[Chaos-l] The Sun this year

[Tony Garcia]

I am curious if any viewed the last transit of Venus or an Annular eclipse,
and what equipment people may have used and would recommend. ( at risk of
starting a never ending thread I know, but we are an astronomy club, why
not? )   A few opinions would be great.

In just a few months we have an Annular Eclipse in the west on May 20th- (
which I am seriously considering flying out for since it will be over parts
of the west I know very well,  the Black Rock Desert all the way to
Farmington NM, Chaco Canyon and ABQ. Lots to choose from! )

And the transit of Venus on June 5th. ( heck, I may fly out west for both,
or the NC mountains sound nice. or how hot will Medoc be in June ?)

Considering the rarity of all of this I am considering getting a more
serious solar telescope.   I do already have a white light solar filter for
my 6" maksutov-newtonian ( levy comet hunter ), which gives me decent white
light views of sunspots, but that's it.

Not bad, but should I consider more?  A 60mm Coronado?   A 60mm Lunt either
visual or imaging? Something else?

And are the views really that much more awesome?  ( a few thousand dollars
more awesome than what I have now! )

Should I get a double stack filter if going that far?

Will the general solar viewing and imaging w/ an H-A telescope be quite fun
if you are a solar enthusiast? ( i've read this book, Fundamentals of Solar
Astronomy<http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Solar-Astronomy-Scientific-Astrophysics/dp/9812382445>
so I'm somewhat into it. )


( one more dangerous side road -  was also considering a better mount for
maybe catching a picture or two with a canon DSLR - currently using a good
alt-azimuth, was thinking about the new meade LX80, or maybe the IEQ45 ?
Maybe I don't need that much mount for 17-20 pounds of telescope, and less
w/ 60mm solar scopes at 8 - 10 pounds. )



-C. Tonyg
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