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First ever Ha views


Alan White

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Hello All,

I have to share the joy from today so far.
My club owns a Solarscope SV-50, which I am lucky enough to have on loan at present.

So its been with me a week and first good sky in daylight today, so set up and took a peak.

It was amazing, so much so that I am still looking for my socks, where they got blown off.
So is it first exposure enthusiasm or is today just very active in Ha and Prominances? if I have my terminology correct.

I have sent several excited messages to astro friends on this already, I am truly shocked at what I can see.

Somehow I poresuume the SV-50 is a great and easy to use telescope, it feels very well made indeed,
I have no idea how much one would cost as cannot find out online.

Rather than a broken hour of White Light, work keeps intruding, I have spent it all in Ha and keep wanting to go back out.
Somehow I can see an expensive purchase come up and my Solar Observing, which is already a passion, will grown again.
Best buy a lottery ticket or two me thinks.

Had to share, I know those who observe Solar will get the new boy on the block enthusiasm.


 

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Yes the Solarscope etalons are amazing. Stuck on work things today so just basing this on the GONG site rather than direct obs, but it looks like Sol is actually relatively quiet today when compared to what its been like the last few weeks.  Wait & see when the active regions come back...!

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I’ve viewed through a Solarscope 70mm before and it was incredible. No hotspot and very good surface contrast even for a single etalon.

Ha viewing can be incredible, with movement in real time sometimes visible. I still (and always will) love the punch and contrast of a good white light setup, but Ha is amazing, and there is normally something good to look at.

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I'm glad you are pleased with your H-A scope views 😀

I've owned a PST (40mm) and a Lunt 50mm and been a little undewhelmed with the views to be honest. Maybe my expectations were too high or I had mediocre examples of those scopes ?

I tried a Lunt 100mm at the Lowell Observatory a couple of years back and that was pretty impressive :grin:

johnlunt100.JPG.c3dc0e71de74068c2419e0417321c1af.JPG

 

Edited by John
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10 hours ago, Alan White said:

Hello All,

I have to share the joy from today so far.
My club owns a Solarscope SV-50, which I am lucky enough to have on loan at present.

So its been with me a week and first good sky in daylight today, so set up and took a peak.

It was amazing, so much so that I am still looking for my socks, where they got blown off.
So is it first exposure enthusiasm or is today just very active in Ha and Prominances? if I have my terminology correct.

I have sent several excited messages to astro friends on this already, I am truly shocked at what I can see.

Somehow I poresuume the SV-50 is a great and easy to use telescope, it feels very well made indeed,
I have no idea how much one would cost as cannot find out online.

Rather than a broken hour of White Light, work keeps intruding, I have spent it all in Ha and keep wanting to go back out.
Somehow I can see an expensive purchase come up and my Solar Observing, which is already a passion, will grown again.
Best buy a lottery ticket or two me thinks.

Had to share, I know those who observe Solar will get the new boy on the block enthusiasm.


 

Brilliant Alan - great to read your post - solar Ha is the most dynamic and exciting form of amateur astronomy in my view. And right now the Sun is comparatively inactive - there was much more going on last week. Hopefully you can keep your borrowed scope until we get a few active regions and larger filaments. 
Solar ha etalons are immensely complex and expensive pieces of kit, so it’s not surprising we have to pay a lot for top quality filters. Solarscope makes the best etalons that I’ve used. The only Solarscope price lists you’ll see are on overseas websites (try APM or Astroshop in Germany - the prices will make your hair curl). In fact they are much more affordable to UK customers - though still pricey. I bought double stacked Solarscope SF70 filters a while ago for less than the equivalent Lunt (LS80DS). Lunt prices are very expensive in Europe. However. there are affordable ways into the market - find a good entry level Coronado PST or Lunt 35/50 secondhand and you have a fantastic, affordable instrument that will provide years of joy.

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@Highburymark, thank you, all very encouraging and most helpful advice.
I did wonder if I had the luck to be let loose with a top end instrument.
Of course my interest has been ignited, knowing that its not the best in Ha at present,
so 🤞for some more activity very soon.

I love White Light observing, so the next obvious step is Ha, dedicated scope or perhaps a Quark?

The one thing on the SolarSccope was its instant, not waiting for things to warm up or tune, just focus,
very simple, very intuative and perhaps thats part of the extra cost to get that.

 

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I got a second-hand Lunt LS35 years back and was immediately hooked. This was during a period of rather higher solar activity, but the views, even through a 35mm instrument were great. I even started imaging with it. Things got progressively better as I moved to a 60, and then 80 mm instrument

Suncomparisoncolour.thumb.jpg.c4c5ddda45e006083b2c110c6a7aa49d.jpg

Click for full resolution version

 

 

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Great News Alan HA is intoxicating , an SV50 is perhaps best described as the ultimate intro to HA as it’s basically downhill from there (avoid Lunt if at all possible) but I am more than happy to help as this is the one area that I can advise upon.

Brian 

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  • 1 month later...

I drove from Cork to Dunsink Observatory for my first views through a Ha scope - they were hosting a solar party.  It was a stunning blue sky sunny day, and also got a tour of the Grubb 12" Refractor housed in the observing dome. 

My 1st view was through 60mm Lunt - double stacked - with a Televue Binovue 😜  Simply stunning... I went back for 4 more turns.

I knew as I was getting back into my car that this was a very expensive 300 mile round trip... I knew I had to get a double stacked setup!

I got a LS50DS... and view mono - my pockets are not so deep... but it's fantastic- I still love it several years on! 😉

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