Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

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Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#1

Post by Frankskywatcher »


The short video showing you why you should never look at the sun holy smokes!
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#2

Post by Butterfly Maiden »


That is indeed a very vivid reminder of how NOT to view the Sun.

Thank you for that link Frank.
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#3

Post by messier 111 »


I wonder how many times to say it
thx for the reminder.
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#4

Post by Ylem »


Holy smokes Batman!

Yikes!
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#5

Post by chris_g »


Good object lesson, very glad someone took the time to demonstrate a super magnifying glass in action.

One of my merit badges when I was in the Boy Scouts was fire safety. You had to know how to start a camp fire and using a magnifying glass was in the handbook.

Good reminder, thank you for sharing that...
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#6

Post by Michael131313 »


Thanks for the post. I knew it was bad, but that quick and powerful. Wow. Don't do that.
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#7

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Butterfly Maiden wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 1:20 pm That is indeed a very vivid reminder of how NOT to view the Sun.

Thank you for that link Frank.
You are welcome and I could not believe how fast it started burning,yikes!
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#8

Post by Frankskywatcher »


messier 111 wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 1:24 pm I wonder how many times to say it
thx for the reminder.
I agree,you see the stickers on the older scopes but holy smokes!
Kinda made me think of the kid in The Christmas Story “ you’ll burn( shoot) your eyes out kid “!😂
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#9

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Michael131313 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:30 am Thanks for the post. I knew it was bad, but that quick and powerful. Wow. Don't do that.
You made me laugh !👏🏻😁
“Wow don’t do that “ you point out how dumb it is but it’s amazing how dumb some people can be !
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#10

Post by Makuser »


Hi Frank. I remember as a kid some guys would use just a small stamp magnifier and held matches or even a piece of paper at the focal point while aimed at the sun and start in on fire. Also don't trust those old cheap sun filters that screw into the back of an eyepiece. With a telescope you have very much light gathering power and the heat can be very hot at the focal point and those cheap filters can crack while you are viewing and boil your eyeball. Always use a quality glass or mylar film solar filter over the front of your telescope (or binoculars). And even veteran amateur astronomers can sometimes get careless regarding the power of the sun. I remember reading something about this years ago, so I searched and found the link to this story.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-n ... telescope/
Thanks for finding and sharing this important safety link with us Frank and keep up your great work.
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#11

Post by Chich »


A friend told me of his uncle who decided to 'take a peek' at the sun with binoculars. He at least had enough sense to use only one barrel and so lost only one eye.

Did anyone else have those awful EP sun filters that came with the unbiquitous department store 70mm back when? Had one but never used it.

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#12

Post by Thefatkitty »


Chich wrote: Fri May 12, 2023 6:53 pm A friend told me of his uncle who decided to 'take a peek' at the sun with binoculars. He at least had enough sense to use only one barrel and so lost only one eye.

Did anyone else have those awful EP sun filters that came with the unbiquitous department store 70mm back when? Had one but never used it.
I still have a few that came with old scopes I bought; there was one in the 1961 Tasco 60mm I bought several years ago. Dangerous then, I can imagine it would be even more fragile 60+ years later! :lol:
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#13

Post by JSBach1801 »


But what if you want to go blind? :think:
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#14

Post by JSBach1801 »


So, on a bright day, the pupil of your eye ranges from 2-4 mm in diameter. Using 3 mm then, the surface area of your pupil (the area through which light can pass and be directed onto your retina) is 7.1 x 10^(-6) m^2.

Now, my own personal telescope has an objective element with a diameter of 73 mm. Giving a surface area of 4.1 x 10^(-3) m^2.

Assuming all the light gathered by my scope gets focused through the eye piece and into a person's eye, the telescope would be sending somewhere around 580 time MORE light into a person's pupil than by simply looking at the sun with the naked eye.
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#15

Post by SkyHiker »


Chich wrote: Fri May 12, 2023 6:53 pm Did anyone else have those awful EP sun filters that came with the unbiquitous department store 70mm back when? Had one but never used it.
Without accurate tracking that scope would have produced smoke too. I once tried projecting an image of the sun on a white board using a 4.5" supermarket Newt with a plastic eyepiece. I aimed the scope at the sun by looking at the shadow of tne scope on the ground. It projected successfully but as soon as the aim was off, the scope started smoking. That must have been the field stop of the eyepiece once the image of the sun wandered out of the center and on to the field stop. It was a fun thing to try but don't do this with anything worth more than you care to lose. Or better, don't do it. The Newt still works though.

