[Friends_of_SSASTROS] A New Beginning

[Vernon Fritch]

Mike,

         Amazing shots of the giant ethereal solar prominence towering over
the roiling solar surface!  I am not sure what bleeding heart flowers look
like, but I definitely saw the resemblance to one, sometimes two partly
inflated weather balloons about to launch. (They are only partly inflated
at launch so they don't burst at high altitude in reduced outside air
pressure).   The video clearly showed solar material climbing one side of 2
magnetic field loops, then descending the other side.  Kudos to the
astrophotographers releasing these images.

Vernon.

On Mon, Jul 1, 2024 at 11:49 AM Mike McCabe <cartech2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Members and Friends of the SSAStros,
>
> Welcome to the beginning of the second half of the year 2024! The first
> half, if you didn’t notice, was quite spectacular in its own right. We had
> several meetings with great presentations, a few group observing
> gatherings, went on a couple of field trips, and were even graced with a
> Great Eclipse. Over the course of the first six months we got to see many
> unique sights in the sky both day and night, and in general just made the
> best of it.
>
> And maybe the best is yet to come! We’ve got our annual Star-B-Que coming
> up in just five days, then Stellafane a few weeks beyond that, and after
> that the observing situation starts getting really observer friendly with
> earlier darkness times and the return of the planets to the evening sky.
> Hopefully we’ll do some more successful outreach at the Scituate Lighthouse
> and other venues, and who knows, maybe we’ll hit a Fall star party or two.
> What’s not to like?
>
> Speaking of Stellafane, the annual Observing Olympics lists for both
> binoculars and telescopes has been issued, and I’ve attached them both to
> this email. These always prove to be a great way to get introduced to new
> objects and even get to see some familiar objects in a new light. Training
> for the Olympics starts tonight. Start stretching and hydrating so that you
> can be at your best!
>
> And don’t forget about observing that incredible Sun by day! If you don’t
> have your own equipment you might consider reaching out to Steve LaFlamme
> and visiting his observatory some morning, and if looking at the Sun is
> really piquing your interest but you can't stand the idea of coming to
> Bridgewater, there are also those of us that don’t mind setting up remotely
> for an hour or two of Sol gandering.
>
> But once you’ve seen the Sun you’ve seen the Sun, right? WRONG! As an avid
> sun-gazer I’ve looked at ol’ Sol through telescopes literally thousands of
> times, and just last week I got my socks blown off by what I saw! It was
> Wednesday, the 24th to be exact, and the Sun had a prominence on the limb
> that was so delicately beautiful it took my breath away. I likened it to
> the Bleeding Heart flowers that bloom in my garden every spring, while
> Steve L. likened it to a weather balloon. Of course my look was visual, so
> I had to look elsewhere to find recorded images of it. There was no
> shortage on Spaceweather.
> Below we have still images from Phillipe Tosi (top two), Michael Karrer
> and Max Teodorescu, and an animation from Andy Devey;
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
> [image: Inline image]
>
>
>
> May the best of 2024 be yet to come for all of you!
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Mike McCabe
>
>
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