Observing the sun
in H alpha
The sun appears as
a stable and constant object in our daily lives, little do most
people know of its violent, and variable nature. By looking at
the sun in a part of the spectrum which is associated with the
Hydrogen Alpha line of the spectrum - 6562.81Å. (the red
end of the solar spectrum), it is possible to examine numerous
features which are visible in the solar chromosphere.
These features include
prominences, and also wonderful details of solar flares, filaments,
and incredible detail of sunspot regions.
.... 
Images of two prominences
taken with an FS128 - 4x powermate & DayStar 0.7Å H
alpha filter
Additional details
of active sunspot regions also show similar detail.
..........
Active sunspot regions
using a DayStar 0.7Å H alpha filter with both 77mm ERF &
128mm ERF
An high resolution
image of an active sunspot region taken with a Takahashi FS128
- 4x powermate & DayStar 0.7Å H alpha filter.
It is worth remembering
as we are only using a single wavelength the use of a simple achromat,
or even a singlet lens is possible. You do not need an apo for
H alpha work.
With the ability to
observe just this small region of the light coming from our sun,
it is possible to record some of the more violent events in your
own back garden. By taking images over a period of time it is
possible to record short lived events on the solar surface, and
combine those regular images into an animation.
Here are a couple of
events which indicate some of the violent happenings that can
be witnessed in this region of the solar spectrum.
Click on images for
an animated sequence of these flares.
This is another flare
which occurred on June 12th 2003. Numerous images were captured
over 3 hours, of the 110 collect some 80 odd were animated to
show the multiple bursts that happended that afternoon.
Click on the image
for the animation. It does take a while to load, and it is best
viewed using a package designed to view animated GIFs. IE is a
little slow.
So that is a taster
of what you can see using a DayStar Hydrogen Alpha filter.
To see how the DayStar
Filter System works follow the link below
'Details
of DayStar filters System'
'Pricing,
and delivery'
'Details on Calcium
K line filters & Observing'
DayStar
Main Page
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