May 2026 – News

27th May

Friends Solar Observing: The mini heatwave allowed the postponed Friends Solar Observing session finally to go ahead. 12 Friends joined GKWJ at the Dome where a range of instruments were tracking the Sun. First up everyone had a view of the Sun’s disk through eclipse specs, though no active regions were large enough to be seen by naked (filtered!) eye. The Celestron 8-inch had a white light filter, allowing four large sunspot regions to be seen. There was a range of hydrogen alpha telescopes outside: a double stacked Lunt 50mm, an Acuter 40mm Phoenix, and a Coronado 40mm PST; all gave beautiful views of the full disk, with active regions, prominences, filaments, and an impressive filaprom, all clearly visible, changing as the session progressed. In the Dome, the 10-inch was fitted with the hydrogen alpha filter and 2x PowerMate which allowed the diagonal to be used, making observing much more comfortable. The magnified view showed exquisite detail, particularly in the prominences around the solar limb. The final instrument used was a small handheld spectroscope, which allowed the Fraunhofer lines in the solar spectrum, the Sun’s fingerprint, to be viewed, most clearly when using the reflected sunlight from a sheet of white paper. It was a hot, but fascinating solar session!

23rd May

Solar Observing: The Dome was open on Prize Day for an hour in the afternoon. GKWJ had a small number of visitors, who enjoyed the Sun in white light through the 10-inch and the Celestron 8-inch, seeing four large sunspot groups. The Lunt 50mm gave excellent views in hydrogen alpha, with two particularly impressive prominences visible.