Solar Watching

[ramstar]

Not sure if this is a daft question - is there a good and a bad time to look at the sun e.g. a rising or setting sun, full glare etc?

[colesmat]

I hope it's not a daft question because I was gonna ask that myself!

[Steve Ward]

Any time he's out . . .

With a more serious head on , the seeing is so variable that it's a bit of a lottery really .

In the middle of summer I prefer early mornings before everything's had a chance to heat up , but this time of year it's not so important.

Too early or late in the day when he's really low in the sky is not ideal , but I shot one of my best images at 08:30 yesterday . . .

[Peter Drew]

Apart from the obvious comment that suitable filtering must be used at all times, sunrise and sunset suffer from the same low altitude poor seeing as any other object. It seems that the times for best solar images are roughly mid morning and mid afternoon.

[ramstar]

With regard to filtering, , I've bought the Baader film but given the importance of getting things right from a safety point of view, it might be helpful to have an idea of some of the designs other posters have come up with for various home-made filters which have proved to be successful and more importantly, safe?

[Steep]

I bought Baader film for the 127 Mak, made one full sized filter which took about two thirds of the sheet, then cut the remaining third in two and made one small aperture filter for the Mak and one full sized filter for the 300mm lens on my dslr.

[Helite]

I made one the other day to mess about with my new ST-80 I got, nothing much to it, I was lucky and found that the lid of my protein shake tub was about the right size once it was shaved down. When put on the scope its a very tight fit and there is no way it will come off. I also made a full aperture one for my 200p, very similar idea to the usual 2 cardboard rings and a cardboard "sleeve" idea like most DIY ones are made from (Im sure instructions came with the baader film?) but I used 2 round aluminium baking trays from tesco and cut them into shape. Here is some pics from the small one I made to give you an idea...

[JamesM]

For binoculars, I adapted the rubber end covers to facilitate attaching the baader film, which given that these were a cheap pair seemed fair enough. I stuck the film on using double sided carpet tape which so far has held everything in position without any movement. Below are some images helping me illustrate my Blue Peter guide to observing the sun. The end caps fit very snug on the binos but if I was in any doubt I would simply attached some additional tape round the outside. For a cheap pick up and go for when the clouds clear this is a simple system to produce which up to now has been great.

Picture showing attachment

Picture showing film stuck down

Picture of the front of the rubber cup

Picture of whole set up

Clear skies

James

[jonathan]

JamesM, they all appear to be the same photo.

[MorningMajor]

The higher in the sky the better - generally - one other word of warning, if you're doing a long viewing session in the summer - wear a hat as the top of your head is pointing directly at the sun for long periods and even with a full head of hair (albeit thinner than before!) the sun will get through!

[JamesM]

Hmmm that's a bit weird. Thanks Jonathan for pointing it out and so here's another go at listing the above photos.

Picture showing attachment

Picture showing film stuck down

Picture of the front of the rubber cup

Picture of the whole setup

James

[The Titan Calibos]

With regard to filtering, , I've bought the Baader film but given the importance of getting things right from a safety point of view, it might be helpful to have an idea of some of the designs other posters have come up with for various home-made filters which have proved to be successful and more importantly, safe?

This i think is totally safe, but some people on here think the film should not be put between two clear acrylic sheets 1mm thick. I have done this to stop it moving, scratching or tearing.The cap is vacuum formed by myself and the lip on the smaller circumference allows for secure glueing

[Peter Drew]

I don't think the doubts about sandwiching solar film between acrylic sheets are on the grounds of safety, more on the issue of optical quality. Solar film is so thin it doesn't interfere optically, it's just an excellent base for the reflective coating, acrylic sheet will not have the same high quality and is likely to degrade the image.