Sunspots, Spectra and Smart-Scopes: Another Solar Success at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, Friday 31 July 2026

As we enter the busiest period of our solar viewing season, the Flamsteed Astronomy Society team returned to the Royal Observatory Greenwich on Friday 31 July for another solar observing session, this time with an added variety of instruments showing the Sun at several different wavelengths.

I arrived on site just after 10am to find Mike Meynell, Simon Hurst, Tim Rickard and Ed Fosbrook already busy, having brought the equipment up from Flamsteed House. The weather was a little cloudier than forecast, the tail end of an overnight cold front having passed through from the north-west, though the prospects for a good day still looked promising.

Tim had already set up his CaK 61mm refractor rig on one of the picnic tables and was busy powering it up. The set-up is now a pretty slick operation, as we're all generally familiar with the process. I took the opportunity to try out a daytime polar alignment iPhone app I've been working on, which helped speed up the set-up of the HEQ5 mount for the Coronado 60mm hydrogen-alpha telescope. Meanwhile, we kept an eye on the sky as clouds drifted overhead, intermittently blocking the Sun.

Tim with his CaK rig and the Coronado 60mm scope set up for the start of the session. Pictures by Mike Meynell and Alec Knox.

Paul May arrived and quickly set up his spectroheliograph on another picnic table. Soon after, Paul Merriman arrived with his DwarfLab Dwarf3 smart telescope and set up near where we keep the older wooden-technology Sunspotter device. Once we were all set up, we had five observation platforms showing the Sun in several different ways.

Paul May with his spectroheliograph. Pictures by Mike Meynell and Alec Knox.

The general public soon began to arrive, and we were off to a great start, showing people the wonders of our Sun and explaining what could be seen at the different wavelengths. The intermittent cloud continued throughout the day, but actually worked in our favour, offering short pauses for us to rehydrate or just chat with members of the public in a relaxed atmosphere. One visitor summed up the mood nicely on arrival, quipping, “Hello, we're just in time for clouds.”

We had around 400 visitors in total on the day, from all parts of the globe. Some were seasoned amateur astronomers, but most were ordinary members of the public who had never seen the Sun at the different wavelengths we had on show. On the day, the Sun didn't disappoint, showing at least eight sunspot groups strung out around the equatorial band. Our layout of equipment worked well, as people could progress from set-up to set-up, seeing the Sun in several different ways.

The Sunspotter proving to be a popular attraction once again, and queues build at the Coronado. Pictures by Mike Meynell and Alec Knox.

Particular thanks must go to Ed and John for doing sterling work as our front-of-house public contact volunteers, engaging with and directing the public to where we were set up throughout the day, and to Tim, Paul May and Paul Merriman for operating their own equipment without a break for the majority of the day.

Despite the intermittent clouds, the day turned out to be a great success, running the full session time through to 4pm.

Some of the Flamsteed team for the day. Mike Meynell, Paul Merriman, Alec Knox, John Harries and Ed Fosbrook. Not pictured are Simon Hurst, Paul May and Tim Rickard. Picture by Simon Hurst.

Many thanks to all the other volunteers for helping make the day such a success: Ed Fosbrook, John Harries, Simon Hurst, Paul May, Paul Merriman, Mike Meynell and Tim Rickard. We should also mention Jane Bezant, a fellow Society member, who dropped by to say ‘hello’.