1. Solar Instruments for Observing the Sun David Groski Mt Cuba Observatory

2. Why Observe The Sun ? n It is the only Star were we can directly observe the surface n The Sun is very Dynamic. Surface features can change in as little as a few minutes n Observation can be used to explain a number of concepts in Physics, Chemistry and Astrophysics n The Sun directly effects us. n It’s WARM and Sunny in the daytime !

3. Safety ! n The Sun is bright ! Magnitude -23 n Never leave your telescope unattended n Cap the finder scope n Make sure your filters are secularly attached n The Filter needs to reduce the brightness by 10,000 to 1 across the FULL spectrum

4. How To Observe the Sun n Projection n White Light Filters n Color Filters n Dedicated telescope n Coronagraph n Narrow Band Filter n Spectroscopic

5. Projection n The Simplest n Fairly Safe n Gives Good Resolution n Use with Apertures of 4” or less n Don’t use with Expensive eyepieces ! n Don’t use with SCT or Maks !

6. White Light Filters n Metalized Film u Safe u Gives an excellent image for money u Can be used with any type of telescope u Can be used at the full aperture of the telescope

7. White Lights Filters n Herschel Wedge n Gives Excellent Image, better then Film n Needs to used with telescopes of 4” or less n Needs additional Filtration n Some Safety Concerns n Color Filters

8. Colored Filters n Must be Used with Additional Filter n Green filters like Wratten #58 used to improve Sunspot Detail n Blue filters used improve faculae n Also can improve general image sharpness by narrowing the spectrum

9. Dedicated Solar Telescope n Designed to give the best possible image n Built in Safety n Uncoated Primary, Secondary and Herschel Wedge n Easily Tune the brightness by the use of crossed Polarized Light

15. Coronagraph (Promscope) n Blocks the Disk of Sun n Greatly reduces stray light n Gives the best views of Prominences

20. Narrow Band filters n For H-alpha need below 1 Angstrom ( 1 x 10^-10 meters) n For Calcium K need below 10 Angstroms n Usually Expensive ($500 to $10,000)

28. Spectroscopic n Shows 100’s of absorption lines n Was used to observe Prominences without an Eclipse n Helium was discovered on the Sun before being found on the Earth n Zeeman effect used to determine the magnetic fields of Sun spots