A Tethered Dragon

There is a popular ‘myth’ in amateur astronomy that goes along the lines of “the length of time of bad weather is geometrically proportional to the size of the aperture of the NEW scope you’ve just bought”.  With the run of poor astro conducive weather that we have been experiencing here in Sydney, someone must have bought a seriously BIG telescope…

But being the eternal optimist as astronomers invariably are, I still pull out a scope in the hope of a break in the poor conditions.  So a few days ago, I dragged out my refractor and Daystar Quark for a look at the Sun.

Conditions were only marginally improved, with the image of the Sun still shimmering.  But a very interesting prominence caught my attention.  At first glimpse, it somewhat resembled a rat.  By the time I had my sketching gear ready, the prom’s appearance had altered to now look like a tethered dragon breathing fire!  Most extraordinary and beautiful.  By the time I completed the sketch, the flame expelled by the beast had expanded out further.

By the time I completed the second sketch, this first prominence had altered appearance again to more resemble an antelope with very long horns.  All this in just an hour.  When you think of the distances involved with the Sun, these hot gases are moving at an extraordinary speed!

Object:  “Tethered Dragon”, hedgerow prominence

Gear:  ED80, Daystar Quark, 23mm eyepiece, 110X

Date:  14^th June, 2016

Location:  Sydney, Australia

The second sketch is of a wonderful anomalous prominence that had a curious set of four streamers reaching out from one side of it, and around it was a series of smaller proms, all of which appear to be magnetically connected.  As with the first sketch, this prominence’s appearance was also changing very quickly.

Object:  Striated hedgerow prominence

Gear:  ED80, Daystar Quark, 23mm eyepiece, 110X

Date:  14^th June, 2016

Location:  Sydney, Australia.

Alex.