[Chaos-l] The Sun this year

[matted]

I have the fortunate coincidence where I will be in Vancouver, BC for a
scientific conference during the May 20 annular eclipse.  Vancouver isn't
in the prime path, but I should still see 80% or so.  I'm very excited -
should be an amazing sunset.  I actually recently bought a Canon T2i for a
variety of reasons - one of which to capture the annular eclipse.  I too
was wondering what the best way to capture the event.

I see some pictures where the sun appears in images completely unfiltered
(very fast exposures, I assume).  I was thinking of picking up a neutral
density filters (compatible with my 58mm lens) to dim things out.
Something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Multi-Coated-Variable-Neutral-Density/dp/B004R4F2X0/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1329228490&sr=8-5
although you can also buy 0.9 filters.

On another note... I was playing last night with the camera (and a new
remote timer) and caught something weird while trying to get a polar star
trail photo...  I am not sure if I caught an Aurora (which wasn't strong
last night...) or had some other weird light diffraction... Looking for
some advice from more seasons DSLR users...
http://www.astronomypowers.com/index.php/2012/02/13/what-was-that/  (be
sure to click the pictures to see them bigger, although I dont have the
full 18MP images online).

-Matt

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 9:01 AM, Robert Nielsen <robertnielsen at nc.rr.com>wrote:

> Tony,
>
> Well, you asked ...
>
> The different types of solar filters / scopes show different things:
>
> White-Light Filter: Use existing scope, shows sunspots and transit
> Ha Solar Scope: Shows prominences and some surface detail in addition to
> sunspots and transit
> Double-Stack: Shows lots of detail on surface
>
> If you really want to get into looking at the sun in detail, you will need
> to move beyond just a white-light filter, since it doesn't really show what
> you will want to see.   When I attended NEAF last year, they had a bevy of
> solar scopes out, and I tried to determine which was best - the winner
> (hands down) was the Lunt scope ... with the double-stacked version
> essentially showing everything I would want to see.   The other varieties
> (like the ones that had calcium and potassium filters) showed too dim of an
> image to me.   And honestly, things weren't much better when you got over
> 80mm in aperture.   The 100mm was a little better ... not sure it was worth
> the extra money.   And while impressive, the 152mm solar scope wasn't that
> much better.   All of this is my opinion, you realize.
>
> So to see the eclipse and transit, you don't need a solar scope ... the
> white-light filter will be fine.   But if you want to get into solar
> observing, I would suggest attending the Staunton River Star Party because
> I know a couple of people will be there with different types of solar
> scopes and you can judge for yourself!
>
> Robert
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Feb 14, 2012, at 12:56 AM, Tony Garcia <randomcoffee at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> 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
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chaos-l mailing list
> Chaos-l at rtpnet.org
> http://rtpnet.org/mailman/listinfo/chaos-l
>
>


-- 
Matt Lochansky
Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/matted> | Twitter<http://twitter.com/matted69>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://rtpnet.org/pipermail/chaos-l/attachments/20120214/354b70d0/attachment.html>