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Whens best to view the sun?


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I'm basically just wondering if there is a 'better' time to view the sun, from my rear garden I have a open view of the sun for several hour's of the day and was just wondering would it be better to view it during first light or sunset or does it really not matter.

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"But seriously, as with all stars, the higher it is in the sky the better."

I would have to disagree with you there , by midday the Sun has had a good few hours to do what it does best and that is heat up everything it shines on.

This generally has the effect of adding more turbulent air currents and usually detracts greatly from the view , I've always found that early mornings produce much better conditions for observing and imaging than afternoons. 

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Mornings have been best for me overall in my first year, about 10-10:30 am I think, but it has varied. Sometimes it was good on holiday in Summer at 7.30-8am, other days it was wobbling a good-un at that time :eek:  I wonder if things like dew on the grass affected that.

What I also like about mornings is that sometimes that promised Sun doesn't come in the afternoon  :eek:  A bird in the hand... :grin:

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I'm a bit if a Martini kind of guy. Anytime - anyplace- anywhere.

But I can only view after 11am from my back garden, so thats when I start. I do find the views degade for me later in the afternoon when the sun gets over the rooftops of the houses behind me. The thermals off of the tiles plays havok with the seeing.

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 I usually grab my solar setup whenever I feel the urge but I have always found the evening is best.

When the sun is high in the sky it comes with it's own hazards and discomforts. I had a worrying time a while ago where I had thought the solar filter had failed but after a visit to the optician the opinion was that I'd actually got sun burn on my eye (similar to arc eye). My only explanation for this was that with the sun being high in the sky the eyepiece on my refractor was low and the stainless steel tripod would have been directly behind. I'm guessing this had reflected the sunlight and so exposed me to UV, that and a lack of blinking while taking in the views left me feeling like I'd got grit in my eye for several days.

High in the sky and everything cooks or low in the sky and suffer more atmosphere either way I cannot say there has ever been any real difference in the views whether the sun is high in the sky or 30° off the horizon. So it comes down to personal comfort I guess ??

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Like Ras, i would have thought midday when the Sun is at its highest (less pollution for the light to get through). Then i got to thinking about the heat and stuff. So i'm now of the opinion that mid-morning about 10am would be good as its high enough and less heat to cause "boiling" etc.

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I think we start to see similar issues with the Moon at times. It seems that when there is a rapid temperature change, that can make things go wobbly bobbly. I suppose not that different to scopes needing to cool down? Turbulent air caused by fast changing temps?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yep, basically as early as you can and once above any murk, around 1.5hours after sunrise if you can.

If imaging, I used to go up onto our local common to be imaging across a couple of miles of grass and an hour or so after sunrise. Lovely and steady then. (At home the sun doesn't clear the trees until late morning).

If it hasn't been a hot day, then similar time before sunset is good at home. But if a hot day, heat coming off the house, roads, buildings around me can make it impossible.

In good naturally seeing/turbulence conditions and without lots of surface heating, e.g. Winter, midday can actually be very good due to minimum atmospheric path.

If imaging, then lots and lots of frames. Even on the worst days, there will be a few tenths of a second every minute when the seeing is perfect (or close to it).

Cheers

Ian

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heating up is never an issue in Scotland
we think summer has arrived when we see double figures :)
I'm ordering a solar filter this week (yes more expense) as the sun fascinates me ever since I discovered sun spots and there effect on earth
I used to do Ham radio and high sunspots meant a huge increase in distance we could broadcast using atmospheric skip
basically the ionized layers act like a mirror to radio waves

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