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Nice 45 mins of HA action

John

By John
in Observing - Solar

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John

John

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I had my 1st proper session with my new-to-me Lunt LS50Ha this morning. 45 minutes of pleasure in warm October sunshine :icon_biggrin:

Once I got the pressure tuner to the right zone the disk and limb detail really popped out !. I'm sure others were observing Sol today so will know whats visible but I was delighted to see 6 or 7 proms at various points around the disk, 3 of which were large complexes. One was a giant looping arch. The detail visible was really impressive. At lower powers the whole disk was well within what seemed to be a generous "sweet spot" and I could see the proms all around the disk. At higher powers (I found up to 49x quite useable today) the grandeur and complexity in the proms was really apparent and I could also see numerous small spikes poking up from the solar limb.

On the disk there were several active regions with all sorts of different features showing well. I need to spend some more time learning about these different features and what they signify. As with nighttime viewing the rule "the more you look, the more you see" seemed to apply and my eye gradually adjusted as I viewed enabling more and more details to pop out. Very rewarding and quite an experience for an HA novice such as myself :icon_biggrin:

I was very pleased that my little scope was showing virtually all the details that were being shown on the NSO/BONG H Alpha Network Monitor website. When you consider that the features that you are observing are taking place nearly 150 million KM away, the sense that these are colossal features and energy releases is very strong. Amazing stuff really :icon_biggrin:

Also managed to try out all my 1.25" eyepieces plus the Leica ASPH zoom and found that they would all come to focus in the LS50. The Delos 17.3 only just with barely a mm of further focuser travel available and the Leica ASPH zoom by means of removing the Lunt's 1.25" eyepiece adapter and screwing the zoom direct onto the T2 thread on the top of the blocking filter. I also got to try out a low cost version of the 7.2mm - 21.5mm zoom which looks like a clone of the Lunt zoom. This little zoom performed very well indeed and I can see that it's going to get a lot of use  - it delivers pretty much the optimum range of magnifications for the LS50 scope and enables instant framing adjustments which added a lot to the solar HA views I thought. My fixed FL eyepieces, though performing well with the LS50 seemed rather static and dull by comparison.

A very successfull session and I'm really pleased with the way that this little scope delivers. I realise that more aperture and more etalons will show more and more again but for now I'm a happy chappy with my new HA setup :icon_biggrin:

 

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PhotoGav

PhotoGav

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Excellent stuff John, delighted that the little Lunt has won you over. Though I do notice your final sentence... aperture fever will win you in the daytime too! I too am suffering from a desire for more aperture and more etalons having just had a lovely day in the garden with my Lunt and camera!

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xtreemchaos

xtreemchaos

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great report John, lovely Ha scope mate too. seeing here today wasn't very good loads of fazing when I got my shots, there was some nice proms to make up for the small ARS, theres allways something going on in HA , I'm thinking of getting a Ca-K filter soon just to round the solar lights off. thanks. charl.

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Highburymark

Highburymark

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Excellent report John and great to hear everything's working well. You've pretty much confirmed that the Feathertouch is the best focuser choice for maximising in-focus - certainly better than the Moonlite. I must say as I left for work at 9am this morning I was cursing the fact that I couldn't spend the morning sun watching - but glad that others were able to suck up those precious autumn photons.

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John

John

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Thanks for all the comments folks. Can't wait for my next dose of HA sunshine :icon_biggrin:

Under the stars at the moment with my 4" Vixen ED frac. Daytime AND nighttime viewing with a very interesting BAS lecture on exoplanet atmospheres in between. Rather a splendid astro day !

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John

John

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1 hour ago, Pig said:

.... did you cope with the warmth and comfort ?

I coped just fine and managed to struggle though another 20 minutes this morning. It's tough though - had to take my fleece off at one point because I got a bit warm !

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Mark at Beaufort

Mark at Beaufort

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A great report John. I am so glad you are enjoying the Lunt scope - I don't think you got that pleasure from the PST you had.

Certainly my Ha scope has given me huge enjoyment over the past few years especially as we have suffered with night time clouds on too many occasions.

What make is the zoom?

John have a look at this information about Ha viewing - http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/observing-the-sun-in-h-alpha/

https://www.astroleague.org/content/hydrogen-alpha-solar-observing-program

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John

John

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6 hours ago, Mark at Beaufort said:

A great report John. I am so glad you are enjoying the Lunt scope - I don't think you got that pleasure from the PST you had.

Certainly my Ha scope has given me huge enjoyment over the past few years especially as we have suffered with night time clouds on too many occasions.

What make is the zoom?

John have a look at this information about Ha viewing - http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/observing-the-sun-in-h-alpha/

https://www.astroleague.org/content/hydrogen-alpha-solar-observing-program

Thanks for those links Mark - very useful :icon_biggrin:

The zoom is (and this might surprise some !) this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Orbinar-HQ-FMC-Zoom-7-2-21-5mm-Eyepiece-1-25-31-7mm-OZ2/380750174838?hash=item58a67a9a76:g:L2wAAOxy3HJTHY1t

I took a bit of a gamble that it was either the same or very similar to the zooms of the same spec and appearance from Lunt, Skywatcher, Telescope Services, Orion (USA) and others. It has all the hallmarks of being from the same factory as the UWAN / Nirvana's and other good quality eyepieces. The AFoV is nothing to write home about varying between 40 and 53 degrees but the eyepiece is sharp, contrasty, shows little or no light scatter and has a very flat field. As well as the Lunt LS50 I've used it in my Vixen ED102 (Friday night) and my ED120 (just now, before the clouds) and it's very nice at night as well as in the day, despite the limited FoV. The focal length is ideal for the Lunt LS50 giving a range of 16x - 49x (rounded). I'd hesitate to spend £150 on a zoom of this spec but for a touch over £50 delivered from Germany (rapidly as well) I'm very pleased with it :icon_biggrin:

Looks like the price might increase once this offer ends though.

 

 

 

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John

John

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2 hours ago, Piero said:

.... Given the cost, it seems a bargain to me! 

Me too !

Tonight I've used it with my ED120 refractor. Great views of M1 and M42. The E & F stars in the Trapezium cluster showing very well at the 7.2mm setting - 125x.

I'm rather amazed by this little zoom :smiley:

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AdeKing

AdeKing

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7 hours ago, Piero said:

it seems an interesting zoom. A zoom like that can be very handy on light / small telescopes. Given the cost, it seems a bargain to me! 

I picked up a used Lunt Zoom for a bargain price at the bring and buy table at Lucksall a couple of weeks ago.

I picked it up as a compact zoom for my ZS66SD travel setup and also to use with a PST.

I've been very impressed by this little zoom, and its given me great solar and nightime views, though as others have stated the FOV is a bit claustrophobic at the 21mm end of the range.

Ade

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