solar observing

[sam mayo]

i was just about to order a solar filter but delayed due to not really knowing what i will get from it,so if any one could give me the heads up with what i could expect to see would be grateful.

i know its only £20 but that's could go to limited(empty funds) towards eps ,collminator etc

thanks

sam

[John]

There are some drawings on this website of the sort of things you can see with an 8" dob and a white light solar filter (Baader film in this case):

http://www.perezmedia.net/beltofvenus/archives/001420.html

You can either invest in a filter to cover the whole of the front aperture of your scope (quite expensive) or you can buy a sheet of the solar film (around £20) and cover the small hole in your plastic dust cover with the film. Do take lots of care with this though - you can never be too careful with the Sun !

[TheNorthernMonkey]

This image gives a similar level of detail to what I can see through my 80mm 'frac.

You can track the progress of the spots across the sun over a number of days, its a totally fascinating object to watch

[Pete Presland]

i would say that image is pretty much exactly what you can expect to see, obviously the size and frequency of spots will alter over time.

[goolosh]

i myself am saving up enough to get a Coronado PST Sun Telescope. I viewed the eclipse side by side with that and a reflector scope with the solar film filter at the front. The views with the Coronado were out of this world fantastic. $700 is a lot for something you can only use on one object, but the views were quite spectacular!!! You could clearly see Solar Prominence's, something you cannot see with the black and white image telescope filters provide.

The black and white image with the Metallic Mylar Film made seeing sun spots easier. But sun spots were really all you could see.

The H-A filter in the Coronado PST allowed you to see the flares and also strange patterns in the areas where sun spots were.

Having both to compare really let you see the difference.

Here are some photos i took during the Annular Solar Eclipse earlier this year in California. While these photos do no do justice to either, because all i did was hold the camera up to the eyepice (which greatly blurs the details you could otherwise see with your eyes) this is more or less what you can see with either. Do keep in mind that with the eye or a proper camera setup you'll see more detail, these images have a reflection on the cameras lens (boo!) but i think they turned out ok for what they are.

Standard Mylar Film Filter

H-A Filter in the Coronado PST

[goolosh]

Here are some others for further comparison

Mylar Film Filter, Sun Spots

H-A filter PST, Solar Flares. (Image was not blurry with the eyes. nor was the center redish, it was high contrast when looking through the scope)

[keithatrochdale]

You might find this site of use too;

http://solarchat.natca.net/index.php/en/?func=listcat

definitely good for images

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Id get one, when the venus transit was coming up, i was debating whether to get one or not as i didnt think id use it afterwards. It is well worth getting one, i use mine fairly often, and like stated above, its a brilliant object to watch.

[Rig3l]

Hello,

I have a 10" Dob and I use the Baader solar filter to observe sun. It is called "astrosolar" and it's not expensive. They sell it in A4 format or by the metre (more expensive).

Be sure to take the D5 if purpose is observing! There's also the D3.8 but it's for photography. It's a sheet you can cut as you need. I post you some pics I took during the last venus transit. As you can see I used the small aperture, building a small cartoon cell for the filter, fixing it with very few glue (like "attack glue") and using a cartoon scotch:

x

and I fixed the cap too, to avoid any accident!

Not a Coronado but for that cost, you can see our star It worths the price!

[Pete Presland]

very nice transit image,we were pretty much clouded out in the uk unfortunately.i had not heard of d5 and d3.8 is there much difference?

[Rig3l]

thanks bunny! HERE my public album if you want to see more pics

Well, Baader recommends D.5 for visual, and D 3.8 for photography. This is the optical density. From the official website:

"SAFETY NOTE: PhotoFilm 3.8 OD is not intended for visual solar observation. Purpose is only for use with Telescopes for high magnification photographic work."

So it's a safety matter

[Rig3l]

..and I used a D.5, of course!

[TheNorthernMonkey]

The number is the log of the amount of light let in. The 3.8 let's about 12 times more light through than the 5. Great for high shutter speed for photography, very bad for the mk1 eyeball

[rwilkey]

I bought the Baader ready-made solar full aperture filter for my C100ED for the transit, but, of course, we were clouded out, I was on the Isle of Wight at the time. However, I have used the filter several times to view the sun and it adds an extra dimension to your astronomy. I use the website: http://www.spaceweather.com/

And then I view the sun to see how it compares, the good thing about the website is that it tells you what you are looking at. The view is in 'white light' so you will only ever see sun spots, not prominences, but it is great. I also use a Lumicon basic filter set to add colour, particularly the yellow-orange filter which make it more interesting. Go for it, it adds an extra dimension to your hobby.

[TheNorthernMonkey]

If you are rubbish at DIY, like me, you can get them ready made

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/solar-filters/astrozap-baader-solar-filter.html

This is what I used for the image above

[Pete Presland]

hmmm interesting, seems like i need to get another filter for my ed80 i am mostly imaging, nice pics in your album