eyepeice Filters use with Solar Filter ?

[Purplehayze104]

Hi SGL

hope you are all well,

just wanted to ask, can you use eyepiece filters i.e. Ha, e.t.c & so on with a solar filter on the front of my scope to view the sun? would I notice any differences in what details I saw, or would I be wasting money? I'm curious as I'm interested in maybe trying a bit of imaging.

regards

john

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

H-alpha filters for DSO imaging are very different in terms of bandwidth from solar H-alpha units. For DSOs 7nm is common, for solar 0.07nm or narrower is needed. One filter which can show a bit more contrast is a solar continuum filter. Some recent images show that UHC can also add contrast.

[Chris Rowland]

I have used an OIII filter AS WELL AS Solar Film on a ST80. It gave very nice results, because the narrow bandwidth meant that there was no chromatic aberration.

As Michael says no DSO filter has a narrow enough bandwidth to be able to show any solar narrow band features or be safe on it's own.

Chris

[Steve Ward]

I always have an OIII in the train for my Solar Whitelight DSLR imaging with the ED80Pro as it gives me a bit more detail than without , not tried the Continuum as I already had an OIII and am too tight to chuck £100 at a filter that may give a little help ... 

From what I've read the improvement with the Continuum is very little in a visual set-up but does help imaging-wise from all accounts.

Interestingly though I recently found that a UHC filter gave better results than the OIII when using the Mak180Pro and mono-webcam ( http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/199669-filter-test-with-spc900nc-mono-for-whitelight-close-ups/ ) ... 

[Merlin66]

For white light observering, no matter what filter you try (Continuum/ light green suggested) they only improve the surface contrast of the sunspots - umbra/ penumbra and the brighter plage areas as well as (with telescopes above 4") the surface granulation - rice grain.

Seeing things like proms and filaments require $$$$$$ specialised Ha filters or dedicated solar scopes - Coronado/ Lunt.

[Naemeth]

Solar Filter first, other filters second. Forgetting this may result in a cracked filter.