Halpha and solar cycle

As one who has been impressed with the views through friends Halpha
equiped scopes, I was wondering if during the current "down cycle" of
solar activity if those filters will be rendered more or less useless.
I know that sunspot activity will decrease now that we are on the
downside of the 11 year cycle. But does that also equate to less
interesting Halpha activity?

Bob Berta

On 10 Nov 2003 14:42:36 -0800, (Robert Berta)
wrote:

As one who has been impressed with the views through friends Halpha
equiped scopes, I was wondering if during the current "down cycle" of
solar activity if those filters will be rendered more or less useless.
I know that sunspot activity will decrease now that we are on the
downside of the 11 year cycle. But does that also equate to less
interesting Halpha activity?

Bob Berta

The current "down cycle" seems to have yet to arrive.
The Sun has been very active lately.

I have only had a Ha filter for a few years so I can not comment on
"solar minimum" viewing. The Sun so far has always made a interesting
subject to view. It changes day by day and even minute by minute when
you get to see a flare.

KK

(Robert Berta) wrote in message . com...
As one who has been impressed with the views through friends Halpha
equiped scopes, I was wondering if during the current "down cycle" of
solar activity if those filters will be rendered more or less useless.
I know that sunspot activity will decrease now that we are on the
downside of the 11 year cycle. But does that also equate to less
interesting Halpha activity?

Bob Berta

No, low sunspot activity does not necessarily make these filters
useless, although we won't see a great deal of activity much of the
time (a quick look is often enough to judge what is going to happen,
rather than having to watch for a while to see what develops). As
sunspot activity declines, there will still be a few nice limb
prominences or ephemeral regions popping up from time to time, so even
close to minimum, I will still get my H-alpha setup out from time to
time. I saw the largest ribbon flare I have ever seen only a year
prior to the last sunspot minimum, so activity doesn't just plain
vanish altogether. Its also fun near the minimum to watch for the
formation first high-latitude active regions which signals the start
of the next sunspot cycle. Clear skies to you.

David W. Knisely
Prairie Astronomy Club: http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org
Hyde Memorial Observatory: http://www.hydeobservatory.info/

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