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Solar Observing |
Have you ever wanted to get up close and personal with a star? You can
when you get into solar observing! Here at Oceanside Photo and
Telescope we carry the most respected solar telescope equipment from
trusted manufacturers such as Coronado Instruments Solar Telescopes
and Filters, SolarScope Telescopes, Lunt Solar Systems, Baader Planetarium Solar Filters and Kendrick Solar Filters. Viewing the Sun without proper
equipment is dangerous and can result in blindness... but there's no
need to worry. Safe solar observing is easy and fun with the correct
solar filters or dedicated solar telescope! Let's learn a little bit
about solar observing and equipment...
If you're interested in observing sunspots, planetary transits and solar
eclipses, the white light
Solar Film Cell may be right for you. The full-aperture film cells
are designed to
block harmful light waves and reveal the Sun's details in white light,
these very affordable solar filters are custom designed to fit your
existing telescope. OPT offers a full line of high-quality Baader Film White Light Solar Filters. Even the beginner can
appreciate this view! The Sun appears in its real color - neutral
white. Other films and cheap glass filters produce a blurry bluish or
reddish Solar image, thereby cutting part of the spectrum. Especially
with an orange sun, it is very hard to see faculae regions which are
visible predominantly in the blue wing of the spectrum. For extreme durability and safety as well as pleasing image color, you may wish to consider a Glass Solar Filters. These custom created white light solar filters also fit over the telescope end and are designed by a leader of solar filter manfacture - Thousand Oaks Optical. If you'd like
to take white light viewing to the professional level, consider Baader
Planetarium Solar Wedges for incredible contrast and details. For
use in refractors only, the Herschel Safety Wedge Solar Prism offers
the finest white-light solar views obtainable. The amount of Sunspot
detail and surface granulation will surprise even the most experienced
solar observer. Penumbra resolve into a staggering range of contrasts
and fine wispy details. The solar disc is set against a jet-black sky,
like observing the full moon at night! With our Herschel Wedge Prism,
it becomes obvious that the lack of detail and contrast experienced
with all other white-light filters was not so much due to the
atmospheric seeing as you had thought!
If you're interested in viewing solar prominences, solar flares, solar
corona and other unusual details, the Solar
Hydrogen-Alpha (H-alpha) Filter is what you're looking for. For
use on a refracting telescope, these high quality filters are designed
for blocking all
light except for the h-alpha wave, the solar surface is rendered in
glowing detail. Coronado
H-Alpha Solar Filters are one of the most highly respected names is
solar observing and OPT is one of their largest distributors. Be sure to check out the unique new designs with Lunt Solar Systems products, too! For equally professional grade solar observing equipment, consider Solarscope.
Personally designed, tested and shipped from the Isle of Man, you'll
find OPT is one of the very few dealers which carry Solarscope
Filters. The Solarscope H-alpha filter is a conventional ultra
narrow bandwidth 0.7Ångstrom Fabry-Perot air spaced etalon precisely
tuned at 656.28nm, the H-alpha line. This is an important emission
line for solar observation, as the Sun's surface layer contains a high
proportion of Hydrogen. The H-alpha filter allows safe observation of
the entire solar disc, providing superb views of prominences,
chromosphere and surface detail such as sunspots, plagues, flares,
filaments and granulation.
Is a dedicated solar telescope what you have in mind? OPT carries the
popular and affordable Coronado
Personal Solar Telescope (PST), as well as the Coronado Solar
Max Solar Telescope series in both H-Alpha and Cal-K. While
almost all refractors and most reflecting telescopes can be used with
a Coronado filter, no other telescope has been designed with all its
optical aberrations and coatings optimized at H-Alpha. Most nighttime
telescopes, when used at H-alpha, will not have the image contrast
exhibited by a SolarMax nor the image quality. Most broadband
coatings, used on such telescopes, will have reduced effectiveness at
this wavelength and telescopes (particularly reflectors) not
specifically designed for Solar viewing, will exhibit unnecessary
scattering and spurious light transmission. All of the Coronado
scopes, even the PST, have been designed with this one wavelength of
light in mind and will increase contrast and give you a darker
background for viewing and imaging. If the thought of imaging
magnetic solar
storms, plague activity and even solar weather appeals to you, then
consider a dedicated Coronado Solar
Max Calcium K (CaK) Solar Telescope! The thermally stable
interference filters allow you to view the chromospheric network of
ionized calcium emissions that are created when supergranulation cells
sweep through magnetic fields where they collect and strengthen.
If you're already acquainted with solar observing, perhaps you might
need H-Alpha Double-Stacking Accessories such as
adapters, tuners, or narrowband element fronts. If you would like to
attach a Coronado Instruments SolarMax filter to your your existing
quality small refractor telescope, you will need an H-Alpha Adapter Plate. In Solar
Telescope Accessories you find blocking filters, cases, mounts,
binocular solar viewers, finderscopes, tuners, projection viewers,
Baader filter film, light blocking caddies and hats. and one
incredible new innovation... The Cemax Eyepiece line! Specifically
designed for use in H-alpha and multi-coated on every surface
(including cemented surfaces), the CEMAX eyepieces are the ultimate in
contrast enhancement for the Solar observer.
No matter what your budget or your solar telescope needs, OPT has
what's right for you. Be sure to
use the links above to browse by manufacturer, type and description.
Feel free to contact our
solar telescope experts or call 1-800-483-6287 with any questions. Let
us design the perfect solar telescope system customized just for you!
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