First light with the PST Coronado.

[IB20]

Well, what an absolute triumph this little scope is. Been after a Ha scope for some time and couldn’t resist when I saw that @FLO had them on a Spring promo. 
Boxed like a Matryoshka doll and in a super supportive foam surround, after a quick unboxing it screwed directly onto the L bracket that luckily came with my recent AZ4 purchase. 

The inbuilt solar finder is fantastic, for WL solar I’m usually faffing around for a while to get it in view, not the case with the PST. After a few minutes of getting my eye and fiddling with the focus knob I started to see a large prominence on the limb near AR3285, just wow. Then after a bit of etalon tuning I saw so much activity, particularly 3 massive proms near the large sunspot cluster. But also sunspots, surface detail, a detached prom and two very short lived bright spots around AR3293. Wondering if I caught a flare?!

Just all afternoon I’ve been nipping out savouring the views, it’s so easy to realign with the sun. I’m incredibly happy with the scope and can’t wait to have more fruitful sessions with it. I’ve seen so much with it today already. I love WL observing but this is another level, just sensational stuff. 

It works really well with every EP I tried too, although  the seeing didn’t really take to the 6mm. 

I think FLO’s offer is still live if anyone was interested…
 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by IB20

[Stu]

PSTs are excellent, really enjoyed mine 👍👍

I’m trying to work out if I can use the back end of my PST mod in my FS-60Q to make a portable 60mm Ha scope. Will likely need a 2” 35nm filter in front of the optics of the Extender Q module to protect it but should be possible.

[Elp]

Its a great scope, I eventually sold mine once I achieved imaging with it due to not being used much. I found the best plossls for it were the 12.5 Xcel I've got, and a 9mm WO swan. Most others suffered too much with internal barrel and lens reflection.

[Nik271]

Welcome to the Ha world! I got into it recently (with a Quark from FLO) and am still amazed how much can be seen and how fast changes can happen on the Sun.

14 hours ago, IB20 said:

Wondering if I caught a flare?!

You probably did.  2993 was flaring every two hours yesterday with significant M class flares. If you recorded the time you can check the solar activity here:

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/solar-flares.html

The biggest flare was  M7 around 11:45 (UK summer time UTC+1)

After a big flare it is sometimes possible to see rapid changes in the sunspot, filaments appear as arches of plasma get lifted into space.

 Even more impressive event (which I have not yet observed) is a big flare on the limb, then we should see these arches as fast moving prominences. 

I enjoy the sunny side of astronomy!

 

Nik

[IB20]

1 hour ago, Nik271 said:

Welcome to the Ha world! I got into it recently (with a Quark from FLO) and am still amazed how much can be seen and how fast changes can happen on the Sun.

You probably did.  2993 was flaring every two hours yesterday with significant M class flares. If you recorded the time you can check the solar activity here:

https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/solar-flares.html

The biggest flare was  M7 around 11:45 (UK summer time UTC+1)

After a big flare it is sometimes possible to see rapid changes in the sunspot, filaments appear as arches of plasma get lifted into space.

 Even more impressive event (which I have not yet observed) is a big flare on the limb, then we should see these arches as fast moving prominences. 

I enjoy the sunny side of astronomy!

 

Nik

I recorded the image I took 14:45 BST, spaceweather has an M class flare at AR3293 at 13:43-13:54 UTC. Fab! 👍🏻

[Highburymark]

Congratulations - and perfect time to get an Ha scope - it’s going to be a great summer of activity.

[Sunshine]

Congratulations and welcome to Ha! amazing little scope, the PST was my first scope of its kind several years ago and it sparked my fascination with Ha, it really is another level from WL. Many times I have said the PST is the little solar scope that could, it is so portable and easy to use, i can bet you went to sleep thinking about those proms.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Sunshine

[IB20]

A prominence buffet currently on display. More surface detail visible too, as there is less high hazy cloud about, although not completely clear. 
Some lovely dark filaments are observable, snaking from AR3297.

A quick iPhone snap attached.

[Sunshine]

3 hours ago, IB20 said:

A prominence buffet currently on display. More surface detail visible too, as there is less high hazy cloud about, although not completely clear. 
Some lovely dark filaments are observable, snaking from AR3297.

A quick iPhone snap attached.

Amazing activity these days, it’s great to see youre having a blast with that PST.

[IB20]

30 minutes ago, Sunshine said:

Amazing activity these days, it’s great to see youre having a blast with that PST.

It’s a fantastic bit of kit, really simple and a joy to use. Shows plenty for its very modest aperture.
l picked a great time to dip my toe in Ha! 

[Sunshine]

19 minutes ago, IB20 said:

It’s a fantastic bit of kit, really simple and a joy to use. Shows plenty for its very modest aperture.
l picked a great time to dip my toe in Ha! 

You and me both! it is a great time to get into Ha, the sun is having daily temper tantrums 🤣

[IB20]

The sun is properly kicking off today. Just an awesome morning viewing some huge proms and a flare around AR3312. The flare was extremely bright and probably lasted around 15-20 minutes.

I seem to be exclusively Ha viewing at the minute, night-time Astro and white light has fully taken a back seat.

Edited May 20, 2023 by IB20