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A girl scout troop is wanting me to give them a talk on an astronomy topic of my choice in an online teleconference for their next meeting. My understanding is that everyone will be connected using Zoom, which seems to be a popular choice these days. My idea was to connect my smartphone to the eyepiece of our club's SolarMax and let them view any prominences, etc. while talking about the Sun.
I think I have pretty much everything I need. My smartphone, the Zoom app, a SolarMax telescope, and a camera mounting adapter. I decided to give it a test run yesterday. Everything worked well, except I had a hard time knowing whether or not the sun was in focus on the smartphone screen due to its glare. I even draped a towel over my head and my phone and that helped a bit, but I still couldn't really see any details visually and when I played back my video afterwards, I realized I was still slightly unfocused.
At night, it's easy for me to tell whether my image is focused, but doing it during broad daylight when you can barely see the screen is new to me. I'm sure a lot of you solar observers have this problem licked, so I'd be interested in hearing your ideas. The meeting is in about 10 days, so I'm not sure I'd have time to get something shipped to me via Amazon, so household solutions or something that's available nearly everywhere would be great.
Which specific telescope and eyepiece are you using Tom?
Aperture/ focal length, also how long was the telescope out?
They do need a few minutes to warm up a bit.
Gabrielle See Far Sticks: Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser 127/1200 BV, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS 100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885 EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, SXP2, AXJ, AXD Az/Alt: AYO Digi II, Stellarvue M2C, Argo Navis encoders on both Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102 Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Tak prism, TAL, Vixen Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss (1011110) The only culture I have is from yogurt
Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2020 4:47 pm
Which specific telescope and eyepiece are you using Tom?
Aperture/ focal length, also how long was the telescope out?
They do need a few minutes to warm up a bit.
It's a Coronado Solarmax 70. I tried a few different eyepieces, to see what would give the best view in my smartphone, and settled on a 15mm Ortho.
I probably didn't make myself clear enough in my OP. I'm not necessarily having trouble getting the eyepiece/phone to achieve proper focus. There is plenty of play in my focuser. My problem is that I'm getting too much glare on my smartphone screen from the outdoor daytime sun to be able to see whether or not I'm in focus. I need some way to increase the contrast between my eyes and the smartphone screen.
Possibly some black stiff paper taped around the outside of the phone as a light shield?
2-3" should work.
Gabrielle See Far Sticks: Elita 103/1575, AOM FLT 105/1000, Bresser 127/1200 BV, Nočný stopár 152/1200, Vyrobené doma 70/700, Stellarvue NHNG DX 80/552, TAL RS 100/1000, Vixen SD115s/885 EQ: TAL MT-1, Vixen SXP, SXP2, AXJ, AXD Az/Alt: AYO Digi II, Stellarvue M2C, Argo Navis encoders on both Tripods: Berlebach Planet (2), Uni 28 Astro, Report 372, TAL factory maple, Vixen ASG-CB90, Vixen AXD-TR102 Diagonals: Astro-Physics, Baader Amici, Baader Herschel, iStar Blue, Stellarvue DX, Tak prism, TAL, Vixen Eyepieces: Antares to Zeiss (1011110) The only culture I have is from yogurt
Hi Tom, not sure if this would work or not (it's cloudy here), but maybe if you have a polarizing filter from a 35mm camera you could somehow hold it over the phone; cardboard and tape perhaps?
Again, I've never tried this, just a thought.
Best of luck on the outreach; good for you!
Mark
"The Hankmeister" Celestron 8SE, orange tube Vixen made C80, CG4, AZ-EQ5 and SolarQuest mounts.
Too much Towa glass/mirrors.
Solar:
H/A - PST stage 2 mod with a Baader 90mm ERF on a Celestron XLT 102 (thanks Mike!)
Ca-K - W/O 61mm, Antares 1.6 barlow, Baader 3.8 OD and Ca-K filters with a ZWO ASI174mm.
W/L - C80-HD with Baader 5.0 & 3.8 Solar film, Solar Continuum 7.5nm and UV/IR filters with a Canon EOS 550D. Member of the RASC
