SolarChat!

Stu, That's a good find! We've been looking for such a supplier for some time. The LG10 (10 micron x 10mm) looks perfect for the majority of spectroheliograph applications/instruments. The pricing is unfortunately very high!!! A cheaper and more flexible slit disk is the reflective multiple slit pla...

Alexandra, et al,
I'm out of action for the foreseeable future.
We are acting as carers for mother in law (over 90) and her partner (still in hospital) as they have a slow recovery from Covid.
It's 24/7 and 200 Km from the scopes and office.

Dominique Boutigny's results with his Sol'Ex SHG are among the best I've seen. Stacking of 15 images from Solex_ser_recon (15 SER video's over a 10 min period) with Autostakkert and post-processing with Astrosurface. 66/400 telescope - ND8 filter - ASI 178MM camera and 6 nm Halpha pre-filter at the ...

Tareq, Your Q4.... This is totally incorrect! An Urban Myth. I have it in writing from Manufacturers of rear element refractors - Petzval designs etc. (Televue, Williams Optics, Takahashi) that their telescopes are 100% safe to use with Herschel wedges with NO additional ERF protection. If you have ...

Stu, Thanks for that. The spectral coverage looks like 176A/ frame If your slit is roughly 50 micron ( a visually narrow gap) then due to the anamorphic ratio and the magnification ratio Collimator/Imager =x4 the effective slit gap will be about 140micron - which is extremely large!!! This has the e...

https://www.telescope.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&siteCode=US&keyword=55712 This compact 40mm f/10 refractor houses a special filter called an etalon, which transmits only the primary wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen (656.3nm) in the solar chromosphere, where all the ...

Stu,
Interesting arrangement!
You don't mention your slit gap, imaging lens detail or camera.
If you add your data to the SimSpec spreadsheet it will give you a good idea of probable performance.

SimSpec V4.3_stu.xls: (78.5 KiB) Downloaded 61 times

Great result!
You're of to a good start, keep them coming.

The response I referred to was provided by the designer and manufacturer of the PST system (Lunt).
Ken

Stu, Welcome to spectroscopy! What design of spectrograph have you gone for? Your spectral image looks a little sharpened/ processed??? I use and recommend BASS Project ( https://groups.io/g/BassSpectro) for all the necessary spectral processing. It will allow you to stitch together your spectral im...

They use a Lyot Ha filter and a Lunt CaK filter......
https://www.kso.ac.at/instrumente/instrumente_en.php

James,
My extreme narrowband CaK images taken with the MiniSHG are not replicated on the solar sites.
Likewise for the other “non standard “ wavelengths and H alpha.

Rob,
I find the CaK filter works best at f10 or higher.
Nice result for a first light.

Good on you mate!
You're off to a good start.
Which camera are you using?

Bob Yoesle published details some time ago.
BUT…..
Like Rainer and my self who have rigged up remote for focuser and tilt systems they’re success would depend on positive remote access and control.

James, I made investigations for Spectroscopy and Solar imaging with iTelescope (based here in Australia) No idea about spectroscopy (“how to you spell that….”) They said they were looking at solar imaging, but no definite plans. I don’t think they understand the issues of making solar Ha scopes aut...

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your support. My wife has gone to live with them and is effectively in isolation for the next seven days. Getting daily supplies delivered in a small rural village is proving challenging. One is still in hospital and the doctors are saying he'll probably stay a week....

Thanks everybody! Appreciate SPOD!!! I may be out of business for a while....there are senior (>90 year old) members of the family who have been hit by Covid. One is now in hospital for the second time. Not looking good. We will become the nominated carers and this means temporarily (???!) moving 20...

A selection of close-ups showing the current AR activity. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-synoptic-map There's a new small spot appearing in the south east..... Vixen Custom90,DIY CaK filter and ASI 1600 Full disk MiniSHG, ED80, ASI 178 showing the extent of the filaments and a "protus...

A selection of close-ups showing the current AR activity. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-synoptic-map There's a new small spot appearing in the south east..... Vixen Custom90,DIY CaK filter and ASI 1600 Full disk MiniSHG, ED80, ASI 178 showing the extent of the filaments and a "protus...

Thanks guys, appreciate your support.
It shows there are some interesting developments in the Ca II wavelengths.

Thanks to everyone, appreciate your support.
An interesting comparison between CaK and CaH.

Similar AR's visible from yesterday but some very dramatic proms now visible.
MiniSHG images in Ca II K3 and Ca II H3.

: CaK full disk; 085125_cak.jpg (202.95 KiB) Viewed 410 times

: CaK proms; 085125_CaK-prom.jpg (119.58 KiB) Viewed 410 times

: CaH full disk; 085246_cah.jpg (180.56 KiB) Viewed 410 times

: CaH proms; 085246_cah_prom.jpg (87.55 KiB) Viewed 410 times

Re: Sun February 5, 2022 - CaH Franco, Good catch, well done!

