The Sun

Solar Eclipse
© Phil Randall
Phil's image of the totality shows nice prominences from the limb of the Sun. This was taken in Togwotee in Wyoming.
The Sun and Sunspots
© Mike Paling
The image was taken in white light with an APM 123/780 LZOS Refractor along with DMK AU21-618 Mono CCD Camera.
It is a mosaic of approx 16 separate image frames which were then merged and blended using Photoshop CC with colour added.
Total Solar Eclipse
© Michael Knowles
Indonesian Total Solar Eclipse. Several prominences were clearly evident on the left solar limb. The corona was very prominent.
Diamond Ring
© Michael Knowles
Diamond Ring Effect at a Total Solar Eclipse by Michael Knowles.
Taken onboard the cruise ship Boudicca from within the Arctic Circle off the coast of Svalbard.
The image was taken with a D40 Nikon and captured at 09:48UT, ISO 1600, f16, 1250sec, 300mm lens.
Jul '13 The Sun
© A. Wright
Jul '13 The Sun.
Mar '13 Bailey's Beads
© MSAS
Mar '13 Bailey's Beads.
Sep'10 The Sun
© K. Watson
Sep'10 The Sun.
Jun'10 Solar Prominence
© C. Radford
Jun'10 Solar Prominence.
Sep'08 - Partial Solar Eclipse
© T. Fawcett
Sep'08 - Partial Solar Eclipse.
Jul'13 The Sun
© R. Peet
Taken with Canon 450 D attached to a Celestron AstroMaster 130 telescope.
Aug'12 Solar Prominence
© MSAS
This image was taken with a Solarmax 60 mm telescope. A 20 sec exposure was taken then processed in Registax and Photoshop.
Jul'12 The Sun
© MSAS
July 2012 Solar Prominences.
Jun'12 Composite
© MSAS
Jun 2012 Composite of Six Solar Images.
May'12 Annular Eclipse
© P. Randall
May 2012 Annular Solar Eclipse.
Apr'12 Sunspot
© MSAS
Closeup of a Sunspot taken in April 2012.
May'11 The Sun
© K. Watson
Image of the Sun, taken in May 2011, and submitted to the members photographic competition.
May'11 The Sun
© K. Watson
Image of the Sun, taken in May 2011, and submitted to the members photographic competition.
May'11 The Sun
© K. Watson
Image of a solar activity, taken in May 2011, and submitted to the members photographic competition."
May'11 The Sun
© K. Watson
Image of a Solar Prominence, taken in May 2011, and submitted to the members photographic competition.
May'11 The Sun
© K. Watson
Image of a Solar Prominence, taken in May 2011, and submitted to the members photographic competition.
Dec'10 Solar Halo
© S. Shetliffe
Image of a Sun Halo, taken in December 2010 by Steve Shetliffe using a Panasonic Lumix TZ8, with some subsequent editing in Photoshop.
A Solar Halo is caused by reflection of the sunlight through ice crystals in high altitude clouds.
Sep'10 The Sun
© K. Watson
Solar image taken in u/k with Hydrogen Alpha Filter showing prominence & surface detail.
Sep'10 The Sun
© K. Watson
Solar image taken in u/k with Hydrogen Alpha Filter showing filament & surface detail.
May'07 The Sun
© A. Wright
Picture of the Sun, submitted for the May 2007 Image of the Month by Mr A. Wright.
Solar Prominence
© K. Watson
Solar Prominence by Keith Watson.
This picture of a Solar prominance was taken using a Thousand Oaks solar filter mounted onto a Meade 10 inch LX200 telescope, with a Philips web cam. The image comprises 150 frames at 15fps, converted in Registax to Jpeg.
Transit of Venus
© M. Greenwood
Picture of the transit of Venus submitted for the October members picture competition by Mr M. Greenwood.
Solar Prominences
© K. Watson
This image of solar prominences was taken in Cyprus by Mr K. Watson, using a Philips To U Cam Webcam, coupled to a Meade LX-200 telescope fitted with a 1000 Oaks solar filter. The image is the result of 320 frames taken at 15fps, and stacked using Registax 3.
Turkey Total Solar Eclipse
© M. Knowles
Total Solar Eclipse, taken using a Nikon D50 digital camera set to ISO 200, with a 70-300mm lens, and a x2 tele converter. This image was taken from Side, Antalya in Turkey during the total solar eclipse on 29th March 2006.
First Contact: 12:37:33.
Second Contact: 13:54:24.
Midpoint: 13:55:59.
Third Contact: 13:57:34.
