[Chaos-l] The Sun this year

Tue Feb 14 23:28:57 EST 2012

I've heard some great tips ! Thanks everyone that replied to all or to me
directly, very interesting. :)

I'm going to mow some lawns and break open some piggy banks ;)

( actually, selling my house that I haven't been able to sell would really
do it!! )

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 9:15 AM, matted <matted27 at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> 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
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> --
> Matt Lochansky
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>
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