Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

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Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by arnedanielsen »

Dear friends,

Todays FD's from a warm and sunny afternoon...

Click on images to view them in full size on AstroBin.

FD image in H-Alpha using a Coronado 60mm/BF15 w/Beloptik ITF, stopped down to 50mm, Baader 35nm H-Alpha and ASI 178mm mounted on a SkyWatcher SolarQuest.
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Image

Image


FD image in CaK using a FLO StellaMira 80mm ED f/10, stopped down to 60mm, Lunt CaK 1200 module and ASI 183mm camera mounted on a SkyWatcher SolarQuest.
Image

Image


FD image in Continuum using a FLO StellaMira 80mm ED f/10, Baader Cool-Ceramic Safety Herschel Prism Photographic 2", Baader ND OD 1.8, Baader 2" Continuum, Baader 2" UV/IR Cut and ASI 183mm camera mounted on a SkyWatcher SolarQuest.
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Best regards,
Arne


Best regards,
Arne
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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by marktownley »

Cool and grey here today, so nice to see what was going on. The sun looks quieter again now.


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Arne, you picked up all that is to be seen on a relatively quiet sun today. All are really nice. The white light disc seems to “ glow from within “. 😆 but it really does!

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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by nicosolcy »

Arne,

Great set of images!

You mention using " a Coronado 60mm/BF15 w/Beloptik ITF, stopped down to 50mm, Baader 35nm H-Alpha and ASI 178mm mounted on a SkyWatcher SolarQuest."

A few questions please:

1. You stop down your scope. Why do that and reduce resolution?
2. If I recall, the Beloptic ITF has better transmission than the stock blue filter?
3. What benefit does adding the Baader 35nm Ha filter provide since it is of a much wider bandpass than the Coronado etalon?

Most grateful for any response - there is still much for me to learn and the best way forward is for me to ask questions!


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by marktownley »

nicosolcy wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 4:37 am 1. You stop down your scope. Why do that and reduce resolution?
It is for critical sampling. If not would be under sampling, which might offer an decrease in exposure time but offers no increase in resolution from optimal sampling.

Think of optimal sampling as sitting reading a news paper or magazine at normal, arms length. Under sampling would be trying to read the same newspaper but with it further away from you, you can still see the pictures and read the headlines, but you would see less detail and resolution. Over sampling on the other hand, imagine putting the newspaper right up close to your face and trying to read it, the images and headlines would appear much larger, but you wouldn't see any increase in detail or resolution than reading it normally at the optimal distance.


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by nicosolcy »

Thanks Mark!

I am aware of critical sampling (courtesy of Malveaux) and try to adhere to it. I assume though that this could be dealt with a barlow / telecentric to reach the desired focal ratio, but it would increase the focal length of the system and reduce FOV to an unacceptable size.


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by marktownley »

nicosolcy wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 5:28 am I am aware of critical sampling (courtesy of Malveaux) and try to adhere to it. I assume though that this could be dealt with a barlow / telecentric to reach the desired focal ratio, but it would increase the focal length of the system and reduce FOV to an unacceptable size.
It could, but the disk may not fit in the fov then (I don't know in Arnes case).


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by nicosolcy »

Hence why I mentioned FOV. Probably the case.


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by Petrus »

Amazing set despite the Sun itself is taking a break. Watching your Ha image gives lots of details to dive in. Times like these makes me enjoy the small and subtle details in the Sun. Simple the best, Arne!

Would be great to hear your user experience with the FLO StellaMira 80mm ED f/10. It goes well with the SolarQuest mount?


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by Montana »

A beautiful set Arne, I love the very faint wispy proms on the prom image :bow :hamster:

Alexandra


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by rigel123 »

Very nice Arne, that filament in the NW looks longer than the one last week but not quite as substantial.


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by arnedanielsen »

Thank you very much Mark, James, Nick, Petrus, Alexandra and Warren for all your kind comments!

Mark, James, Alexandra and Warren: The Sun has definitely gone a bit more quiet again, but luckily still some nice proms and filaments.

Best regards,
Arne


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by arnedanielsen »

nicosolcy wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 4:37 am Arne,

Great set of images!

You mention using " a Coronado 60mm/BF15 w/Beloptik ITF, stopped down to 50mm, Baader 35nm H-Alpha and ASI 178mm mounted on a SkyWatcher SolarQuest."

