Corkscrew Prom

Corkscrew Prom and Filaments active on the solar disc. (May 7th ) PST 40 /8mm eyepiece/ 50X . Pastels, Conte, and Pritt Graphite 6B. Killadoon Co Mayo Ireland 14:40 Local Time – 15:30 – 13:40 UT – 14:30 UT . A drawing by Deirdre Kelleghan

When I first observed that corkscrew-style Prominence, it had to be brought to paper. It may have been a filaprom, but I could not see the connection clearly enough. My background went in quickly; therefore, it was not as neat as usual. The prom’s changes were rapid. All drawn in glorious sunshine with a black scarf around my hot head to shield my eyes from the actual sunlight. I took a break and observed again to see how much had changed. Hence, the second, less fussy drawing was about an hour later. ( See below)

Shape Shifter

It was an absolute pleasure to observe this action-packed prom dangling from the southern limb of the sun. From time to time, its appearance changed from an object that looked almost solid to something else entirely. A corkscrew and a drill head appeared. Occasionally, it looked like a swirling whirlwind with many twisting streams of material engaged in a dance.

A long filament was close to the limb, the prom and the filament may have been part of the same energetic action. However, I could not see the link between the end of the filament and the beginning of the prom releasing its exuberance into space.

I used the location of the dangling prom to place the Active Region above it in the correct position. The AR was surrounded by several large curtain-style filaments anchored to the solar disc. AR 4079 was huge, one of the largest active regions this year. This 140,000 km solar region promised large CMEs but did not deliver. Perhaps we got lucky that it did not live up to its potential.

Sunny Ireland, what’s going on?

Here in Ireland, we have been without rain for the best part of a month, a very unusual occurrence. During that time, I’ve captured several drawings of the sun on paper. The clarity offered by the PST is remarkable at times. It is dependent on the stability of our atmosphere. The view can be sharp for a few intermittent seconds and then decline into a frustrating mush.

Drawing the sun in h-alpha is one of the most challenging tasks in astronomical sketching. The sheer amount of detail available to the eye is overwhelming, and I’ve only captured a fraction of it so far. I’m still trying to figure out how to tell the whole story in a single drawing. But the journey to find my way in solar drawing is very satisfying. I plan to continue using pastels, despite the challenge of fixing the particles on paper permanently. I’ll also continue my experiments with pencils, as they sometimes provide a more comprehensive drawing.