solar observing questions - advice please :-)

[LunarLight]

Hey guys

Just wanted a quick piece of advice. I was looking to do some solar observing but when I saw the price of dedicated solar scopes I nearly had a heart attack

I own a Skywatcher Explorer 200p and was wondering could I buy some solar filters for it. I have a few questions

1. is it safe to use my 200p for solar observing, of course with the right filters.

2. will observing the sun with my 200p damage the scope?

3. any ideas on what filters would be best?

4. would I be able to image with my 200p plus filter set up and DSLR camera?

Any advice much appreciated

Thanks in advance

Mark

EDIT: maybe this should be in the equipment section? sorry if it is :-)

[brianb]

1. Yes - Baader solar film is perfectly safe for the scope and your eyes, when used according to the instructions.

2. Not if you're using a objective end solar filter. With a reflector of any type and any size, projection is not sensible, the concentrated heat may crack the secondary or damage its mounting.

3. Baader Solar Film (ND5.0) is cheap, safe and effective. You may wish to add a neutral density filter as well when working at low power. Green #58 also works well, though with a reflector you don't have chromatic aberration to worry about.

4. If you can image the moon, you will be able to image the Sun in exactly the same way.

Please remember to remove the finder when observing the Sun, or at the very least leave it capped. Finding the Sun is best done by minimising the area of the shadow cast by the tube. (Fitting the finder with its own solar film filter is another possibility ... just don't be tempted to use it unfiltered to aim at the Sun, or your observing days with that eye will be over.)

[Merlin66]

Mark,

Brian has said it all!

The Baader white light solar film is a very cost effective, safe solution.

Ken

[LunarLight]

thanks for the great info guys

I checked out that ND 5.0 filter. The websites I looked at give the impression that you would have to construct the filter yourself as it gives a A4 sheet of the filter. My only concern is that if I haver to build it myself I will mess up and blind myself lol!

I sent an email to FLO about this as they have a selection of ready built ones but I dunno if they have one that will fit my scope.

Thanks again for the advice :-) I am looking forward to seeing the sun up close like

[Merlin66]

The AstroZap Solar filters are based on the Baader Film material, so should be 100% safe IF fitted properly and securely.

Ken

[NickH]

Altair Astro also do full aperture filters for a range of scopes. I have one for my C11

[brianb]

Kendrick also sell ready made filters made with Baader solar film. Teleskop Service (Germany) will make custom sizes for you, and if you're in the UK you won't have issues with import tax etc. as VAT is paid at source (19% in Germany).

But it really isn't hard to make your own.

The nice thing about the commercial cells is that they are fairly rigid & likely to last longer than cardboard & sticky tape. It's your money.

[winsbury]

I have a bit (actually, quite a lot) of fiberglass tape left over from a recent repair to my boat and am toying with using it to make a much more robust holder for the baader film than the cardboard and tape efforts described everywhere else.

I'll have to be careful not to drop any resin down the 200P tube while I'm moulding it to size but other than that I cant see any reason why it wouldnt work a treat, and might even look rather nice by comparison to bits of taped up kelloggs boxes. While I'm at it I'll probably have a go at making a dew shield too.

Since I wont be constrained to circular holes ( and nor is anyone using cardboard either ) is there any reason not to increase the aperture to the maximum possible between the spider vanes or is there some inherent physics reason the hole should be round ?