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Tuesday 21st 70/62F. Very cloudy with only brief sunshine. There are reports on Solar Chat! of a new spot on the SE limb.
I haven't even centered or focused yet after giving up earlier due to endless cloud. I also have my 88mm spotting scope set up with a Baader solar foil filter and Lumix G9 DSLR at prime focus for white light. Waiting...waiting.
14.38 Finally a cloud clearance! Spot visible despite awfully thermal seeing. Fuzz, focus and shaking!
14.38 Finally a cloud clearance! Spot visible despite awfully thermal seeing. Fuzz, focus and shaking! 
16.30 Still waiting for a clearing for the 6" to capture a white light image through the Lacerta prism. Superbly detailed surface structure but only fleeting views! Huge plates of cloud covering most of the sky.
The sun came out but the image was very dim. Idiot! POLARISER in the Lacerta prism! It just goes to show how often I try white light captures.
17.00 Still waiting for cloud to move over and better seeing in white light.
The sun came out but the image was very dim. Idiot! POLARISER in the Lacerta prism! It just goes to show how often I try white light captures. 17.00 Still waiting for cloud to move over and better seeing in white light.
17.42 Back to H-alpha. Seeing still poor. Too much cloud. Occasionally windy.18.27 Last effort. Still too much cloud. Lots of paler patches around the spot. Plage?
I rebalanced the H-alpha 6" OTA by bringing the add/on weights down to the focuser end. I could make a smaller counterweight to replace the single, but overkill, 5kg weight. Boring a couple of barbel weights wouldn't take long in the lathe. I might do it on a boring, rainy day.
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