Pointing a scope at the sun should not be done in public IMHO. Bystanders (kids) who watch it from a distance not noticing the filter may try it at home thinking it's okay. Or a prankster may pull the filter off, who knows. It should never be done with collapsible Dobs or truss Dobs without a shroud. I recall reading about a structure set on fire by an unshrouded truss Dob parked next to it but can't find a link right now.
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#16

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Ylem wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 3:47 pm Holy smokes Batman!

Yikes!
That cracked me up thanks for the laugh my friend !
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#17

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Makuser wrote: Fri May 12, 2023 5:00 pm Hi Frank. I remember as a kid some guys would use just a small stamp magnifier and held matches or even a piece of paper at the focal point while aimed at the sun and start in on fire. Also don't trust those old cheap sun filters that screw into the back of an eyepiece. With a telescope you have very much light gathering power and the heat can be very hot at the focal point and those cheap filters can crack while you are viewing and boil your eyeball. Always use a quality glass or mylar film solar filter over the front of your telescope (or binoculars). And even veteran amateur astronomers can sometimes get careless regarding the power of the sun. I remember reading something about this years ago, so I searched and found the link to this story.
https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-n ... telescope/
Thanks for finding and sharing this important safety link with us Frank and keep up your great work.
HOLY SMOKES Marshall what’s the odds of that happening I bet that guy was bummed!
There was a video link but it was dead but I’m sure I can find that video if I try.
I’m to timid to even attempt to use my scope to look at the sun and after having both eyeballs worked on and I now have CME Cystoid Macular Edema which I taking drops six times a day to remedy it hopefully.
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#18

Post by Frankskywatcher »


Chich wrote: Fri May 12, 2023 6:53 pm A friend told me of his uncle who decided to 'take a peek' at the sun with binoculars. He at least had enough sense to use only one barrel and so lost only one eye.

Did anyone else have those awful EP sun filters that came with the unbiquitous department store 70mm back when? Had one but never used it.

That video nailed it and that’s exactly why I am too timid into afraid to even try to look at the sun from my own scope. I don’t trust any kind of a filter. How ever if I knew of someone who had a scope that they had solely dedicated, no pun, intended for looking at solar, flares, etc. etc. I might consider it on if that person how to use that scope more than once without any problem to me it’s just too risky!
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
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Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#19

Post by Frankskywatcher »


chris_g wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 7:12 pm Good object lesson, very glad someone took the time to demonstrate a super magnifying glass in action.

One of my merit badges when I was in the Boy Scouts was fire safety. You had to know how to start a camp fire and using a magnifying glass was in the handbook.

Good reminder, thank you for sharing that...
I remember doing that exact same thing as a scout and as I think, Marshall already also stated that I remember we used to take a stamp, collecting magnifying glass and use that to create a fire!
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
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Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
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Re: Wow Don’t Ever Do This 😳

#20

Post by Frankskywatcher »


JSBach1801 wrote: Fri May 12, 2023 9:38 pm So, on a bright day, the pupil of your eye ranges from 2-4 mm in diameter. Using 3 mm then, the surface area of your pupil (the area through which light can pass and be directed onto your retina) is 7.1 x 10^(-6) m^2.

Now, my own personal telescope has an objective element with a diameter of 73 mm. Giving a surface area of 4.1 x 10^(-3) m^2.

Assuming all the light gathered by my scope gets focused through the eye piece and into a person's eye, the telescope would be sending somewhere around 580 time MORE light into a person's pupil than by simply looking at the sun with the naked eye.
I can’t believe that 580 more yikes !😳
Gee if I had known there was so much to see I would have started decades ago ! :Astronomer1:

Equipment :
Apertura AD10” Dobsonian

Polaris 4” Dobsonian

7x50 binoculars
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