Active Region 3981 is one of a string of busy, active regions on the solar disc. These areas of intense magnetic activity appear as dark spots on the sun’s surface. Together, they look like islands cruising on a sea of gas, the sun’s outer layer, the photosphere.
On February 5th, I did a pencil drawing of the area with many sunspots and dramatic filaments. Clouds were intermittent, so there was no point in starting a detailed pastel drawing. A bright flare appeared under one of the large sunspots. I added it using a yellow pencil. See the drawing below.
February 6th blue sky promise
On February 6th, it was a blue sky morning with blue promised to fill the day. We have had so many crazy storms lately that it was wonderful to be outside observing. So, despite the strong, chilly south easterly breeze, I had to give the full disc a go. This time, I intended to draw the h-alpha sun with its active regions, filaments and prominences. I wasn’t too happy with the circle I produced for the sun’s circumference. A new fixative spray didn’t dry quickly, making the black smear around the limb. However, I was keen to start, so I corrected it afterwards. Such is the forgiving nature of soft pastels. It takes about 40 minutes to create the h-alpha look on paper before starting a drawing.
The entire view was complex in my small PST. My approach is to use the tuning ring to isolate the sunspots from the rest of the features. Then, I focused them in as best I could before drawing all of them individually. After that, I retune and re-focus to see the plasma, filaments, and any proms on the limb. The mottling all over the disc is the hardest to capture, but one day, it will come to me and be all right. For now, it’s still an experiment.
There weren’t as many filaments within the armada of active regions as on February 5th. However, the remaining filaments on the disc were very busy indeed. They presented great shapes and angles; it was almost possible to see the form and direction of the material dropping downward from their arcing lines.
Flare
My drawing began at 11:03 UT, and a strong flare erupted from AR 3981 at 11:04 UT( Spaceweather Feb 6th archive has a great NASA/SDO gif). I was drawing the isolated sunspots then, so I am unsure if I caught some flare when I re-tuned to view that area. Often, flares appear to deeply enhance the colour of the plasma in the h-alpha view. This action can appear to increase the luminosity intensely. Thereby standing out from the rest of the muted canals of plasma in the area. Sometimes, for seconds or more extended periods. Please take a look at the drawing above.
My hopes included seeing a massive prominence erupt off the limb. However, the proms I could see were all small and didn’t look like they had the potential to get any more dramatic. The sun can create drama anytime, and it’s a dynamic star. This flotilla of active regions is almost at the solar limb today (February 8th). We may see some exuberant activity before it heads around and out of sight. Check-in with Spaceweather
