Herschel wedge

[TSRobot]

Hi. I have a baader solar filter for my WO ZS70. Is a Herschel solar wedge worth getting too? Does it make much difference?

[Stu]

In my opinion yes, a Herschel Wedge will show a meaningful improvement over solar film. I think at higher powers the differences show through, and granulation and finer detail is easier to see.

[John]

3 minutes ago, Stu said:

In my opinion yes, a Herschel Wedge will show a meaningful improvement over solar film. I think at higher powers the differences show through, and granulation and finer detail is easier to see.

Wot he said !

I moved from film to the 1.25" Lunt HW and found a noticable difference in the sharpness and contrast of the view. I also feel more comfortable using the wedge than I do an over the aperture filter, especially for outreach.

 

[Floater]

This is one of those situations where I fear that I may offend. However, this is meant sincerely - I hope you know, @TSRobot, that the wedge and film would not be used at the same time.

It’s just that I’ve seen a couple of posts recently and I got the feeling that the writer thought the addition of a wedge would enhance the view given through film.

I repeat, sorry if you feel I’m stating the obvious. But if one doesn’t know then it will not be obvious ...

[John]

Worth saying jist in case Gordon - I didn't spot the use of the word "too" in TSRobot's post.

[MilwaukeeLion]

I started out with astrozap film then picked up a prism/wedge,  The details with prism/wedge are much greater than film.  I'd like to add there's been nothing interesting to see this summer in WL.  Hoping that will change.

[Trikeflyer]

Agree with other posters, the wedge is worth having. I don't use the film now except on my mak which the wedge isn't suitable for. If I'd had the wedge first I wouldn't have bothered investing in the film type filter.

That said, this year has been a bit poor regarding solar activity so it's an investment for the long term.

Steve 

[TSRobot]

Ta for all the help. Have to find a Wedge now.

[TSRobot]

Is there much difference between different makes of Herschel wedges? Lunt, TS or baader? The TS comes with the polarizing filter. Only looking at the 1.25 inch versions though.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Skip WL and go right to Ha. You will end up there anyway in a couple of yrs after WL. 

[TSRobot]

Does Ha work with the Herschel wedge? Or are more filters required or even another scope?

[JamesF]

9 minutes ago, TSRobot said:

Does Ha work with the Herschel wedge? Or are more filters required or even another scope?

Completely different thing.  Usually requires a different OTA.

James

[John]

11 minutes ago, TSRobot said:

Does Ha work with the Herschel wedge? Or are more filters required or even another scope?

Ha requires completely different filters or an Ha dedicated scope. Ha filters are much, much more expensive than a white light solar wedge:

https://www.altairastro.com/daystar-quark-cromosphere-filter-assembly.html

I've only used the Lunt Herschel wedge (1.25") which works very well but I've no reason to believe that the others won't as well.

 

[TSRobot]

The Quark is teeny bit expensive I think. Thanks all the same ?

[Stu]

On 19/08/2018 at 13:17, TSRobot said:

Is there much difference between different makes of Herschel wedges? Lunt, TS or baader? The TS comes with the polarizing filter. Only looking at the 1.25 inch versions though.

I suspect there is not much difference between the Lunt/TS and other 1.25” Wedges. I think they are excellent value and give fantastic views.

I upgraded to a Baader CoolWedge which did give an improvement in contrast and visibility of granulation and fine detail, in particular at high power which is what I really enjoy, but it is significantly more expensive. I would start with the 1.25” if I were you.

[TSRobot]

Hmm. Baader don't seem to to do a 1.25 version. My WO ZS70 only takes 1.25 inch eyepieces. Still very wide views though.

[John]

You will probably find that your Hyperion zoom is a very useful white light solar eyepiece. I have something similar and find that it's just about all I need for solar viewing. You don't seem to need very wide angles of view or very high magnifications.

[LukeSkywatcher]

2 hours ago, JamesF said:

Completely different thing.  Usually requires a different OTA.

James

Not really. Both HW and Quark will work with pretty much all refractors., unless of course if you go down the path of a dedicated Ha scope.

But essentially 2 very different things in how the work and how much they cost.

[LukeSkywatcher]

2 minutes ago, John said:

You will probably find that your Hyperion zoom is a very useful white light solar eyepiece. I have something similar and find that it's just about all I need for solar viewing. You don't seem to need very wide angles of view or very high magnifications.

Spot on. You dont even need a scope with big aperture. I was using a 70mm refrac for WL.

[Stu]

10 minutes ago, TSRobot said:

Hmm. Baader don't seem to to do a 1.25 version. My WO ZS70 only takes 1.25 inch eyepieces. Still very wide views though.

No, just the 2” CoolWedge. As said, I think the 1.25” is a great way to start, and the sun is pretty quiet at the moment.

To @John‘s point about magnification, it is true that you can use x50 or x60 quite happily for nice full disk views and until a few years ago I assumed that was all that made sense. However, the setup I have allows x200 and above on days of good seeing and the detail visible when there is a decent Active Region on the surface is quite mind blowing. Granulation cells are pretty small and need high power to view properly. Many people describe viewing granulation on the surface at x50, but this is more the overall macro effect; I love seeing the cells themselves at high power, changing slowly over the course of 10 or 20 mins. Lovely stuff.

[Stu]

15 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

Spot on. You dont even need a scope with big aperture. I was using a 70mm refrac for WL.

You certainly don’t need a large aperture scope, but something around 100 to 120mm cuts through seeing very well and shows much better resolution.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of using a decent quality refractor with a Herschel Wedge, it really helps to show the detail at higher powers to use either an apo or longer focal ratio achro such as a 102mm f11 or similar.

[TSRobot]

Okeydokie I'll order a Wedge soon and work out how get my AZGTI to follow the sun somehow. Bit cloudy lately though, tonight included. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

18 minutes ago, Stu said:

You certainly don’t need a large aperture scope, but something around 100 to 120mm cuts through seeing very well and shows much better resolution.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of using a decent quality refractor with a Herschel Wedge, it really helps to show the detail at higher powers to use either an apo or longer focal ratio achro such as a 102mm f11 or similar.

That's why i bought the Bresser ar 102. I couldnt justify using either a HW (and filters), or a Quark on a scope that cost me 100 euros.

[TSRobot]

Finally got the Lunt wedge, polarising filter and a continuum filter as a package for £140 from a nice chap on ABS. (Thanks for your offer though Paul) 

Need some sun now and a little time to enjoy it. 

Thanks for all the help here ?

[LukeSkywatcher]

4 minutes ago, TSRobot said:

Finally got the Lunt wedge, polarising filter and a continuum filter as a package for £140 from a nice chap on ABS. (Thanks for your offer though Paul) 

Need some sun now and a little time to enjoy it. 

Thanks for all the help here ?

That's a good price. I assume it has the ND filter built in?