Solar B

It's been designed from the outset to fit within Ariane's fairing 

but it's delivery to L2 has never been the issue.

Halloween 2021 

On 11/07/2020 at 14:46, jetstream said:

What I'm very interested in is where that superb 95mm APO by Baader is made- rumours in the coffee shop say is bests the Astro Physics... and others.

anybody know?

ps when I asked Baader they wouldn't reveal where the optics came from...

I didn't know of that scope but can see it's a CaF² !!

Most Baader gear is affordable or within reason that isn't but I'm sure it'll  be 

world class.

Brian

Alan I'll PM you , probably better 

Brian 

I don’t know if it’s actually lighter 

but is wider certainly than the 4.5mm eg 

& could well be of a different design 🤔

Brian 

2 minutes ago, John said:

The one I linked to says 1 ED and 2 Lanthanum. Obviously keeping the real design a secret to confuse the competition

 

 

Lol 😂 ... I know ... this states for the 17.5mm could that much anticipated EP 

(not by me) be of different design to the others ? I guess we'll never know 🌞

Brian 

20 minutes ago, John said:

1 ED and 2 Lanthanum elements according to the Baader specs:

https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/downloads/dl/file/id/431/product/2855/morpheus_information_and_applications.pdf

 

Check this out & yes they nor I 

can spell Lanthanum..a la Vixen 🧐

My guess for the design would be Deutschland as is impressive 

8 lenses in 5 groups ... with 3 ED & 1 Lanthan lens.

Brian 

I’ve a full set but I’ve no idea where 

they are actually manufactured ?

There are no marking of origin on the EP

that I can see either !

Brian 

Def worth a shot me thinks as they're not cheap to & you / we don't really know

how good there are ? 

Brian 

4 hours ago, johninderby said:

Got a message from the place I had ordered the “in stock” DS continuum filter this morning. Sorry but we don’t actually have that item in stock but expect to have it back in stock in about a months time.

Now to try and find another one at a decent price. 🙁

John I would place a wanted ad for one ...

one did come up for sale a couple of yrs 

ago on UKABS.

Brian 

In my experience clear or obvious granulation views are quite elusive even with 

4" ..ED or 6"..AC scopes using a 2" H Wedge so it's not given as such.

 Brian 

11 hours ago, Rusted said:

Granulation is aperture, seeing and magnification dependent.
I like my SC simply for reducing the glare in visual white light.
I don't do WL [nor visual] often enough to be able to confirm increased clarity of granulation.
Particularly by comparison with and without the filter.
It sounds like the sort of project to be practised [diligently] when the sun is featureless.
Or, when the sun is actually visible for more than fleeting moments in this overcast!

 

Agreed 

I think SCs do help with bringing out a touch more detail but they're real benefit I find 

is with focusing here the limb or AR (remember those) can be fine tuned.

As for DS SCs well I think this could display a tad more detail but it'll be subtle 

Brian 

I'm thinking if stacked together they would require to be tilted given the mirror 

finish however if apart then perhaps less so ? 

Brian 

Yeah have to agree with Ken .... I tried again latterly this evening .... this time with a

100mm F11 , at first I thought yes I am able to see a little more granulation but think 

I was imagining it all as switching back to the single 2" Contin I felt provided a sharper 

image from the cool wedge , not conclusive but there you go.

Brian

System Wavelength: 656.28nm. Hydrogen-alpha (tuneable, dedicated)
System Focal Length: f10
Sun Image Size: 3.67mm
Objective: Precision Doublet (Optimized at 656nm)
Blocking Filter: 5mm standard (upgradeable to 6mm or 12mm)
Etalon Size: 40mm full aperture precision Lunt Etalon
Etalon Peak Transmission: >88%
Etalon Net Finesse: 19
Etalon FSR (Free Spectral Range): 12 Angstroms
Etalon Tuning: Conventional Tilt through +/- 1 Angstrom
Etalon FWHM (Bandpass): <0.65 Angstrom
Weight of Telescope: 2.8lbs

Well it is unobstructed , I've no idea what the Etalon Net Finesse: 19 is a measurement 

scale of ? but that's what Etalon's are ultimately all about .... Finesse !

Brian 

2 minutes ago, Stu said:

Presumably though there is sample variation so the net result will be a narrower bandwidth? If they were both absolutely identical in terms of band pass frequency then it should make no difference.

I just don't know ... however if it does work I'll be interesting in trying the real thing or obtaining another 2" contin for the wedge.

 Brian 

8 minutes ago, bomberbaz said:

I am a little unsure as to how this will work as the filter is designed to let through light along the 540nm wavelength.

Does this stacking of filters work along the lines that the second filter hopefully captures any extraneous light that got through the first filter or are there other dynamics that I am overlooking.

No your quite right they're centred at 540nm so 2 shouldn't make any difference ? & I remember they're purpose being questioned at launch but that was before anyone had tried one I think and Peter's quite right the tilting will be to prevent reflections just like an ERF is or should be 🙂

Brian 

I'll certainly report back Stu if/when I get the chance ... obviously try it to , it does 

look promising 're Johns link and that's what I was hoping for a little more granulation 

detail but as Ade suggests stacking 2 may make no visual difference.

Brian 

I was all ready to rock with a 2” Contin 

in the wedge & a 1.25” on the EP

when the clouds rolled in 😅

Baader sell a stacked Contin filter so 

I was interested to see if 2 will make 

any difference 🤷‍♀️

Brian 

Looks great ... which do you recall is the superior kit the Airfix or the Revell 

it' was only 50 yrs ago 😃

Brian 

Quarks have been out for 5 or 6 yrs now and there consistency does not appear to be 

improving imho .... I had to obtain mine from Sweden at first as they were just not 

available in the UK after launch .... but that and another early model I've tried were good 

however they do take a lot of getting used to and are quite seeing dependant , one thing 

I always ask someone considering one is..... do you like barlows ? and would you ever 

consider using a 4.3 x one under any circumstance ?

Brian 

On 24/06/2020 at 20:41, astro_al said:

The replacement Quark is going back and I don't have the energy for another round so will be leaving it there. 

I think I will go down the Lunt LS60 route but not sure if that will be sooner or later as it is a big increase in price over the Quark. If sooner then I will need to let some other stuff go, namely the FC-100 and FC-76, and I am not sure about that.

I have learned that I really like Ha viewing though 😀

I wouldn't be letting go of any of the above named scopes and certainly not 

for any Lunt .... I have a feeling the quark may be worth some perservation , both I've 

tried worked well around the 6 o'clock position / what about the 60mm SS to ?

However I have always recommended commencing HA viewing with the likes 

of a PST and learning from that platform which is always good 🌞

Brian 

Hi Folks 

I’m looking for 1 or ideally 2 set screw bolts 

for an unrelated project but they are the 

same fit as this WO 1.25” diagonal 

if anyone can advise.

Thanks ... Brian