Camera for solar viewing

[Seme]

Hi Everyone 

So sorry if this is in the wrong place please move if needed.

I have the old Celestron 80ed with GSO 2" Focuser  and the Starfield 2" Herschel Solar Wedge what would be a good Camera to use with it and is there anything else i might need.

Many Thanks

Darren

[Dave Smith]

Firstly you need a mono camera. I have have used both the ZWO ASI174MM and more recently the ZWO ASI178MM cameras. The difference being pixel size and speed. The smaller pixels potentially give more detail but are slower.

Others may be able to advise which is better. For my 80mm Ha scope and 90mm Megrez for white light, the 178 gives better quality but there is not a lot in it. A faster camera is useful when cloud dodging.

A continuum filter will give a little more surface detail. A barlow lens is great for zooming in on some the fascinating sunspot groups.

Dave

[TerryMcK]

ZWO ASI174MM is what I use with both the Altair Astro wedge and Daystar Scout 60SSDS. Paired up with Sharpcap you can’t go wrong. Pricey but worth it. You can use region of interest settings of the camera within Sharpcap to get really high speed video captures in ser format. Process the video in free software Autostakkert and transfer the stacked image into your favourite image processing software.

As previous poster said a solar continuum filter in the nosepiece of the camera works wonders too.

Have a watch of this Stargazine video featuring Gary Palmer to learn how he processes solar images.