Send some solar scope suggestions?

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

1 hour ago, inFINNity Deck said:

Lunt supplies blocking filters of various diameters, especially for imaging with large and even larger sensors: https://luntsolarsystems.com/product/lunt-blocking-filters-b600-b1200-b1800/

Scroll down to the section "Focal Length Suggestions for Imaging Use:". Of course a larger blocking filter is more expensive. Most, if not all, are also available in straight-through version (i.e. not as diagonals).

Nicolàs

 

I was comparing the LS50 with B600 to the SolarMax-II 60 with BF10

 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

2 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

Thanks for the correction @michael.h.f.wilkinson i never knew that existed.   I always thought it odd that you would buy a 60mm aperture, only to have to reduce it to 50mm when double stacking.

An eye watering price though, has this been around very long ?

It has been around for years. They are very expensive indeed. As I understand you can even use the Coronado 60mm DS unit on a Lunt scope. It does get you a small central obstruction of course

[Pete Presland]

52 minutes ago, michael.h.f.wilkinson said:

It has been around for years. They are very expensive indeed. As I understand you can even use the Coronado 60mm DS unit on a Lunt scope. It does get you a small central obstruction of course

I think this is the one i have seen around Bresser | LUNT LS50FHa H-alpha double-stack solar filter | Expand Your Horizon  Makes sense not to reduce that precious aperture 

[MarkRadice]

I have been following this discussion with interest so thank you for all your thoughts.

I have a Lunt 60mm (with a nice shiny new blue filter) but like us all, hanker after something bigger.  Alas the price of a large solar scope is quite prohibitive. As I already have a Megrez 90, I was tempted by the Quark so I was kindly lent a Herschel Wedge and Quark by a friend in the astronomy club (in exchange for a cream tea in the garden!). 

I put my thoughts on both in the video below.

In summary, it is fantastic approach but only gives a high power view due to the built in barlow.  My existing Lunt is far more versatile as you can do whole disc and zoom in with a barlow. But the higher power views are where the action is ... and it is over twice the aperture so provides a higher resolution view.  

I am currently lobbying for a Quark from CinC HOME and will probably sell my Lunt second hand to give me a very portable night time scope that doubles as a larger solar scope.

I hope that helps - of course my approach assumes already have a refractor. 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by MarkRadice

[raadoo]

Thanks to all of you who contributed to this thread, my heart's pretty set on an LS50THa.

Speaking of the Lunt, does anyone know what the image circle is, in terms of coverage? I'm planning on chucking an IMX432 at its tail end along with a 2X Barlow (1.25"). Does anyone know if I might run into vignetting issues? What about a 5X Barlow; would that work also?

For night time astrophotography scopes, it's fairly easy to find out sensor coverage. It seems that with solar scopes, this information is slightly more obscure, at least to complete novices like myself.

[nfotis]

Interesting thread.

I was always intrigued by Hydrogen-alpha scopes, but the price is a major deterrent.

The Daystar Quark is an intriguing idea, but I am put off the various QA stories which rise quite often.

Lunt and Coronado seem the safe options when speaking about "amateur" H-alpha scopes.

Instead of a Herschel wedge, maybe a Baader Astrosolar film on a Cassegrain scope would be cheaper and easier to work with?

You get a long focal distance and a large aperture together. If all you have is a refractor, a Herschel wedge is probably a sharper solution, though.

For me, an ideal combination could be an SCT or Maksutov with Astrosolar film and a Baader solar continuum filter for white light, and an 102ED refractor for CaK or Hydrogen-alpha observation and photography?

N.F.

 

[Elp]

The refractor will do all (subject to filters/equipment), white light, and Ha/CaK, no real need for two types of scopes unless its what you have to work with. From what I've read on solar pretty much every comment refers to a refractor type scope.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Elp

[inFINNity Deck]

SCTs and MAKs can do a proper job on solar imaging, especially for high-res imaging. This is an example of white-light imaging using a C11 EdgeHD @ f/20 with Baader ND5.0 foil and Baader Continuum filter:

But mind you that going over about say 150mm-180mm aperture creates seeing-related problems. Above image is one of those rare occasions that I could actually image with that scope. In addition full-disc recordings are impossible with this scope/camera combination, see this recent post:

 

Lunt nowadays has day-and-night scopes, which can be used for white-light and H-alpha imaging. The idea is to have a single scope that can be used for deep-sky, white-light (requires a white-light filter) and H-alpha by swapping the whole focuser/etalon unit.

If you want to learn more before acquiring a scope, I would suggest reading C. Viladrich, e.a., Solar Astronomy: Observing, imaging and studying the Sun, (Saint-Lys, 2021).

HTH

Nicolàs

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by inFINNity Deck