Solar prominences on February 13, 2023

Description:

Solar prominences are among the most spectacular manifestations of the sun’s activity. These are kinds of plasma tunnels which follow magnetized loops and develop in the space of a few hours to sometimes persist for several days.

There are two possible ways to see them. During a total solar eclipse, when the surface of the sun is completely obscured by the Moon, prominences can be seen around the edges, especially with binoculars or a small telescope. Caution! It is absolutely necessary to refrain from observing when the reappearance of the sun is imminent! They can also be observed with a telescope through a filter which only lets through the narrow wavelength known as hydrogen-alpha. These filters are hyper-specialized and very expensive.

The photo below was taken with a William Optics GT81 telescope fitted with a Daystar Quark Gemini filter, and with a ZWO ASI 174 camera.