Solar Eclipses – Part II – How to Safely Observe OBLIGATORY - TopicsExpress



          

Solar Eclipses – Part II – How to Safely Observe OBLIGATORY SAFETY NOTE: Never look directly at the sun without protective lenses designed for looking at the sun. Even multiple layers of regular welding glass are not sufficient protection! Call us at the store for more information. Hopefully you will already realize that looking directly at the sun is bad for your vision. Looking through binoculars and telescopes is even worse, as these tools focus the sunlight just like a magnifying glass does. There are, however, ways you can safely observe next Thursday’s eclipse, some of which I’ll outline here. If you’re extremely short of time, money, or space, or can’t acquire or set up a telescope where you are, you can make a cardboard telescope by putting one box in another, with a pinhole in one end, and an observing port on the side at the other end. For those of you who already have a telescope, it may have come with a solar filter. It will be a very thin sheet of shiny plastic that can be put over the objective lens of your scope. This filter greatly reduces the quantity of light that get through, making solar observing safe. BE WARNED, though, that before you look directly at the sun, you should first observe a vacant part of the sky to ensure that there are no holes or scratches in your filter. It’s a little bit mundane looking, but you can see sun spots and easily watch the eclipse. If you’ve planned ahead, and have a bit more cash available, you may have invested in a dedicated solar telescope, such as a Lunt or a Coronado. These scopes are bespoke for solar observing, and therefore are notably worthwhile for those studying our local star. Finally, if you’ve got the money for it, you can pick up a Hydrogen Alpha (Hα) filter. This lens set (sadly, it’s not just a filter) only allows one frequency of light to get through. They are, sadly, quite expensive, but give a spectacular observing experience. Pinhole Telescope Directions timeanddate/eclipse/make-pinhole-projector.html Sun seen through Mylar Filter goo.gl/gi91ga Transit of Venus in Hα light goo.gl/16DaUX Lunt Telescopes luntsolarsystems/ Coronado Telescopes meade/products/coronado.html
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:00:01 +0000

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