laudropb

Managed my first solar session since the 10th of this month. In Ha there were 4 groups of proms. Mostly very small but all quite bright. On the upper east limb there is a pair of column proms. Started off small but during the 2 hours of my sessions certainly got larger and brighter. Near the mid point of the east limb there was a arch prom. Small but bright and gave good views. Further down the eastern limb there was another set of spikes. Small and rather indistinct. On the lower western limb there was another small group. Surface wise there was only one small filament close to the north western limb. White Light was very quiet. Empty disc and I could not see granulation.

I have seen it using a Sky Watcher ST 102, so it does not need to be an Apo. As Stu has pointed out on a previous report on this subject it requires patience. Quite often the granulation comes into view only during periods of excellent seeing and you have to wait for these to occur. I have had some success with the old trick of gently tapping the tube creating a little movement as the eye often picks up more detail then.

Hi Ella. I have a story very similar to yours, though I have never really been into imaging. I too found this site a real boon when I returned to Astro a few years ago.

Lovely looking scope Piero. Looking forward to hearing how it performs.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL. I am not familiar with the book you mention but there is plenty of information on this topic on the internet.

I have been to Astrofarm in France a few times. The wonderful dark skies certainly make it very much worth the travel and expense.

I am sure you will enjoy you retirement. I took early retirement myself and have loved every minute of it.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

The ep collection just keeps growing even though after each purchase I promise myself it’s the last.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL

We certainly have. A belated happy birthday to you.

Thought I had better try it out to make sure all is working before defacing the mount lol.

My first go to set up.

It’s my birthday today and a couple of boxes arrived from FLO right on time.

There are a few books which are useful primers. Two that I have are Observing the Sun: a pocket guide, by J Jenkins andHow to Observe the Sun Safely by Lee MacDonald. However neither give much detail on using a Herschel wedge. The image through the wedge is very bright and to see detail you will need a filter that will give contrast. I use a Baader Solar continuum filter. Some prefer a polarising filter as the Baader filter gives the Sun a green colour but I also think it shows more detail. Of course we are now in a period of solar minimum and there have been very few Sunspots to view. This minimum might continue for a while yet so you will have to be patient. As well as sunspots you can also see bright features known as faculae, usually near the solar limb. If the seeing is good it is also possible to see the solar granulation, but this usually takes a bit of experience to achieve. I eventually took the next step and purchased a dedicated solar Ha scope. This allows you to view the solar chromosphere, the layer above the photosphere you view in WL. There is usually some activity here even when the sun is in its minimum phase. Prominences and filaments are usually viewable. The problem is that this is where solar viewing becomes rather more expensive. Solar scopes and Quark lenses are not cheap, but I think the are worth the money for the extra interesting viewing they allow.

Looks very nice John. It will be very interesting to hear how it performs.

Hello and a warm welcome to the SGL.

I have used it in my SW ED 72 for a mag of 168 x

I have the 2.5 mm and it has given me some lovely lunar views. Definitely performs way above its price tag.

I found the dot to be very good, small and round. I fact I enjoyed using it very much, easily the best red dot finder I have used. Perhaps yours has some kind of fault. All the reviews on the FLO site give it 5 stars and I am of the same opinion.

A Baader Sky Surfer V. I have set it up and aligned it with my ED 72 waiting for darkness to fall.

This is the one that Mike is referring to. I have found it very useful to use at the scope. Again the excellent drawings are by Rukl.

Yesterday the postie delivered a very nice WO E-SPL 6 mm ep. Many thanks to Gus for this.

It’s a thermometer.