Solar Section
strikis (at) hellas-astro.gr
Coordinator of the Solar Section
Also at Elizabeth Observatory of Athens
& H.E.L.I.O.S. Team
Aims
The Sun is the star that gives life to Earth by shining every single day. It is therefore important to
observe the Sun and try to understand its secrets. The goals of the section are
- · Collecting the Solar observations from all around Greece.
- · Creating an archive with the observations separated in Photospheric –
- Chromospheric – Radio and Sunspot Counts.
- · Making the "Archive" open to each person interested in the observations.
- · Generating "Observing Campaigns" with specific subject.
- · Analyzing the observations and publishing the results .
- · Participation in conferences with lectures and poster presentations.
- · Organizing workshops on "How-To" do Solar observing.
- · Cooperation with other amateur astronomers around the world and other
- associations (British Astronomical Association, Association of Lunar and Planetary
- Observers).
- · Publishing observing guid-lines and advice on safe Solar views.
- Observations
At this time the "Archive" of the Solar Section observations totals to these numbers.
- · 1430 Drawings of the Sunspots between 1999 (January) and 2010 (December).
- · 630 Images of the Photosphere and Sunspots between 2004 (January) and 2010
- (December).
- · 1137 Images of the Chromosphere (Prominences, Flares, Filaments, Active Regions)
- between 2005 (January) and 2010 (December).
- · 2535 Sunspot Measurements (Daily Sunspot Counts) between 1999 (January) and 2010
- (December).
- · Also, as from November 2010, a big number of observations with Sunspot Counts are
- available (more than 1500) but these observations have not been archived yet.
Also a new web-page has been created by the coordinator of the Solar section for providing "Daily
Reports" of the Solar activity with images of the Sun, articles on Major Solar Events and links to other
Greek amateur astronomers’ personal web-pages.
This site can be accessed via the following link: www.dailysolar.weebly.com and is going to be included
in the the next version of HAAA's main web-site.
Major events
· 2003:
- ◦ Talk given at the 3rd Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy (Chalkidiki) on Solar
- observing techniques and data analysis. Poster presentation on Solar imaging with B&W films
- of the Photosphere and Sunspots.
· 2004:
◦ Organized several observing teams for the observation of the Venus Transit and officialy
participated in the International Campaign VT 2004.
· 2005 :
- ◦ Talk and poster at the 4th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy (Athens) on the
- ◦ Organized several teams for observing the Partial Solar Eclipse of October 3rd (Athens). One of
with 3 local schools present there, making also observations through the telescopes and
instruments of the expedition members and also doing temperature and weather measurements
during the eclipse.
· 2006:
- ◦ Organized an observing expedition in collaboration with the University of Athens in the Greek
◦ During the expedition many lectures about the Solar Activity and How-To observe the Sun with
safety were organized by the two members of the expedition: Strikis Iakovos (amateur
astronomer) and Moussas Xenofon (associate professor in Space Physics/ Director of
Astrophysics Laboratory / Faculty of Physics / National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
- ◦ The Solar Section also participated in the international "Second Solar Orbiter Workshop"
· 2007:
- ◦ Organized an observing Campaign on "Chromospheric Activity Monitoring" during the Solar
- ◦ Two lectures on the results of the Total Solar Eclipse (2006) expedition, one lecture on the
- ◦ The Solar Section organized two lectures on local schools on "How-To" observe the Sun in
- ◦ Participated in the 5th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy (Patras) with a talk and
presentation about the Solar section 's activities for the public.
- ◦ Organized a workshop at the 5th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy (Patras) on
· 2008:
- ◦ Organized an observing expedition for the Total Solar Eclipse on Siberia with two participants.
- ◦ Organized an observing expedition at Florina city (almost the Northernmost part of Greece) for
safely were organized in the city inside an Army Camp near the Greek borders.
· 2009:
- ◦ Organized an observing campaign for the Solar Activity monitoring 2 months before and 2
- ◦ Organized an observing expedition to China (Hangzhou City) for observation and study of the
- ◦ Organized and presented two lectures on the meetings of the H (that were open to the public) on
- ◦ Participated with two poster presentations at the 6th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur
observations and the second covered the results on the campaigns concerning the Photospheric
and Chromospheric monitoring of the Solar Activity.
- ◦ Organized a workshop during the 6th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy
and data processing with modern astronomy software.
- ◦ Many talks have been given around the country and many in Athens for the IYA 2009
- ◦ On June of this year the Solar section organized "on the field" Solar observing workshop during
· 2010:
- ◦ On January 2010 the section organized several teams for observing the Partial Solar Eclipse.
- ◦ The Solar Section contributes to the creation of the H.E.L.I.O.S. team (Hellenic Eclipse
and organized the spectroscopic experiments performed by the H.E.L.I.O.S team during the
Total Solar Eclipse (2010) in Mangaia island (Cook Islands).
- ◦ A Solar observing workshop was held at the 4th Panhellenic Meeting of Amateur Astronomers
- ◦ In collaboration with the Physics Department of the University of Athens, the “Sun and Variable
Solar Eclipse observations.
- ◦ A series of talks about the Solar Activity and related observations was given during the frequent
· 2011:
- ◦ Organized a campaign on the 4th of January 2011 Partial Solar Eclipse, in collaborations with the
interviews for tv and radio stations, giving special attention on how to observe the Sun in a safe
way.
Future Plans
Continue working on a variety of subjects concerning Solar observing along with arranging new
collaborations with professionals. Give more talks and offer to more people the opportunity to observe the
Sun, always, in a safe way, and motivate as many amateurs as possible to start observing the Sun in a way
useful for the Solar Science.
Publications
Strikis I.M. 2003, “White Light Solar Observing teckniques", 3rd Panhellenic Conference on Amateur
Astronomy, Chalkidiki, Greece, 17-19 October (talk, poster).
Strikis I.M. 2005, "Solar Photosphere Observing guidelines", Observational Astronomy, 1, p. 41.
Strikis I.M. 2005, "Analysis of White Light Observations of Active Region 0756 on Sun”, 4th Panhellenic
Conference on Amateur Astronomy, Athens, Greece, 9-11 September (talk).
Strikis I.M. 2007, "2006 Total Solar Eclipse, multi-wavelenght observations from Lybia to Megisti
Island", 5th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy, Patras, Greece, 5-7 October (talk,poster)
Strikis I.M. 2007, "First Results on the analysis of the observations during the 2006 Total Solar
Eclipse", Observational Astronomy, 2, p. 8 .
Strikis I.M. 2009, "Summary of the observations during the 2006-2008-2009 Total Solar Eclipses", 6th
Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy, Alexandroupolis, Greece, 25-27 September (poster).
Strikis I.M. 2009, “Prolonged Solar Minimum and Solar Corona Formation during the Total Solar
Eclipses 2006-2008-2009-2010", 6th Panhellenic Conference on Amateur Astronomy, Alexandroupolis,
Greece, 25-27 September (poster).