multiple images

this is the main message area for anything solar :)
Post Reply
RodAstro
Im an EXPERT!
Im an EXPERT!
Posts: 385
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2017 9:51 pm
Has thanked: 286 times
Been thanked: 399 times

Re: multiple images

Post by RodAstro »

Hi all back at last with good news
I have got the Omega filters to work with a lot of help Peter Zetner's online stuff and others, thanks to all.
Firstly the the first set of filters had a bonded blocker and Ha filter, it was this filter causing all the other images so the filters went back and Bob sent back two matching Ha filters and a seperate blocker.
I still got secondary images but they are reflections and are much dimmer, I found that spacing the filters and the blocker apart by 120 mm the brighter secondary images are thrown to the side leaving only the dimmer ones. I also found that by tuning the filters correctly I can get these dim images on one side of the sun so half the sun does not suffer. Instead of returning the filters the other way I have made the filter block rotate so the secondary images can be moved to the other side easily.
I have mounted the filters in a collimated beam as this works much better than f30 and has allowed me to use a large petzval focal reducer to bring the focal length down from 2250mm to around 1200mm this helps when seeing is not so good.
So today I can easily see three reasonable prominences and have just observed a forth spier like one rise in minutes and then disappear as fast.
The sun's surface is very detailed but not that contrasty and is a bit like looking at dim galaxies once you see them it then seems easy and have seen several small filaments come and go this afternoon.
If you like telescope building these filters seems to be quite productive but do take a lot of work and experimentation, that is fun for some of us although frustrating at times.
The inactive sun does not help as I was never sure if the unit was not working or there was nothing to see anyway. Aded to this my seeing is not very good.
My scope is fun to work with but sometimes causes as many problems as it solves.


Post Reply