First Light with Daystar SS60

[Roy Challen]

After reading the threads on here about this scope, and having read my own white light reports from a few years back, I decided that along with lunar and planetary observing, I should also add the sun to that list. So, I thought about what I needed to do that. It had to be Ha, and it had to be light weight. As far as I can tell, the Daystar is the most affordable way in to Ha observing, so I put my order in. I teamed that up with the Skywatcher Solarquest mount which seems pretty popular, and put that on a Three-Legged-Thing carbon tripod.

I carried the whole lot in one hand easily into the garden. After getting the tripod height right, I turned on the mount. It levelled the scope and searched out the sun. I could see the bright spot in the tiny finder on the main scope, it was dead centre in the crosshair. Looking through the eyepiece, I could see that it needed only the slightest correction to be properly centred. So, on the very first attempt, it located the sun and put it in the field of view of the eyepiece. Impressive.

I set the tuning knob at the half-way point and waited for the green light. Initially, the disc of the sun seemed way too bright, but the eye gets used to it quickly. I do think that a polarising filter or neutral density filter may help as well. Wearing a baseball cap type hat also helps shield the eyes and eyepiece from the sun, reducing reflections.

Once the green LED was on, I could make out prominences on the western limb, one was quite detached from the disc. Another was looping, and yet another was firing straight out from the disc. A single sunspot was visible, and plage area around it. On the eastern limb, two prominences close together could be seen, and yet another close to the 12 o’clock position. Granulation was visible across the whole disc, but was easier to see closer to the edges. Checking on GONG later, I found that my view very closely matched the image from Cerro Tololo, but with colour. That’s amazing!

I adjusted the tuning knob anticlockwise, one click at a time, waiting for the LED each time. I couldn’t notice much difference, although it seemed a little more difficult to see the prominences and the disc seemed a little redder. Experience will no doubt improve with use.  

I tried the Zeiss Huygens and the Hyperflex zoom, but the fields of view are narrower than the Vixens. Overall the Vixen provided the best view, although there is an annoying reflection - I think it is the image of the sun being reflected in my eye back onto the eyepiece. 

 

This little telescope provided me with a never-before-seen view of the sun. Another genuine ‘wow’ moment. The setup works perfectly out of the box and is extremely lightweight and easy to use (the controls on the mount are very intuitive to use) which means that, weather depending, it will get a lot of use. An additional bonus of the tripod is that one leg unscrews and screws into the removable centre column to double up as a monopod - perfect for my bins and just the right height.

 

[Stu]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Ha observing Roy 👍. Your setup looks brilliant, ideal for catching every opportunity to observe in this variable climate we have!

I just deleted a repeated paragraph from your post, hope that ok.

[Highburymark]

Nice report Roy - and congrats on the new scope - a great start. Lots to look forward to this year as the new solar cycle revs up.

[Luke]

Congrats on the new gear, and welcome to the addictive world of Ha!

[Solar B]

It's fantastic that your getting such great views already , I don't personally recommend 

solid etalons for the first foray into HA viewing as they don't offer the relaxed views of air spaced etalons.

However I am sure that the HA bug is already reeling you in.

Brian 

[Roy Challen]

19 hours ago, Solar B said:

It's fantastic that your getting such great views already , I don't personally recommend 

solid etalons for the first foray into HA viewing as they don't offer the relaxed views of air spaced etalons.

However I am sure that the HA bug is already reeling you in.

Brian 

Thanks, I am pleased with the views so far.

I don't know the difference between solid and air spaced etalons, or why one would be more relaxed than the other, but other than selecting the most appropriate eyepiece, I find it no less relaxing than observing the moon.

As with anything new, it's a learning curve, and I'll be learning to walk before running.

[Solar B]

I find as solid etalons have to work around 

f30 them to be uncomfortable at the EP

, here’s the 80 & 60mm SS from last 

summer , they and quark are long gone 

I’m an air spaced only guy 😀

Brian