1st Solar observing session

[Alan_B]

Well I received my Astrozap Baader Solar filter from FLO last week along with the Teleview Sol Searcher from GW , and to my amazement today has been perfect for a spot of solar observing.

Having checked the filter as much as possible by holding it up to the sun to search for any defects I fitted it along with the Sol searcher to my recently purchased Skymax 127

Well it looks the business so I pointed it towards the sun and took a nervous peek through the eyepiece and whaddyknow it works a treat

Nice clear view and 3 sunspots visible .

I then set about fine tweeking the Sol Searcher and I think I have it spot on

I tried a few EP's but settled on the Mk3 8-24 zoom, the 24 mm setting just fits the whole disc in and you can then zoom in to any feature. I will say that the extreme end mag of 8mm was pretty much useless as it made every dust spec on the EP really noticable and also dimmed the image.

On the whole I had an enjoyable afternoon and it made a nice change to set up in daylight and be able to walk around and not trip over next doors cat in the dark, well worth the £40 as it gives a new dimension to the hobby.

If anyone has any reccomendations for a good solar viewing EP I would like to hear them - I'm thinking of something around 20mm

[JohnC]

Started myself last week, took me 2 hours to pluck up the courage and look through the eyepiece

As you say it opens up a whole new facet to the hobby.....must lock the wallet away in a safe!

[sologuitarist61]

Looking good Alan - do you intend some imaging through your set-up?

[NGC 1502]

My white light solar viewing scope is a tube assembly from a broken ETX 90 Mak, with a semi-permanently fitted Baader filter. I mainly use a 40mm Plossl EP that gives 31x mag.

I find that mag is good for sharp views of sunspots. Many would use a higher power, but quite often the daytime seeing is poor in the large town I live in, and I find that under these conditions I prefer the low power but sharper views. You may find differently however, your zoom and other eyepieces you may have will hopefully enable you to decide what best suits.

One other thing I find is that eyepieces for daytime use need a longer eye relief for me to like the view, and the 40mm Plossl has that in abundance, and makes it easier to share the view with those not used to using a telescope.

As you mention, daytime astronomy adds a new dimension to our hobby, light pollution is irrelevant and you are not losing any sleep

Regards, Ed.

[SeedyF]

You saw the sun - today!!

Set up looks good, and it is great to be able to do something in the daytime, especially during the summer. Plus the face of the sun never looks the same twice. Wish I could afford a PST though as well

[Alan_B]

Looking good Alan - do you intend some imaging through your set-up?

I hadn't really thought about imaging but this question roused my curiosity so I had a look at the solar imaging section and found Sologuitarists posts - Impressive

So as a Noob to solar a few of questions :-

1.. DSLR or Webcam for imaging

2. Filters - is the Baader Continuum solar filter a worthwhile investment

3. I have a #58 green & #15 yellow already will I gain anything using those