A few questions please:

1. You stop down your scope. Why do that and reduce resolution?
2. If I recall, the Beloptic ITF has better transmission than the stock blue filter?
3. What benefit does adding the Baader 35nm Ha filter provide since it is of a much wider bandpass than the Coronado etalon?

Most grateful for any response - there is still much for me to learn and the best way forward is for me to ask questions!
Nick,

1.) My main usage of this setup is to do quick and easy full disk images of the Sun and I have found that the ASI 178mm is a very good match for doing this with the scope working at it's native focallength of 400mm.
In order to achieve critical sampling I could of course choose to increase the fl, but then I would no longer be able to fit the whole disc on the chip. So, as Mark has already commented, I have instead chosen to mask down the aperture to match the sampling. In my experience stopping down the aperture from 60mm to 50mm increases the contrast in the image (I'm not sure if this is because it's more properly sampled or if it's because I'm using the sharper/better corrected part of the lens). The smaller aperture is also more resistant to poor seeing for my day to day full disk imaging. Going from f/6,7 to f/8 also makes focus tolerance slightly larger, but the obvious downside is of course the need for slightly longer exposure time.

2.) I'm not sure if I'm able to answer this one. I have three different Coronado SolarMax telescopes (60mm, 60mm II and 90mm) all of which I bought second hand. All of them suffered with rust problems in the BF filter and one of them even had the reflecting layer of the diagonal coming off. I decided to buy a Beloptik replacement ITF for two of them, but haven't done anything to the one with the damaged diagonal (yet). I might try to convert that one to a straight through unit instead. Anyway,
I have never had the opportunity to test the Beloptik ITF to a ITF filter without rust/fogging and thus I don't know how it would compare. What I can say however, is that I'm very pleased with the results I'm getting with all three scopes with the replacement ITF.

3.) My experience is that the Baader 35nm Ha filter does improve the contrast by reducing any off-band light and ghost images. At the same time this filter works as a extra protection from dust and heat for the ITF filter (much cheaper to replace the 35nm filter than the ITF).

Best regards,
Arne


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by arnedanielsen »

SassySun wrote: Wed Jun 29, 2022 6:31 am Amazing set despite the Sun itself is taking a break. Watching your Ha image gives lots of details to dive in. Times like these makes me enjoy the small and subtle details in the Sun. Simple the best, Arne!

Would be great to hear your user experience with the FLO StellaMira 80mm ED f/10. It goes well with the SolarQuest mount?
Thanks Petrus,

I would say that the weight and length of the FLO StellaMira 80mm ED is right at the edge of what the SolarQuest mount can handle. But with careful balancing it has worked flawlessly for me over the couple of months I have been using the scope with this mount.

Best regards,
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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by nicosolcy »

Thanks Arne! There's always something new to learn!


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by Petrus »

Thank you for the reply Arne!


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by nicosolcy »

[/quote]

Nick,

3.) My experience is that the Baader 35nm Ha filter does improve the contrast by reducing any off-band light and ghost images. At the same time this filter works as a extra protection from dust and heat for the ITF filter (much cheaper to replace the 35nm filter than the ITF).

Best regards,
Arne
[/quote]


Hi Arne,

Just looked into this filter. Seems promising in terms of what you mention re contrast, but at a cost of 90% transmission in Ha. However, it's a "cheap" experiment and once back in stock, I'll give it a try with my Lunt 50 DS. Just got my Player One 178MM and I have itchy fingers to give it a go :)


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by arnedanielsen »

nicosolcy wrote: Thu Jun 30, 2022 4:44 am
Hi Arne,

Just looked into this filter. Seems promising in terms of what you mention re contrast, but at a cost of 90% transmission in Ha. However, it's a "cheap" experiment and once back in stock, I'll give it a try with my Lunt 50 DS. Just got my Player One 178MM and I have itchy fingers to give it a go :)
Looking forward to seeing what you can achieve with the Lunt50 DS/178MM combo! You might want to stop down the aperture and/or increase the focal length ever so slightly with this setup to optimize sampling.

Best regards,
Arne


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by nicosolcy »

Cheers Arne,

Already on it and will test this weekend with a barlow element to find the appropriate spacing. I will try to get to 1.3x or so to be close to optimal sampling, yet still get a full disk!


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by Carbon60 »

Very nice FDs, Arne, across the spectrum.

Stu.


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Re: Sun FD in H-Alpha, CaK and Continuum 28th of June 2022

Post by arnedanielsen »

Thanks, Stu!

Best regards,
Arne


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