With a 9.8" Newtonian reflector at ~f/4.6. University Optics 6mm Abbe Orthoscopic eyepiece rendered a magnification of 190x, used in integrated, orange, and blue light. The seeing was good but not exceptional. 10:50 Mar 19, 1999 UT. Morning limb (on the right) seemed very bright over much of its extent. Hellas is the bright large feature to the south (top). Polar "cap" is probably nothing more than some lingering polar frost and clouds, as it was extremely small and not conspicuous. The brightening near the evening limb was conspicuous and very bright. The contrasts of the original drawing did not survive the scanning process: the north polar area was considerably less dark than Syrtis Major, which dominated the rest of the dark markings.
Sunspot group. The telescope used was a 4.5" Newtonian. The filter is constructed of Tuthill mylar and stopped the aperture to 4" at approximately f/9. A University Optics 9mm Abbe Orthoscopic rendered 100x; a University Optics 6mm Abbe Orthoscopic rendered 150x. March 9, 1999, 00:38 UT. The seeing was poor but with momentary improvement from time to time. This spot group is designated Active Region 2301 and NOAA 8476. What is remarkable about this group is that the main spot umbra has split into two large components, which is referred to as a "delta" spot in the Mt. Wilson classification. A small spot has also become involved in the large spot's penumbra. This spot group is the most impressive visible at this moment on an otherwise nearly bare sun - the strong active regions are still rotated to the other side at the moment. The complexity of this group is impressive although the small spots are truly tiny, some of them invisible except in moments of good seeing. This region has not been terribly active, offering no flares in the last several days despite the delta spot, and being only moderately bright in x-rays.
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