Another Shining Day of Solar Observing at the Royal Observatory Greenwich - Saturday 30 May 2026

After missing our previous scheduled solar observing session due to cloud cover on both days, the team was eager to get up and running again at the Royal Observatory Greenwich this Saturday.

Regular participants were joined by five new volunteers, bringing our total number to fourteen for the day. Everyone pitched in with enthusiasm, first helping to bring the equipment up from the stores at Flamsteed House before assisting with the set-up and running of the event.

Setting up the solar telescopes at the start of the day, before welcoming our first visitors. Pictures by Alec Knox and Mike Meynell.

This time we had two heavyweight mounts to deploy - a Celestron CGX and a Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro - alongside our two wooden Sunspotter solar projectors. Clive once again brought along his excellent 76mm Sky-Watcher Heliostar to complement our other hydrogen-alpha instruments: the 60mm Coronado and the 100mm Lunt. Interestingly, the telescopes happened to be arranged in aperture order, making it easy to compare the different views offered by each instrument as visitors moved from one scope to the next.

The weather was largely as forecast, with a veil of high-altitude haze and numerous aircraft contrails criss-crossing the sky throughout the day. Despite these conditions, all of the telescopes performed surprisingly well.

Once the tracking mounts had been assembled - a task requiring two people due to their considerable weight - the telescopes were quickly aligned and ready for observing. As these mounts are designed to carry multi-kilogram astronomical telescopes, we were perhaps a little "over-mounted" for our solar work. That said, the tracking was exceptionally stable, and a hidden benefit was the reduced tendency for accidental movement when younger visitors looked for something to hold on to while observing.

The two Sunspotter projectors were positioned at opposite ends of the observing area, with one placed nearer the entrance and the other in its usual location alongside the hydrogen-alpha telescopes. This arrangement worked well for visitor numbers of around ten to twenty people at a time, allowing them to circulate between the scopes without excessive backtracking or congestion. With some further refinement, the layout could potentially accommodate even larger visitor numbers in future sessions.

Volunteers demonstrating the Sunspotters, helping visitors see the sunspot groups safely projected onto the viewing screen. Pictures by Alec Knox and Mike Meynell.

As the designated session lead, I was able to spend time with all of our new volunteers, covering the basics of sunspot formation and the progression of the solar cycle. The day passed surprisingly quickly despite the somewhat oppressive humidity, and volunteers sensibly took breaks whenever there was a lull in visitor numbers.

The Sun itself was, quite literally, the star of the show. Five sunspot groups were visible across the Sun's mid-equatorial regions and could be readily seen using both the Sunspotters and the hydrogen-alpha telescopes. The H-alpha instruments, however, revealed much more detail, showing prominences at several points around the solar limb together with numerous plages and filaments spread across the solar surface.

Our visitors represented a good mix of people, including many young families and tourists from overseas. One particularly memorable encounter for me was a grandfather and grandson experiencing the Sun in hydrogen-alpha light for the first time. Young and old alike were equally enthralled by the view.

Visitors enjoying views through the solar telescopes, with queues forming through the day, Yvonne’s smartscope image showing the Sun’s activity in impressive detail, Simon's "through the eyepice" view using the Coronado and a Smartphone, and Yvonne's "solar puck" images (2 different versions). Pictures by Alec Knox, Mike Meynell, Yvonne Jacobs and Simon Hurst.

As the afternoon drifted towards 4pm, visitor numbers gradually diminished and several volunteers needed to leave for other commitments. We therefore began packing away the equipment, readying everything for our next opportunity to observe our nearest star in a few weeks' time.

All told, after 5 hours of fairly constant observing, we had over 400 attendees.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers for making the day such a success: Mike, Simon, Clive, Richard, Tony, Yvonne, Sue and Kelly, together with our five first-time solar volunteers, Frederik, Neale, Chris, Holly and Philippe.

A few of our volunteers for the day - from l-to-r: Richard, Philippe, Holly, Yvonne, Clive, Tony and Alec. Picture by Simon Hurst (not pictured are Mike, Simon, Sue, Kelly, Frederik, Neale and Chris)

Particular thanks go once again to Clive for bringing along his Heliostar and helping to provide such impressive views of our Sun.