What filter do i get for taking pictures of the sun?

[Lee85]

i cant find anything of the net (im proberly looking in the wrong place)

but id love to take some cool pictures of the sun

so where would i find tips on what lense or other stuff i would need

thanks

[Merlin66]

As you probably alreay know, viewing and imaging the Sun can be DANGEROUS!!!!

There are a couple of options:

1. White light

This is where you used a filter on front of the telescope which cuts down the intensity of the light and makes it safe and possible to see sunspots on the surface. The best solution here, is a full aperture solar filter, something like the Baader Solar Film or one of the commercial equivalents (Astrozap, JMB, 1000 Oaks etc). All of these can be found on the net. Should be available around 50 Gbp. Google is your friend!

2. Ha light

This requires VERY expensive special filters but does allow you to see the sunspots and prominences in the light of Hydrogen alpha.( Hydrogen streamers from the surface of the sun etc.). The Coronado PST is a small telescope which has these filters built in. You can also buy separate filters ( SolarMax etc) which fit on the front of the telescope and require a special blocking filter at the eyepiece to view the Ha image.

These start around 1000Gbp!!!!

Remember to cover your finder as well!!

Hope this helps

(Note to Admin - this, or something similar should be a sticky for future enquiries?)