Sun viewing safety

On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 02:16:26 GMT, "MrB"
wrote:

On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?

You probably misread the warning you mention. It is advisable to not
use "downstream" filters (at the eyepiece, etc.) to view the sun,
since the concentrated energy may be sufficient to damage either the
eyepiece (leading to loss of $$$) or the filter (leading to loss of
eyesight). Used properly, any decent full-aperture solar filter is
perfectly safe.

Just be sure to *not* use the finder to point the 'scope - actually be
sure to always leave the finder lens covers on.

Wayne Hoffman
33° 49" 17' N 117° 56" 41' W
"Don't Look Down"

http://home.pacbell.net/w6wlr/

???
I dunno........
Maybe they were meaning - it's not a good idea to use one of those eyepiece
sun filters. The solar filters that cover the end of the scope should be
fine. The cheap old ep sun filters could get hot and crack. A "real" solar
filter will keep most of the heat from reaching the eyepiece.

Hope this helps.

--

Don Baker
www.geocities.com/thebugbomber


"MrB" wrote in message
. ..
On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the
sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?

"MrB" wrote in message
. ..
On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the
sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?


Not sure what you actually read, but if you use an aperture filter, such as
a Baader, and if it's installed properly, it would be perfectly safe to view
the sun. The key word here is "aperture" filter and not eyepiece filter.
I've seen some ep filters which I believe are unsafe, as using it would heat
your ota and cause damage.

Just make certain that there are no holes in the Baader film. Finally, make
certain that you also protect your finder scope with Baader film. If you
don't have film for your finder scope, make certain that it's REMOVED from
the scope before your viewing session.

Al

"MrB" wrote in message
. ..
On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the
sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?

The Baader filter is perfectly safe, so long as it's undamanged and firmly
attached in front of the telescope. By "undamaged" I mean no visible holes
or rips.

The warnings apparently refer to filters that screw into the eyepiece.
Those are likely to crack due to overheating.

I don't really know what web site you're referring to, but I'm a firm
believer in the idea that "truth cannot be exaggerated." That is, it is not
a good thing when people distort a warning in order to make it "safer."
Exaggerations are not truths.
--
Clear skies,

Michael Covington -- www.covingtoninnovations.com
Author, Astrophotography for the Amateur
and (new) How to Use a Computerized Telescope

Hello,

I ran across this too. Go to http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/ , check out
Solar Eclipse Pages - May Annular.

From the warning they appear to be referring to the eyepiece mount
(heat generated), but it certainly isn't clear. "Never look at the
sun though a telescope or binoculars," [sic] is pretty adamant.

Perhaps we should tell them that full-aperture filters are safe.

Rich


On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 02:16:26 GMT, "MrB"
wrote:

On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?

With my Babylon 8 Dob, designed like it is, I used place a white cardpoard under
the eyepice, rotate the OTA till the ep is pointing towards the ground and then
buy using it's shadow I find the sun and project it on the cardboard. Works
fine.


--
"In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening
towards an east that would not know another dawn.
But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning
lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go
again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

SIAR
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wrote in message
...
Hello,

I ran across this too. Go to http://www.r-clarke.org.uk/ , check out
Solar Eclipse Pages - May Annular.




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MrBe:
On a website linked from this group, there was a warning not to view the sun
using a telescope, even with a sun filter. I have a Baader filter I have
been using to do just that. Please, other opinions on this?

My non-commercial site has what I believe to be accurate information on
this subject http://www.davidillig.com/ast-sunspots031030-1.shtml,
plus a link to external information. I do not warrant that the
information on my site will protect your eyesight, but I do warrant
that it has protected my eyesight during 23 years of solar observing
with a Questar Duplex.

As a woodworker who still has 10 fingers after some years of using
inherently dangerous power tools, I try not to be complacent. I try to
remember to stop and think about what I am doing before I turn on a
tool, and then again after I turn it on and before I begin feeding wood
or applying the tool to the wood. The same applies to my solar
observing. I take very good care of my solar filter, I aim the
telescope northward while installing it, and I double check that it is
in place and that the Questar's built-in solar filter for the finder
'scope is swung into position before swinging the scope toward the sun.
So far, so good.

Davoud

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

"Starlord" wrote in message
...
With my Babylon 8 Dob, designed like it is, I used place a white cardpoard
under
the eyepice, rotate the OTA till the ep is pointing towards the ground and
then
buy using it's shadow I find the sun and project it on the cardboard.
Works
fine.

The secondary mirror of a reflector can get surprisingly hot this way. I
don't recommend doing sun projection with anything other than a small
refractor.

On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 23:54:00 -0500, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote in response to
Starlord:

The secondary mirror of a reflector can get surprisingly hot this way. I
don't recommend doing sun projection with anything other than a small
refractor.

Not to mention the damage to the EP (ever see what happens when the
adhesive between elements softens, or gets discolored, as a result of
heat?).

Wayne Hoffman
33° 49" 17' N 117° 56" 41' W
"Don't Look Down"

http://home.pacbell.net/w6wlr/