The birth and death of a sunspot 03-09-2021

[Kitsunegari]

I was very pleased to have captured this.  Like a whale breaching the surface of an ocean this sunspot floated to the surface for a short breath of life  ; awake for just 20 minutes- it decided to fall back asleep under the ocean of boiling  ionized calcium plasma-

 

Thanks for looking!

[StuartT]

wow! very impressive work. What's your set up?

[Kitsunegari]

2 hours ago, StuartT said:

wow! very impressive work. What's your set up?

Explore scientific firstlight 127mm x 1200m + meade 2x barlow + custom infrared blocking double convex with 100mm focal length  (my own design) , 

 the filter  set  is a Skybender with  3 custom calcium filters (my own invention).   Camera is a basler aca1920-155um. 

 

Here is some information about the Apollo Skybender;  https://solarchatforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=24440

thanks for looking

[Kitsunegari]

Here is a link to the full frame video on flickr ,  it is 150mb.

 

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51022577596_e47c788509_o.gif

[StuartT]

1 hour ago, Kitsunegari said:

Explore scientific firstlight 127mm x 1200m + meade 2x barlow + custom infrared blocking double convex with 100mm focal length  (my own design) , 

 the filter  set  is a Skybender with  3 custom calcium filters (my own invention).   Camera is a basler aca1920-155um. 

 

Here is some information about the Apollo Skybender;  https://solarchatforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=24440

thanks for looking

Interesting that you use a refractor with no filter on the front. I thought that was a no no as the mirrors heat up too much.

Thanks for the info. 

[Kitsunegari]

1 hour ago, StuartT said:

Interesting that you use a refractor with no filter on the front. I thought that was a no no as the mirrors heat up too much.

Thanks for the info. 

If you place any filter about 100mm away from your solar focal point, at a tilt all the hot stuff goes into the metal baffle of your telescope.  The telescope itself functions as a heatsink for the reflections.

Typically you would use a IR/UV cut filter,  but any filter works depending what you are trying to image.   

 

I usually just mount them to the last baffle in my telescope and give it a slight push to tilt it.

 

 

[StuartT]

8 minutes ago, Kitsunegari said:

If you place any filter about 100mm away from your solar focal point, at a tilt all the hot stuff goes into the metal baffle of your telescope.  The telescope itself functions as a heatsink for the reflections.

Typically you would use a IR/UV cut filter,  but any filter works depending what you are trying to image.   

I usually just mount them to the last baffle in my telescope and give it a slight push to tilt it.

I don't really follow. Do you mean you place a filter inside the tube someplace? My SCT has a glass front, so I couldn't do that.

Isn't it just easier to use solar film on the front?

[Kitsunegari]

8 hours ago, StuartT said:

I don't really follow. Do you mean you place a filter inside the tube someplace? My SCT has a glass front, so I couldn't do that.

Isn't it just easier to use solar film on the front?

I did not assume you were using the SCT.  For that you are going to need a front mounted energy rejection filter.  Astrofilm is great, but not for what i am doing.

 

Check out the baader planetarium Tri-color sct solar scope.  Thats what you need, or something similar.   You could in theory make this yourself with an old surplus laser mirrors however if you manage to find one that is 205mm..  They do exist and this is exactly what a dielectric filter is. 

 

That 90mm refractor you have will outperform the SCT scope with calcium 393nm wavelength however,   SCT telescopes are not diffraction limited below 400nm   and  Despite the large aperture, that cheap meade 390 90mm scope will always produce a better image at 393nm than any standard $2000.00 SCT by meade or celestron.

 

SCT requires corrective optics and a $2000 filter.

 

 

[Roy Challen]

Fantastic!

[Stu]

Amazing video, and very interesting to see you use your own designs.

It just shows how dynamic the sun is. Even in white light small spots can come and go fairly quickly.

[Marvin Jenkins]

I was very hesitant to post any reply being so new to solar observing (white light) it took a little while for me to realise what I was seeing, but once I did... Bravo.

I am at a loss when it comes to your set up. I have just made a tape and cardboard Badder filter for my 150 and was thrilled by the views. Your setup seems quite unique and will draw many questions I am sure.

I hope you continue to post your observations as solar is another angle of astronomy I find fascinating and posts like this make me ask questions.

Marvin

[Marvin Jenkins]

Didn’t want to do an edit so I decided to add a sentence. I was so side tracked trying to identify the short lived sunspot I just totally overlooked the whole video/image. I took a step back and just thought wow.

Marv