Solar Observing

[Merlin66]

Joe,

The "new" SM70 III scope is stopped to 60mm for solar ......

[Rob Sellent]

Lovely set up, @Tenby2 I've had my Lunt 60 - BF 1200 for what must be getting on for a decade or so and not a problem to date. Although very specific in what it can do, I feel it does that very well without fuss or cables.

After a few years, I did upgrade on the focuser, a Moonlite in red.  I lived with the stock focuser for about 5 years and was prepared to live with its quirks since the scope is wonderful. There was never a serious problem with the original crayford, but after a while I did find it sagged a little with the use of heavier eyepieces like the Delos and there was some slight back-and-forth 'play' in the drawtube.

Regarding eyepieces, I've experimented with Panoptics, Plossls, Delos and Naglers and yet curiously, have found that my favourite eyepieces for the Lunt have been zoom eyepieces (currently use Baader Mk IV) which I think are very useful when solar observing in general, and Baader's Genuine Orthos.

For a little swot up, I've found John Wilkinson's New Eyes on the Sun a decent introduction to general solar phenomena. Wilkinson covers the most prominent solar topics such as photosphere, chromosphere and corona activity, eclipses and transits, space weather, and there's a chapter on basic observing in white light, H-alpha and CAK. Each chapter is explained in an easy manner and should answer many of the typical questions that arise from the solar observer without going into any mathematical or technical detail.

The web also has some worth while reads worth looking into. The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Sun is a good online read to the newcomer of solar astronomy. It offers an excellent foundation for the never-ending quest for knowledge and it's free.

If the best telescope is the one you use the most, then my Lunt 60 must surely beat all the others hands down. The mean yearly average of sunlight where I live is about 7hrs a day. Not all of those days are cloudless but I guess I'm fitting in an average of 300 h-alpha sessions a year.

Look forward to hearing your opinion on your own wonderful scope and finger's crossed all will be well for the Mercury transit this November 11th

Edited October 1, 2019 by Rob Sellent

[joe aguiar]

36 minutes ago, Merlin66 said:

Joe,

The "new" SM70 III scope is stopped to 60mm for solar ......

Yes I know but its better then 55mm or about