Latest Continuum image
The image shows the latest continuum image of the Sun acquired at INAF - Catania Astrophysical Observatory with a quality index equal to 1 (1 =good, 3 = bad). The spacing of meridians and parallels is 10 degrees.
When the weather conditions permit, every 60 minutes (between 8:00 and 14:00 local time -CET/CEST) a full disc image of the Sun in the continuum (656.78 nm ± 0.25 nm) near the Hα line is taken. Although it is obtained by means of a Lyot filter, it provides a view of the solar photosphere as the white light images acquired by other providers/instruments.
The raw images are recorded with a size of 2048 x 2048 pixels and a dynamic range of 16 bit.Then,the image has been preliminarily reduced in order to check its quality and to centre the solar disc. Flat-field correction has been applied.
As of February 1, 2024, the flat-field correction is applied by default to both JPEG and FITS images. For images captured before this date, correction of FITS images requires the corresponding flat-field images.