Active Region 4079 with one Ellerman Bomb / PST 40 /8mm Eyepiece/ 50X h-alpha. May 3rd 2025 .
14:00 UT – 15:30 UT Killadoon , Co Mayo , Ireland -Drawing and blog by Deirdre Kelleghan
Massive Active Region
Here in Killadoon, Co Mayo, the drawing began in between clouds. After a while, the gaps became larger and longer, making the task easier. While looking at this active region, I thought it reminded me of The Scream by Edvard Munch. Occasionally, passing thin clouds helped define some shapes in the action. Active Region 4079 was 140,000 km across, the largest active region so far this year.
Pencil drawing in h-alpha
A variety of pencils and silicone-tipped brushes helped place this vision on paper. Plus, later, a touch of white gel pen to highlight the very bright circular eruption. I thought it might be an Ellerman Bomb. Astrophotographers later confirmed this. There was SO much happening on the solar disc: lots of jumping filaments, a beautiful prominence, and Active Region 4079. That small circular eruption under the V-shaped plage area was very bright at 14:53 UT. I marked its position by drawing a circle in pencil. My eye had indeed seen an Ellerman bomb, observing in my garden 93 million miles away.
I decided to go with a pencil drawing that day, an unusual choice for a h-alpha drawing. As challenging as solar drawing is, it is often a learning adventure for me. To see the shapes of the sunspots, you must fine-tune and focus the PST to isolate the spots. You must be constantly checking and attentive to get the best out of h-alpha drawing. The penumbra is barely visible to the eye, so it’s a case of lightly adding what is visible, even if it is only on view for seconds. Here is another PST solar drawing of mine in pastel
Ellerman Bomb !
Seeing the Ellerman bomb appear spontaneously and perfectly was a thrill for me. They are brief in nature and occur because magnetic fields reconnect and produce energy in that action. The way the magnetic fields align for reconnection produces a circular shape where they are located in the photosphere. Ellerman bombs are usually somewhere between 434 miles and 932 miles in diameter. Their intense power is present in a relatively small area compared to the rest of an active region.
Our atmosphere wasn’t as steady as I would have liked. However, I was so pleased to observe this enormous active region that I was happy out, as they say here in Ireland. For me, it was a great delight to learn about Ellerman Bombs by drawing one.
