The first members’ solar viewing session took place on Tuesday 6th June at the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Despite a partly cloudy start and a coolish breeze the members were rewarded with good views of the Sun at the H alpha wavelength, using the Society’s Coronado solar telescope, and in “white light” wavelengths using a telescope fitted with a Herschel Wedge. The telescopes gave witness to the increasing solar activity with several sunspots visible in the Sun’s photosphere, and solar prominences and activity in the Sun’s chromosphere. We can look forward to an exciting season of solar observing sessions this coming summer as we approach the next solar maximum in 2024.
At the start of the evening Mike Meynell set up a solar imaging rig, a telescope fitted with a DayStar Quark Solar Eyepiece, and during the evening he was able to gave an impromptu solar imaging workshop.
The evening ended when the sky clouded over and the now chilly breeze took its toll.
Many thanks to the staff at the Royal Museums Greenwich and the Observatory for their help in arranging the Flamsteed’s solar observing sessions and to Mike Meynell, Paul May and Tom Riley on the evening their help.
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