So Much to See and Do, So Little Time - Solar Observing, Saturday 13 June 2026

After the rainy start to June, and a rescheduled solar observing session, the Sun came out and didn't disappoint any of us.

But there was so much more to be seen and experienced by our visitors, but more of that later.

Unusually, we had no new volunteers joining us today, but twelve experienced volunteers turned up, encouraged by the weather forecast, which turned out to be very accurate!

As is normally the case, everyone pitched in, bringing the equipment up from the stores in Flamsteed House, before setting all of it up in preparation for the visitors.

Unlike the last solar event, we had the “old faithful” Sky-Watcher EQ5 mount back, as well as the Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount, along with just a single Sunspotter. Clive again brought along his Sky-Watcher Heliostar to complement the museum’s Coronado and Lunt hydrogen-alpha telescopes. Purely by accident, the telescopes were arranged in age order, with the newer Heliostar at one end, and the venerable and hard-working Coronado at the other end, allowing some of our visitors the ability to compare the different etalon technologies.

Speaking of technology, Paul added to the technical mix with his spectroheliograph, which he expertly demonstrated to numerous small groups of visitors throughout the whole day. If you want to know more about his spectroheliograph, I strongly suggest you read the write-up on the Flamsteed website about the Citizen and Amateur Science Workshop, which was held on 28 May.

Paul setting up his spectroheliograph. Image by Mike Meynell.

There were a few “firsts” and a flying visit. I saw a solar halo for the first time, after Simon brought it to my attention. Frederik, who has lived locally for some time, experienced the Time Ball drop for the first time and, for those with a keen eye, it was possible to see the RAF perform their flypast over Buckingham Palace.

Of course, the real star of the show was the Sun, with a few sunspot groups visible across the Sun's surface, these being easily seen on the Sunspotter, while the hydrogen-alpha telescopes revealed filaments and prominences galore! One particular prominence appeared as an arch, topped off by the overhead view of the solar halo, visibly encircling the Sun.

The solar halo, image by Mike Meynell.

Once our visitors had viewed the Sun up close and personal, they could wander over into the Meridian courtyard and experience the Mirror Moon. The Sun and the Moon, all in one day. What more could you ask for?

The Mirror Moon, image by Mike Meynell.

After five hours of enthralling around 400 visitors with views of our nearest star, the Sun, it was time to dismantle all the equipment and return it to the stores, then gather together for the traditional photo before going our separate ways, until next time!

The team: Frederik, Tej, Alec, Richard, Tim, Katie, Clive, Mike and Sara. Missing from the photo are: Simon, Yvonne and Paul. Image by Simon Hurst.

I started by saying there was so much more to be seen. Our volunteers gave our visitors glimpses of the Sun, with all today's features; a solar halo; a unique view of the Sun with Paul’s spectroheliograph; an RAF flypast; and the Mirror Moon, all wrapped up within the good humour and camaraderie of the team.

It leaves me only to offer my heartfelt thanks to today’s amazing volunteers: Frederik, Sara, Tej, Simon, Clive, Yvonne, Alec, Paul, Katie, Mike and Tim, who made the day such a huge success.

Additional images, taken by Mike Meynell and Richard Summerfield: