Solar viewing 10/3 at Central Park, Fremont

by Michael Swartz

Well another successful public solar viewing party has come to a close. It started out quite overcast but started to clear up right around 11:45 in Fremont just as I began setting up my stuff. By the time I had my little solar oasis all set up and organized and had lovingly pointed my scopes at the sun the sky looked pretty good.

No sooner did I sit down and take my first look through the eyepiece, a crowd started gathering. Bob Hess arrived a little later and quickly set up his custom solar reflecting refractor. We entertained the public until about 4:00pm. I'd say we had easily 50 people enjoy the views our scopes had to offer. Everyone was amazed and very appreciative. The weather was good too. There was a pleasant breeze, scattered clouds, some noise from a nearby boating club, and lots of families walking by.

The sun looked nice today. It was not spectacular but there were some interesting features. There was one clearly noticeable sunspot. The other two smaller ones were not very visible in h-alpha. There were to brighter active areas that showed plenty of churning surface turbulence. We also saw plenty of smaller filaments and two very pretty prominences. At one point a bright crack opened up pretty near the center. We think the sun spat a flare at us. It closed up after just a few minutes or so.

We may get together this Wednesday or Thursday on the cliffs in Santa Cruz. I'll post something once we firm up a day. And then we're going to do an afternoon at Bayfront Park in Menlo Park next Sunday 10/10 from 12:00pm - 4:00pm. So if you can, you are welcome to join us with or with out your scope.

Clear skies!

Posted on sf-bay-tac Oct 03, 2004 17:37:24 PT
Converted by report.pm 1.2 Jan 14, 2005 18:48:35 PT