The equipment chosen included first light for the Orion Star Seeker IV which offers significant technical and performance improvements over the version III.
The Orion ST 80 was the
A TV 8mm Plossl was the eyepiece giving 50x and 1.6mm exit pupil.
The previous day I set up the SSIV mount and connected it to the SynScan Pro
Today I had help setting up from my astronomically inclined grandson in SLC where I am visiting. This was going to be his first solar viewing session so there was a lot of indoctrination in safety principles including the shadow method to find the Sun.
The only initial hitch was the use of the shadow method.
This was because I had the variable polarizer turned up so high that I couldn’t see the Sun. So I backed off a bit but used a combination of shadow and projected image (without wedge or eyepiece) to center the Sun. On announcing success, we were joined by his brother and my daughter.
I saw 5 spots in group 2965, 2 spots in 2960, depending on seeing I could see sometimes a spot at the location of groups 2964 and 2966. However, the unnumbered area of activity below and to the left of the line joining 2965 and 2960 was always easier. Group 2957 did not present.
In the group observing the reported number of spots ranged from 8-10.
It was a happy family experience punctuated with frozen custard.
