Stanley A. Gorodenski wrote: >Yesterday I saw what I believe is 486 (the last periods designation) >just making its appearance around the limb. Today more of the group is >visible and it does not appear overly large to me. I did not observe it >when it first appeared and so I have no idea if it has reduced in size. >I also see a lot of faculae around it that I do not recall seeing around >488 when I observed 488 yesterday. Yesterday 488 was at about the same >location relative to the limb of the sun that 486 is today. > >On a related issue, during the last partial solar eclipse we had in >Arizona I was observing it through my telescope to see the silhouette of >the lunar mountains against the sun. I am using a Thousand Oaks filter >in their aluminum ring. I have a full aperture filter rather than one >that is off to one side. One thing that I noticed was that I started >getting thermals from, I think, the aluminum ring that was affecting the >image the longer I observed the sun. Has anyone experienced this? If so, >what do you use to prevent it, white titanium dioxide paint over the >aluminum ring? > >Stan Thanks Stan! You inspired me to go out and look at the Sun with my C-8. I too use a full aperture filter. It's an old Celestron mylar filter, but works well. It was a treat. At 100X the three major sets of spots were very detailed. Near the center is 481/501. I was impressed with the looks. The dark area was in fine contrast and looked like an island. To the side 486/507 is larger and equally impressive. Below that is a smaller group 488/506/508. I think the teat this weekend at the star party may be one of auroras. Jeff -- Jeff Hopkins HPO SOFT ********************************************************* Small minds speak about people * Average minds speak of events ************ Great minds speak of ideas! **************** ********************************************************* Phoenix, Arizona Atlanta, Georgia 7812 West Clayton Drive 12170 Boxwood Circle Phoenix, AZ 85033-2439 U.S.A. Alpharetta, GA 30005 U.S.A. (623) 849-5889 (Fax) (770) 619-3322 (Phone/Fax) www.hposoft.com dataman.home.mindspring.com 4th Dimension Developer FileMaker Pro Expert BASIC/C/C++ Programmer/Web Site Developer -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.