Fourth Contact: 15:12:47
Turkey Eclipse 2006
© M. Knowles
Total Solar Eclipse, taken using a Nikon D50 digital camera set to ISO 200, with a 70-300mm lens, and a x2 tele converter. This image was taken from Side, Antalya in Turkey during the total solar eclipse on 29th March 2006.
First Contact: 12:37:33.
Second Contact: 13:54:24.
Midpoint: 13:55:59.
Third Contact: 13:57:34.
Fourth Contact: 15:12:47.
Double Transit
© P. Dingley
Over the last couple of years in the U.K. we have been graced by transits of both Mercury (2003) and Venus (2004), both of which were visible in their entirety from the Sherwood Observatory.
The image below shows the difference in scale between the size of Mercury, seen transiting the Sun on the 7th May 2003, and Venus, seen transiting the Sun on the 8th June 2004. Two images, both taken within an hour of third contact, have been overlaid, and rescaled so that the Sun is the same size in each image.
Sun with Sunspots
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 29th September 2002 at 15:00 GMT using a Canon G-2 digital camera and a Meade ETX-90-EC with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
Two clusters of sun-spots are clearly visible in the image, one to the left, and one just off centre to the right, with a third cluster just visible near the extreme left side of the image.
Van Slyke Focuser
© P. Dingley
The Venus transit photographs on this page were all taken using a 10 inch Meade LX-200 telescope, fitted with a Van-Slyke M3 focuser and a Canon D60 SLR digital camera, as pictured below.
The telescope was fitted with a BC&F White Light solar filter via a BC&F Focusmaster.
Members Telescopes
© P. Dingley
A fine collection of members Meade telescopes of various sizes, setup at the entrance to the Observatory in preparation for the start of the Venus transit on the 8th June 2004.
Fourth Contact
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Fourth Contact
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Almost Complete
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Third Contact
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Almost 3rd Contact
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Mid Morning
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Venus Transit (Mid Transit)
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Venus Transit +1h
© P. Dingley
Picture of Venus transiting the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
Venus Transit 01
© P. Dingley
Picture of the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun, taken on 8th June 2004 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Meade 10 inch LX-200 telescope, with a BC&F White Light solar filter fitted to a Focusmaster.
10:31 GMT Fourth Contact
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Celestron C-150 6 inch Refractor with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
The last few seconds of the 2003 Mercury Transit seems Mercury barely visible as it moves away from the face of the sun. Fourth contact is within a few seconds of this photo being taken.
10:27 GMT Third Contact
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Celestron C-150 6 inch Refractor with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
The disc of Mercury is clearly visible approaching third contact in the upper right of the image.
Mercury Transit 10:26 GMT
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Celestron C-150 6 inch Refractor with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
The disc of Mercury is clearly visible approaching third contact in the upper right of the image.
Mercury Transit 10:06 GMT
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Celestron C-150 6 inch Refractor with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
The disc of Mercury is clearly visible in the upper left of the image, with a large sun-spot in the lower left corner.
Mercury Transit 10:06 GMT
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a Celestron C-150 6 inch Refractor with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
The disc of Mercury is clearly visible in the upper left of the image, with a large sun-spot in the middle.
Mercury Transit 09:48 GMT
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a 6 inch Celestron Refractor telescope fitted with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
This image was taken at approximately 09:48 GMT from Sherwood Observatory, the home made Solar filter consisting of a sheet of Baader AstroSolar film, stretched across a tubular cardboard former was fitted to the front of the telescope optical tube.
Mercury Transit 09:48 GMT
© P. Dingley
The Sun on 7th May 2003 using a Canon D60 digital camera and a 6 inch Celestron Refractor telescope fitted with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.
This image was taken at approximately 09:48 GMT from Sherwood Observatory, the home made Solar filter consisting of a sheet of Baader AstroSolar film, stretched across a tubular cardboard former was fitted to the front of the telescope optical tube.
Mercury Transit 08:59
© P. Dingley
The Sun, taken on 7th May 2003 at 08:56 GMT from Sherwood Observatory using a Canon G-2 digital camera and a Meade ETX-90 Maksutov Cassegrain telescope fitted with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.<p> The disc of Mercury is clearly visible in the upper portion of the image, while a fairly large sunspot can be seen in the lower middle.
Mercury Transit 08:56 GMT
© P. Dingley
The Sun, taken on 7th May 2003 at 08:56 GMT from Sherwood Observatory using a Canon G-2 digital camera and a Meade ETX-90 Maksutov Cassegrain telescope fitted with a hand-made $15 Solar Filter.<p> The disc of Mercury is clearly visible in the upper portion of the image, while a fairly large sunspot can be seen in the lower middle.