 experience with hands-on observations and focus more on analysis of data, computations, simulations, etc.

So how can a non-scientist make contributions? For one, there is an enormous amount of data and not enough people to look at them. Because of this citizen science projects were introduced to allow any individual to help in improving and filtering down large data sets. Here is a listing of some citizen science projects you can get involved with.

1. Galaxy Zoo

This project allows you to get involved in the identification and classification of galaxies by looking at image sets from the SDSS, HST, and UKIRT. It is an interactive project where classifications can be done individually, in groups, or as a class (which I've personally done with my astrophysics students). Basic information on galaxies, papers, and results are available also to public.

2. Cosmo Quest

This project allows you to map other objects in the Solar system. Currently they allow the mapping of the Moon, the asteroid Vesta, and Mercury.

3. Agent Exoplanet

This project allows you to detect exoplanets (planets orbiting around other stars) by analyzing their light curves (plots showing variations in light levels over time). This is headed by astronomers at the Las Cumbres Observatory.

4. Solar Storm Watch 
This project allows you to monitor for solar storms which may then be used for early warning. This is a project by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the makers of Zooniverse.

5. Be a Martian

This project allows you to improve Martian maps, and assist in research and analysis in an interactive game-like template.

6. SETI@home

This project allows SETI [Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence] to make use of computers connected to the internet to do analysis of radio telescope data while the computer is idle (this citizen science project allows you to contribute w/o actually doing anything).