Sunspots

Today’s sunspots.

Sunspots

Sunspots 2012-06-16; click to enlarge

Some notes on taking the picture: I used a budget Celestron Powerseeker 127eq with a bunch of DIY accessories. The small aperture of the front mask was covered with mylar film; instead of the eyepiece I used a T-mount, made from a camera body cap and a piece of PVC sink pipe, held together by plumber’s putty. It sounds pretty much like MacGyver, and it was. Why complicate so much, you ask, if you can get a T-mount for pocket change? Because you can’t get one the last day when you finally decide you want to take pictures of the venus transit.

Of course, to prevent shaking, a 10s timer and mirror lockup had to be used. Finally, the photo was cropped and adjusted for better contrast.

Compare that to the one NASA captured.