Scope sizes and solar viewing

[Ccolvin968]

Hello all,

I have a celestron 127 EQ and am overall pleased with its performance.

I was considering buying some of the baader 5.0 solar film for it to start on some solar viewing.

What will I be able to see details wise on the sun?

Sun spots, prominences, flares? I just would like to know before I get into it and possibly disappointed.

It's a 127 mm scope (obviously).

Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Steve Ward]

With the Baader film you will see the Sun in "whitelight" , giving you great views of the sunspots , faculae and fine surface granulation.

For seeing the prominences , flares etc you'll need to jump from £20 to several hundred for a starter Hydrogen-alpha scope like a PST.

Check out the SOLAR IMAGING section to get an idea of the view in whitelight , it'll be a well spent £20 for the Baader in my opinion.

[Okeydokey]

As Steve says, entry level Ha is very expensive, but the white light is still great value for money.

[Ccolvin968]

If I did decide to ask for an entry level Ha filter, will it be worth that investment for a 127mm scope?

[Ccolvin968]

Ask seeing as that it's almost my 21st birthday... Don't want to sound like a spoiled brat.

[RikM]

You would need a whole new telescope rather than just a filter. Ha solar viewing is very different kit from traditional 'filters'. Something like this http://www.telescopes.com/telescopes/solar-telescopes/coronadopstpersonalsolartelescopewithcasepackage1abandwidth.cfm

The primary purpose of a telescope is gather light. Well the sun is plenty bright, so you don't need a big telescope for viewing the sun. With the Baader film over the front element, I use a 70mm refractor and get a very good view in deed of sunspots and the surface texture / granulation but no flares or prominences though.

[Ccolvin968]

That's just crazy. I had no idea it was so in depth. I'll still get the film for viewing it in White light. Maybe someday I'll have enough to set up a Ha scope. Thanks for the help. I was just looking at the Ha filters for the size of my scope. It's over $800 USD for a 127mm filter.

[RikM]

Where did you find one that cheap? They are normally closer to $8,000 USD for 127mm Ha solar scope. http://www.365astronomy.com/lunt-ls152tha-b1200-152mm-halpha-telescope-feathertouch-focuser-pressure-tuner-p-3668.html

[RikM]

The Baader white light solar film is fantastic though. The sun is such a dynamic object to study.

[Steve Ward]

The Ha line is very , very narrow .

If you stretch the visible spectrum thrown by a prism to about six foot end to end the Ha line is still less than the thickness of a piece of paper edge on.

[RikM]

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/199231-sun-in-white-light-10-11-2013-1015/

This is the sort of view you get with a white light film filter. Visually it looks even sharper than this (but this is a good one Steve, well done:) )

[Steve Ward]

[Ccolvin968]

Missed a zero in the 8000. :-) sorry.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Given the angular size of the sun, you do not need a huge aperture to see cool stuff. My H-alpha scope is a puny 35mm, but gives very nice views and works a treat for imaging.

I got mine second-hand for 505 euros. I have since added a better blocking filter (another 480 euro) and am eyeing a 60mm H-alpha scope which can be converted to something bigger still.  The first image was taken with the original blocking filter, and ASI130 camera (composite of two exposures), the second was taken with the B1200 filter, and is a mosaic using a DMK21. Addictive stuff, H-alpha solar viewing.