Solar observing equipment help wanted!

[madge]

Hi
I am a keen amateur astronomer and I would like to do some solar viewing now that the new solar cycle has started. Does anyone have any info on Coronado PST or their Binomite II 12x 60 solar binoculars or any other recommendations to get the best on a budget? :)

[aurora]

There are two ways to observe the sun, one is using a HA filter such as those sold by Coronado. This is primarily for observing prominences on the sun.

The second is with a special white light filter. This is primarily for observing sun spots.

The second is much cheaper than the first. (In both cases, I said primarily because there are other features you can look for).

Either way, get a good quality commercial scope or filter. Never use one of the cheapo eyepiece solar filters as they can shatter resulting in serious eye damage. These filters still come with some of the so called department store telescopes.

[RickJ]

For H-alpha the cheapest way to go is the Meade Coronado PST. At only 40mm aperature its ability to see detail in the chromospheric network is limited but it shows filaments, flares and prominences very well. Larger aperture and far more expensive Coronado filters are great for seeing minute by minute changes in an active chromospheric network which can be quite spectacular both visually and to the wallet. Others also make such filters such as Daystar which I use. Once you see the sun in H alpha you'll be hooked for life. In all cases the narrower or steeper sided the pass band the more detail in the chromospheric network you see though this dims some prominences which tend to have a rather broad emission line due to their high temperature.

White light filters come in two types, glass and mylar. They are subdivided into those with a "natural" orange color or a very odd blue color. The blue is great for faculae (bright regions usually seen best near the edge darkened rim of the sun while the orange some feel better for sun spots. Mylar such as Baader can be purchased either in a cell for many popular scopes or as just the mylar material you cut and turn into a filter for your scope. Wrinkles are not a problem! An elastic band sewn to the proper size holds the material on most any scope just fine. Good mylar filters coated on two layers so pinholes are not a problem. Avoid single layer filters.

Glass filters are more expensive and need to be mounted in cells that fit your scope such that they can't accidently fall off. This limits them to more popular scopes or those of common dimensions.

Both glass any mylar are available for binoculars.

A third type of filter is designed only for prominences. This is a wide pass band hydrogen alpha filter. They have a pass band greater than 1 angstrom (1.5 angstrom is common). This makes them much cheaper to make but prevents them from seeing the chromospheric network. Bright flares can be seen however. To me they've pretty much been replaced by the PST (about the same cost) which shows far more disk detail as well.

Rick

[madge]

Thank you both for your help and advise Aurora and Rick :)

[Moonhawk]

I have a Coronado PST and have used it for visual observing and astrophotography (see my website link below). Its an excellent entry level solar telescope and will show you a lot of detail.

You'll need a good stable tripod to get the most out of it though (like with any telescope) and I piggy back mine on the back of my LX90 whenever possible.

[Diamond]

Bad news: there's no sunspots to see at the moment. Solar Cycle 23 is still persisting and SC24 has shown a couple of reversed polarity specks and thaaaaat's about it.

Good news: with the Coronado PST it should be possible to see lots of prominences (small ones)

[madge]

Took delivery of a pair of Coronado Binomite II solar binoculars in time to view the eclipse on August 1st. (I also cobbled a projector out of an old pair of binoculars, a music stand, some violin case straps, clothespegs aring binder and cardboard which worked really well : ) I'm really happy with them and am now saving hard to get the Coronado PST as well. Thanks everyone for the advice : )

[Hornblower]

Never use one of the cheapo eyepiece solar filters as they can shatter resulting in serious eye damage. These filters still come with some of the so called department store telescopes.
Yikes! If I were the store's insurance company, I would recommend dropping the bloody things into the Challenger Deep.

[aurora]

Yes, it has always puzzled me, in this day when coffee stores in the US have to print warnings on their cups that the coffee may be hot, etc., that a company would still sell a solar filter that fits on the eyepiece (as opposed to those that fit over the front of the scope and filter out most of the light and heat before it gets into the telescope).

I've never figured that out.

[matthewota]

I must point out that when you are using a Coronado PST Hydrogen Alpha telescope, you are viewing the Chomosphere. This is a layer of the Sun that is above the Photosphere. The Chromosphere is usually not visible because it is much dimmer than the Photosphere. The Cromosphere is visible during total solar eclipses.

The Photosphere is the layer of the Sun where photons escape. It is quite visible using Baader Astrosolar Safety film when it is properly attached to the objective end of your telescope or binoculars. You can easily see sunspots on the Photosphere, when they are there. However, we are still at Solar Minimum and very few susnpots are visible.

Hydrogen Alpha views of the Chromosphere are exciting no matter where the Sun is in its eleven year cycle, since prominences and faculae are visble almost all of the time.

Matthew Ota
former data analyst
Mt Wilson Observatory 60 foot Solar Tower

[JustAFriend]

Back in middle school a half-dozen years ago, my son did a perfectly presentable solar project with a 20x60 spotting scope I had and projecting the image into a cardboard box. There are plenty of plans around for how to construct one.

With one side cut out so that he could see the interior 'screen' of white paper, he used a digital camera to take photos with really good detail.

Safe and CHEAP.

[blueshift]

Coronado has prices that are too high. Lunt used to work for Coronado and when Meade took over the Lunt family broke away and started their own company with better prices.

http://www.buytelescopes.com/product.asp?pid=12752

So save up your money if you ever go H alpha route. There is a long waiting list and I am on it but it is worth it.