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What can you see in White Light?


AndyWB

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LOL my equinox is great for white light :grin: at 500mm, don't you just love it.

I have never tried a longer focal length refractor for white light viewing so I cant really comment. However, the 500mm frac gives great views and is better than the 2350mm SCT for white light.

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LOL my equinox is great for white light :grin: at 500mm, don't you just love it.

I have never tried a longer focal length refractor for white light viewing so I cant really comment. However, the 500mm frac gives great views and is better than the 2350mm SCT for white light.

I guess the point is that short focal length achros are a bit challenging for white light because of the CA. Long focal length achros (like the TAL) or fast apo doublets like the Equinox will give better results. The SCT is less likely to be good I guess because of the larger aperture being susceptible to seeing conditions in the heat of the day, plus tube currents etc

Stu

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Just received the solar continuum filter in the post (EXCELLENT SERVICE,YET AGAIN FROM FLO. THANK YOU )

going to recover my heritage with black card I've just purchased. Then I'm going to do some comparing with that and the 80mm with the filter and the lunt zoom.

There is a problem though.......CLOUD :(

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+1 that short ED scopes can give very nice white light views (I would think Stu has hit the nail on the head above, short achro vs short ED...). I get a lovely crisp, contrasty view with my little ED 66mm Revelation (400mm focal length, F6) and Lunt 1.25 wedge. The sharpness and contrast in white light is similar to that of my trusty SW100 ED Pro F9 (900mm focal length). The 100 can take me in closer to the sunspots when conditions are good, but it's surprising how much detail you can see with the 66mm.

I would say that under my typical conditions, a 100mm scope is about ideal in terms of being able to get in as close as conditions allow.

An ED80 is kind of a nice compromise between the 66 and the 100. A bit more resolution than the 66 while being a fair bit smaller than the 100. The 80 would make a very nice scope to use side-by-side with the Lunt 50 if you end up with that sort of dual set-up, with the 80 being much closer in tube length to the h-alpha scope than the ED100 would be.

My 85mm scope works a little bit nicer on my Giro mount with my SolarMax 60 than my ED100 does (though the ED100 still works well paired up, it's just that it's a much longer tube and I get lazy and prefer the slightly easier 85).

Edit: I forgot to say, not all ED scopes are equal. My 66mm Revelation gives better contrast and a crisper view than my Celestron Onyx 80mm. Maybe I just got a bad Onyx. I would be confident that a SW ED scope would be good.

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The Skywatcher Evostar 80 DS-PRO ED Apochromatic and the equinox 66,it's between then. Would I be able to put the 80 on my horizon tripod? I just like the idea of just one set of legs and just interchange the scopes,it just makes things easier for me.

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Some very good opinions above :smiley: I also like the look of the short refractors, there is definitely something about them. Mind you I am a bit of a magpie when it comes to shiny things, the Equinox and the Lunt are a very handsome set of scopes :grin:

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It's really solid,don't have a problem with wobble or such. Not sure about the head,it's a plate with a standard thread coming through.

ED80 might be ok then. There's not so much difference in weight, but it's longer so will take longer to settle.

However from what Luke says, maybe the 66 would be a good compromise on the photo tripod.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Not had chance proper too use the filter as yet (clouds) as usual.

I'm going to purchase a lunt wedge,found astroshop.de which sell them for £150 including p&p. These ones include the nd3 filter already installed,so with the continuum filter I now have is this all I will need? Thanks

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Skem,

If you want to view white light with the wedge you will still need to use a polarising filter that attaches to the barrel of your eyepieces.

The filter not only reduces the brightness but by turning the eyepiece in the wedge you alter the amount of light hitting the eye, this turning motion enhances the detail seen  :smiley:

For example:

The brighter the view the more detail you see in sunspots, the darker the view granulation is enhanced and inbetween  greater penumbra detail is achievable.

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Skem,

If you want to view white light with the wedge you will still need to use a polarising filter that attaches to the barrel of your eyepieces.

The filter not only reduces the brightness but by turning the eyepiece in the wedge you alter the amount of light hitting the eye, this turning motion enhances the detail seen :smiley:

For example:

The brighter the view the more detail you see in sunspots, the darker the view granulation is enhanced and inbetween greater penumbra detail is achievable.

That's true Shaun, but Skem can use the Continuum instead of the Polariser and be up and running still. Admittedly with a green sun, and without the ability to adjust brightness, but I find the continuum about right as it is. You can also stack them together but I didn't find that any better.

Stu

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Thanks guys for the input on the filters. I'm still so undecided on the frac to buy to use with a wedge. I'm stuck on wanting one to use on my horizon tripod. I need to keep the cost down you see but want decent views and be able to zoom in to a decent amount and this 80mm isn't up to it.

Maybe the evostar 120 from flo will do even though I have to buy the mount with it.

I don't know...............in the mean time, it's only 4/5 weeks now till I get my lunt 50 :-)

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Well I've had this 80mm f5 now for a while and fitted the continuum filter too it and experimented with different size stopping masks to get rid of the dreaded ca which has blighted my views. At the moment it's down to 40mm and I'm very happy with the views. I've been posting which scopes would get me closer and I've gotten a bit carried away too be honest. The views I'm getting best stopping 40/50x are excellent. I'm getting pin sharp spots and pores and surprisingly lots of granulation. Faculae is not a problem too. I suppose magnification is not everything. Considering I've purchased a lunt 50, all my time will be in that. So I quick look in white, will be sufficient.

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Well I've had this 80mm f5 now for a while and fitted the continuum filter too it and experimented with different size stopping masks to get rid of the dreaded ca which has blighted my views. At the moment it's down to 40mm and I'm very happy with the views. I've been posting which scopes would get me closer and I've gotten a bit carried away too be honest. The views I'm getting best stopping 40/50x are excellent. I'm getting pin sharp spots and pores and surprisingly lots of granulation. Faculae is not a problem too. I suppose magnification is not everything. Considering I've purchased a lunt 50, all my time will be in that. So I quick look in white, will be sufficient.

I would think you could do away with the aperture mask with the Continuum filter fitted? It is a narrowband filter so will get rid of the CA anyway. You should get better resolution using the whole aperture too, and it is still small enough not to be affected by seeing conditions too much.

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I would think you could do away with the aperture mask with the Continuum filter fitted? It is a narrowband filter so will get rid of the CA anyway. You should get better resolution using the whole aperture too, and it is still small enough not to be affected by seeing conditions too much.

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:-) if the sun shows itself today,I will try that. Fingers Crossed that your right,I will report back. Thanks
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