Solar telescope.

[Winterfell]

Hello all.

I follow the suns activity daily using websites such as Helioviewer,NOAA,Solarham etc. My interest in the sun grows every day and I would like to kick it up a bit.I'm interested buying a solar telescope to enhance my hobby. Am I naive to think that ,as a novice telescope user, i can just research the products available and purchase one? Can someone give me advice on what to look for and maybe steer me in the right direction?

[JB80]

The starting point will be to search the range of Coronado or Lunt products, they are not cheap but it will give you an idea of what is around.

That said even the more modest entry level models will blow your mind so there is no need to worry about jumping in at the very deep end.

Another option is the Daystar Quark, check your local telescope shop website to get an idea what they have or even the Coronado, Lunt, Daystar websites themselves. That is where I would start.

[Floater]

I would also suggest you keep an eye on AstroBuySell (not sure about access in Thunder Bay!). There are often solar scopes coming up for sale and, providing you always bear in mind the sensible 'caveat emptor' basics, it is a more economical avenue into the joy that is solar observing.

I'm twitching about the Quark route but, as above, nothing here is low-cost so at present I'm keeping my cash in my sporran - though I doubt I'll be able to wait long enough for one of these to come rolling round on the 'pre-loved' market!

p.s. The 'eclipse effect' seemed to reduce the amount of solar gear on offer on ABS ...

[Solar_observer]

It's amazing how over the last couple of months, solar white light and solar HA is becoming. More affordable kit?.........forums like these? It's all good stuff though, good luck with your choice

wishing you sunny days.

[bingevader]

Do you already own a 'scope?

If so, then a white light filter could be a cheap and affordable intro in to solar observing.

[Gazabone]

The only advice I would add is to be aware of what sort of observing you want to do;

White light is great for looking at sunspots or

Hydrogen alpha for prominences, flares, filaments.

There are other more exotic wavelengths such as calcium but White light and/or Ha make a great start. Personally I soulg for Ha but I must admit the recent eclipse was much better viewed in white rather than Ha but that was only because white light coped with the cloud rather better. Either way, it's a great branch of astronomy and helps fill the gap during the short nights of summer!

[Winterfell]

Do you already own a 'scope?

If so, then a white light filter could be a cheap and affordable intro in to solar observing.

I have an old scope that isn't worth blowing the dust off so I will be looking at new.

[Ags]

What sort of scope is it? With a suitable solar filter, even a very modest refractor can give good white light views.

[Winterfell]

What sort of scope is it? With a suitable solar filter, even a very modest refractor can give good white light views.

At this point in my life and close to retirement i believe that I will treat myself to something new.

[Andonyx]

If it's helpful, from a novice:

I've been at this less than a year, but here is an idea of what you can get from the lowest cost setups both white-light and Ha.

That's using my C90 and the thousand oaks glass solar filter. I took that with a neximage 5.

Those are Hydrogen Alpha from the Coronado PST 40mm. It's one of the cheapest Ha systems available, and if you know what you're doing, you can still get amazing pics. Mine (remember, I'm a beginner) pale in comparison to some of the shots I've seen here through the same scope by more experienced folks.

[jabeoo1]

Hello all.

My interest in the sun grows every day and I would like to kick it up a bit.I'm interested buying a solar telescope to enhance my hobby. 

Saying that owning a solar scope is very rewarding would be an understatement.  Your interest and knowledge base will be enriched greatly, the tools available now are just stunning.  I remember when I was a child and would try glancing at the sun, my dad told me how far away it was and I remember being amazed by the distance, brightness & heat.   Only 3 decades later after being alone for a few hours at the eyepiece suddenly that Sun now felt part of my back yard and and no longer distant and untouchable.  It was a simple realisation that was obvious but suddenly feeling that 'the Sun is finally so much closer at last' is a lovely feeling.   I am rambling. 

Hello all.

Am I naive to think that ,as a novice telescope user, i can just research the products available and purchase one? 

No thats not naive, they are simple to use and elegantly designed  so long as they are treated with respect like any scientific instrument.  I find night time viewing more challenging in many ways, I have never had anything spoil a solar session apart from the weather. 

Hello all.

Can someone give me advice on what to look for and maybe steer me in the right direction?

It depends what features and details you are interested in seeing.  I always find Ha viewing is spectacular, and never fails to amaze, just be aware of the CaK scopes can be geared towards imaging and much more difficult as a visual instrument.  I am sure many other on the forum who view in Ha & White Light will have some very useful information for you.  

Go for it is my advice !  

[Andonyx]

It depends what features and details you are interested in seeing.  I always find Ha viewing is spectacular, and never fails to amaze, just be aware of the CaK scopes can be geared towards imaging and much more difficult as a visual instrument.  I am sure many other on the forum who view in Ha & White Light will have some very useful information for you.  

Seconded on CaK. I thought about a CaK eyepiece filter (Which is the wrong approach for a number of reasons, as some helpful people here pointed out) If you've ever viewed nebulae through a normal scope with no filters, it just comes out as a sort of gray mist...It's similar to that.  CaK really doesn't produce a lot of visible information for the human eye. It takes imagers, filters and processing to really make that worthwhile.

[Andonyx]

Side question, if I can piggy-back this thread:

I just looked at the daystar quark, just out of curiosity. When I first started researching Ha systems, they made it very clear that Ha used at the eyepiece end is a disaster for heat load reasons, etc. At the very least you need an ERF at the objective end. Unless it's a Herschel wedge. But I have 2 SCT scopes and even Herschel wedges will not work for those. Would the daystar work on an SCT design? Would I need to add an ERF?

Thanks in advance.

[Stu]

Side question, if I can piggy-back this thread:

I just looked at the daystar quark, just out of curiosity. When I first started researching Ha systems, they made it very clear that Ha used at the eyepiece end is a disaster for heat load reasons, etc. At the very least you need an ERF at the objective end. Unless it's a Herschel wedge. But I have 2 SCT scopes and even Herschel wedges will not work for those. Would the daystar work on an SCT design? Would I need to add an ERF?

Thanks in advance.

The Quarks are designed for refractors only. An SCT is too long focal length and would need a full aperture D-ERF. Best to buy a cheaper refractor if you want a Quark

[Qualia]

Winterfell, just as something to mull over, you could go down the refractor route, looking into something like an decent 80mm f6 to f8 frac (ED or APO?). Not only will the frac double as a gorgeous wide field scope for the night skies, but in the day time you can also start out with something like Baader Solar Film - which is extremely cheap in astro terms - over the front of your scope to see sunspots, granulation and faculae.

Giving yourself time, if you find that you regularly enjoy viewing in white light with your frac, you can then start looking into purchasing a Herschel Wedge which I feel gives a sharper, slightly more detailed image of the sun in white light, and also the possible H-alpha options.

This is where the frac route pays off because you've left the door open to the possibility of purchasing not only the Wedge but also a Quark eyepiece and in that fashion, you will have a widefield night time scope and at the same time, a scope which can do white light in the superlative and H-alpha with 80mm of aperture .

If you decide to purchase a dedicated H-alpha scope - as I did, for example - you're still in a win-win situation. You'll have a no-fuss dual set up of white light and H-alpha in the day time and a decent night time scope to boot and in all cases the views will be stunning.