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Baader filters

Following Ron’s suggestion and very kind ordering of Baader filters when I asked what astronomers get up to during a cloudy Spring, I can now report on how I’ve got on with them.

I didn’t even know what a Baader filter was, such is my ignorance. It turns out it is a very shiny film that filters out an insane amount of sunlight, thus avoiding instant blindness when looking at it through binoculars or a telescope. This is a great advantage and ensures continuing viewing opportunities. Some DIY is needed, in true Blue Peter style using double-sided sticky tape and old cereal (or in my case old Star Wars Lego) packets. You can see the results of my efforts in the photo.

So what can you see with them? You can see sunspots! Earlier today I was able to see sunspot 1305 and of the sunspots that form part of the decaying sunspot 1302. It seemed as if I could see some granularity across the whole of the surface of the sun as well but I don’t know if that was really there or just my imagination.

 

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 2nd, 2011 at 10:48 am.

1 Comment »

  1. You’ve picked a good time to get those ‘Star Wars’ filters on the bins Ian – the sun has been very active recently. If the seeing was good then you probably did see some granularity.
    If you haven’t started, it’s fun to do even a simple sketch of what you see. If you get a run of obs it’s interesting to see how the active areas change and move across the surface.

    Don’t forget to check the filters every time before use!
    Clear skies.

    Comment by Ron — 8 October, 2011 @ 11:19 am

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