New images of mars 02/09/2003

monkeys paw wrote in
news:H%L7b.407544$YN5.274829@sccrnsc01:

How does one view the sun thru a telescope?

The short answer is, you don't. Please don't try this or you may end up
blinded. When you have much more experience the answer will change to
"very carefully using the proper filters", but please wait awhile.

--
Steve Gray

Steven Gray wrote:

monkeys paw wrote in
news:H%L7b.407544$YN5.274829@sccrnsc01:

How does one view the sun thru a telescope?

The short answer is, you don't. Please don't try this or you may end up
blinded. When you have much more experience the answer will change to
"very carefully using the proper filters", but please wait awhile.


Thanks, i had no intention of going into this "blindly" (heh heh).

Steven Gray wrote:

monkeys paw wrote in
news:H%L7b.407544$YN5.274829@sccrnsc01:

How does one view the sun thru a telescope?

The short answer is, you don't. Please don't try this or you may end up
blinded. When you have much more experience the answer will change to
"very carefully using the proper filters", but please wait awhile.


Thanks, i had no intention of going into this "blindly" (heh heh).

"monkeys paw" wrote in message
news:kE08b.417459$Ho3.65798@sccrnsc03...
Steven Gray wrote:

monkeys paw wrote in
news:H%L7b.407544$YN5.274829@sccrnsc01:

How does one view the sun thru a telescope?

The short answer is, you don't. Please don't try this or you may end up
blinded. When you have much more experience the answer will change to
"very carefully using the proper filters", but please wait awhile.


Thanks, i had no intention of going into this "blindly" (heh heh).
What sort of scope?.
The answers differ, because some designs are safe to use for 'projection'
viewing, while others are not. General rules. Any optic not being used
(finder scope for example), must be capped. Now with some refractors (for
instance), it is safe to view the sun, by projecting the image onto a sheet
of card, and only viewing the projected image. However this should not be
done with a lot of scopes. SCT's (for instance), can build up heat inside
the tube, and even crack the corrector if used like this. Many cheaper
scopes have plastic components in the lenses and mounts, that cannot be used
like this.
The second route, is a 'solar filter'. The cheapest way, is a piece of
Baader AstroSolar film. This is a plastic film, coated with a reflective
surface on both faces, which passes only a tiny percentage of the light.
There are two types, and the one for visual use, is the ND5 version (the
other is _not_ safe for visual use - it is designed for photography only).
This can be made into a cardboard, or plastic 'cell', to cover the entire
front of the scope, or for larger scopes, and 'off axis' design can instead
be used (with an opaque sheet covering the front of the scope, with a small
hole perhaps 3" across, covered with the film, and letting the filtered
light into the scope, but to one side, so that the light misses the central
obstruction in SCT, Maksutov, and Newtonian designs.
This sort of filter is safe, but you must ensure that the cell will stay in
place as the scope moves, and there are no holes of any significant size.
More money, but 'ready built', such 'white light' filters are available 'off
the shelf' for most scopes.

Best Wishes

"monkeys paw" wrote in message
news:kE08b.417459$Ho3.65798@sccrnsc03...
Steven Gray wrote:

monkeys paw wrote in
news:H%L7b.407544$YN5.274829@sccrnsc01:

How does one view the sun thru a telescope?

The short answer is, you don't. Please don't try this or you may end up
blinded. When you have much more experience the answer will change to
"very carefully using the proper filters", but please wait awhile.


Thanks, i had no intention of going into this "blindly" (heh heh).
What sort of scope?.
The answers differ, because some designs are safe to use for 'projection'
viewing, while others are not. General rules. Any optic not being used
(finder scope for example), must be capped. Now with some refractors (for
instance), it is safe to view the sun, by projecting the image onto a sheet
of card, and only viewing the projected image. However this should not be
done with a lot of scopes. SCT's (for instance), can build up heat inside
the tube, and even crack the corrector if used like this. Many cheaper
scopes have plastic components in the lenses and mounts, that cannot be used
like this.
The second route, is a 'solar filter'. The cheapest way, is a piece of
Baader AstroSolar film. This is a plastic film, coated with a reflective
surface on both faces, which passes only a tiny percentage of the light.
There are two types, and the one for visual use, is the ND5 version (the
other is _not_ safe for visual use - it is designed for photography only).
This can be made into a cardboard, or plastic 'cell', to cover the entire
front of the scope, or for larger scopes, and 'off axis' design can instead
be used (with an opaque sheet covering the front of the scope, with a small
hole perhaps 3" across, covered with the film, and letting the filtered
light into the scope, but to one side, so that the light misses the central
obstruction in SCT, Maksutov, and Newtonian designs.
This sort of filter is safe, but you must ensure that the cell will stay in
place as the scope moves, and there are no holes of any significant size.
More money, but 'ready built', such 'white light' filters are available 'off
the shelf' for most scopes.

Best Wishes