Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

I LOVE finding out about different ways to appreciate the Sun and light in general. Use this forum to post your info or questions about various outside the mainstream ways to appreciate our life giving star!
Post Reply
User avatar
p_zetner
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1644
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:59 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Has thanked: 166 times
Been thanked: 719 times

Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by p_zetner »

Greetings Everyone.

Back in action with my spectroheliograph.

Here are two "test shots" with my reconfigured SHG using the Celestron NexStar 4SE as telescope. Two big advantages of this scope: a motorized focuser and less glass (than my previous Astro-Rubinar lens) to give better UV transmission.
161147_Halpha_154807_Ca_K3_labels.png
161147_Halpha_154807_Ca_K3_labels.png (1.96 MiB) Viewed 4407 times
A picture of the instrument:
SHG Jun2017.png
SHG Jun2017.png (780.95 KiB) Viewed 4407 times
Pretty happy with the new arrangement so far. Focusing the Astro-Rubinar telephoto was a pain.
I was able to take advantage of cooperative weather for an extended, multi-wavelength imaging session today (20 Jun).
Hope to process and post the new images soon.

Cheers.
Peter.


User avatar
Merlin66
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 3970
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:23 pm
Location: Junortoun, Australia
Has thanked: 173 times
Been thanked: 615 times
Contact:

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by Merlin66 »

Wooh.......
That's a very difficult balancing job!!!
Great results, look forward to seeing more.
(No ERF?)


"Astronomical Spectroscopy - The Final Frontier" - to boldly go where few amateurs have gone before
https://groups.io/g/astronomicalspectroscopy  
http://astronomicalspectroscopy.com
"Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs" and
"Imaging Sunlight - using a digital spectroheliograph" - Springer
User avatar
marktownley
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 42272
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:27 pm
Location: Brierley Hills, UK
Has thanked: 20435 times
Been thanked: 10245 times
Contact:

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by marktownley »

I always enjoy seeing your work Peter! Great stuff!


Image
http://brierleyhillsolar.blogspot.co.uk/
Solar images, a collection of all the most up to date live solar data on the web, imaging & processing tutorials - please take a look!
User avatar
p_zetner
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1644
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:59 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Has thanked: 166 times
Been thanked: 719 times

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by p_zetner »

Thanks Mark and Ken.

Ken, here's another view of the SHG with more of the construction details visible. The entire instrument weighs about 12kg. It's not terribly more unwieldy than the previous version but I can notice flexure when viewing afternoon Sun as opposed to morning Sun. I'm trying to think of an improved mounting arrangement for the Celestron. At the moment, you can see the aluminum bar and rod used to support its weight. You can also see the counterweight on sliding bar which I use to balance (in dec).

I don't use an ERF on the Celestron. From what I can tell, apart from the corrector plate, there are only reflective optics. The Astro-Rubinar had cemented achromats near the focus.
IMG_0622_crop.jpg
IMG_0622_crop.jpg (516.85 KiB) Viewed 4381 times
Cheers.
Peter.


highfnum
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 2031
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 2:33 pm
Has thanked: 57 times
Been thanked: 1189 times

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by highfnum »

wow looks complicated but works well
nice to see others doing this


User avatar
Phil Rousselle
Oh, I get it now!
Oh, I get it now!
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2014 5:39 pm
Location: France
Been thanked: 7 times
Contact:

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by Phil Rousselle »

Hi Peter, your SHG is very long but works fine. K3 image has a very good bandwidth and contrast
Phil


User avatar
Carbon60
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 14205
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:33 pm
Location: Lancashire, UK
Has thanked: 8415 times
Been thanked: 8161 times

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by Carbon60 »

Very nice SHG images, Peter. Always good to see your work.

Maybe mount everything rigidly in a lightweight wooden box.... It would take away some of the beauty of this arrangement, but might make for a more stable instrument. It looks impressive, but precarious :)

Stu.


H-alpha, WL and Ca II K imaging kit for various image scales.
Fluxgate Magnetometers (1s and 150s Cadence).
Radio meteor detector.
More images at http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarcarbon60/
User avatar
Merlin66
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 3970
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 1:23 pm
Location: Junortoun, Australia
Has thanked: 173 times
Been thanked: 615 times
Contact:

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by Merlin66 »

Stu,
That's what I did with the 100mm Littrow SHG, see:
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=20682


"Astronomical Spectroscopy - The Final Frontier" - to boldly go where few amateurs have gone before
https://groups.io/g/astronomicalspectroscopy  
http://astronomicalspectroscopy.com
"Astronomical Spectroscopy for Amateurs" and
"Imaging Sunlight - using a digital spectroheliograph" - Springer
User avatar
p_zetner
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Way More Fun to Share It!!
Posts: 1644
Joined: Sun Mar 18, 2012 4:59 pm
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Has thanked: 166 times
Been thanked: 719 times

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by p_zetner »

Thank you all for your comments.

Phil: You should know that it was your work that motivated me to pursue "spectroheliography" in the first place! Your spectroheliograms are inspirational and your website very informative. I encourage all aspiring spectroheliographers to read through it. Thanks for the visit.

Stu: Your comments are always welcome. The suggestion of the wooden support box is good (see Phil Rousselle's original design!) but, aside from experimenting with some minor tweaks, I'm reasonably happy with my configuration at the moment. I'm planning a much larger instrument which will necessarily be housed in a box of some sort and fed sunlight through a coelostat ... a long term project!

Cheers.
Peter.


User avatar
Montana
Librarian
Librarian
Posts: 34560
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:25 pm
Location: Cheshire, UK
Has thanked: 17667 times
Been thanked: 8789 times

Re: Spectroheliograms 19Jun2017

Post by Montana »

Wow, the images are lovely and a great set up too :bow :hamster:
Alexandra


Post Reply