Franco,
Good catch, well done!

Arne,
Great results, well done!

Eroel,
Fantastic results, well presented!
Well done.

The solar disk is still dominated by the central active areas, AR2939 and AR2940. Over in the north west the last remnants of AR 2938/36 are disappearing and the latest AR2941 is coming into view in the north east. There's a small un-named AR down in the south west; a neat couple of small spots surr...

I agree with Mark, just enjoy what you have, and when you’re ready to move along the learning curve you can consider various options for the future. Unfortunately all are expensive!!!

Martin,
You got some good results there, notwithstanding the weather issues.
Well done mate.

Plenty of activity visible -time to get those Baader film filters into action! AR 2936/38 about to leave us in the west, AR2939 dominates the central area with the smattering of small spots (AR2940) just above. The new AR 2941 coming in from the eastern limb is showing great promise! I think it's fa...

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your support.

Anyone found a solution to applying a slight tilt (ghost removal) to filters? I have a 2" filter in a 2" focuser which needs a tilt...... So far I've been "cross threading" the filter and applying some BluTac to hold in in place. Seems to do the job, but doesn't look too safe. An...

The active areas, showing very well formed sunspots, AR2936/38/39 and 2940 make a very nice layout. There's another large unnamed AR just coming into view in the north east - multiple spots... I used both the MiniSHG (see the proms) and the DIY Cak Filter on the Custom Vixen 90 (for the detail) Enjo...

What ever you consider, the f10 requirement I think is mandatory for any of the CaK filters.

Stephen,
I regularly use an ED80 stopped down to 60mm to give an f10 beam to the CaK filter.
Check out some of my results on the forum.
It certainly seems to work well for me.
My other alternative is my Custom Vixen 90/ 1000 which also works very well in CaK

The Lunt 40mm Ha scope looks like offering an interesting introduction to Ha.
https://luntsolarsystems.com/product/lu ... telescope/

Peter,
You are correct. I could have taken many more images....next time.
I just wanted to show the relative changes between the K3, K2 and K1 regions of the Ca II K line.
Sorry, I had overlooked your earlier work.

Interesting combo of a wedge plus a 3nm CaK filter.
http://www.antliafilter.com/pd.jsp?id=106

Thanks for that.
The image was then a stack of 40 x 10ms exposures =0.4 sec? gain=314
(The log file only shows 344 frames???)

Peter,
Thanks.
I'd already found the Sheeley references.
There are very few CN band images around for comparison.

I use a 2" Baader Blue CCD filter (https://www.baader-planetarium.com/en/b ... blue).html ) with a 2" Astronomik L1 UV-IR filter as a ERF on the DIY CaK filter setup.
Can we get back on track and limit this discussion to Lunt filters and double stacking.
Thanks

The GIF shows the Proms as we move from the outer K1v (blue) wing, through the K2v then the core at K3 and out into the red wing. (There are some compression artefacts due to the reduction in the file size :( ) The distance from K1v to K1r is approx 1A The individual images (unprocessed) show the fi...

The GIF shows the Proms as we move from the outer K1v (blue) wing, through the K2v then the core at K3 and out into the red wing. (There are some compression artefacts due to the reduction in the file size :( ) The distance from K1v to K1r is approx 1A The individual images (unprocessed) show the fi...

Peter,
Thanks for the additional references.
The use of an old Lyot filter shows similarities to the narrowband MiniSHG results.

Oleg,
The Quark offering is a CaH filter, not CaK and is 5A bandwidth - double that of the Lunt.
https://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/pr ... ilter.html

Alexandra, All the images were obtained from one MiniSHG 18 sec 16 bit SER video. Matt and I have been playing with the INTI software to make it more robust in the selection of target lines. This allows more precise wavelength selection across the target line. I'm also preparing a similar animation ...

Thanks for the feedback!
I will process a similar series but showing the Proms in action and where the brightest proms can be found.

I've prepared a GIF which walks through the CaK wavelength at a resolution of 0.18A. Starts way out in the K1violet wing (1A), creeps in until the K2v region, just outside the core (0.2 offset) then the core CWL and then the same points moving outwards into the red wing. I'm looking at ways and mean...

I would be interested in seeing a photo of the filter setup. Also, if you could, at the next opportunity, collect an image in DS mode targeting any proms, recording the scope/ camera/ exposure/ stack and any other parameters. With the SHG I can map the solar surface and the visibility of the proms a...

OK.
Do you use two B1800 filters? If so how do you join and align them.
Do you remove any of the secondary filter elements?
Photos?

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