Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
Come join the friendliest, most engaging and inclusive astronomy forum geared for beginners and advanced telescope users, astrophotography devotees, plus check out our "Astro" goods vendors.
I have received a request for "how to" on my solar projection setup and happy to provide the details. I did not come up with idea. I was researching the topic, and among many sun funnels, boxes and buckets this one made by Skyguy on CN stroke me as a simple and elegant solution.
The tricky part was to get the projector scope. They were made by several companies for the 8mm home movies film cameras. I found mine on eBay.
Once you get hold of one the rest is easy. You need a small telescope with focal length about 400mm (like Orion or Meade 80ST).
To get the sun image in focus you need an extension tube. I use a combination of 3x and 2x barlows with optical elements removed (for about 4" of extra focuser travel).
To connect the projector box I have scavenged 1.25" barrel of one of cheap EPs and adapted it to fit on the projector scope with duct tape (of cause!).
-Michael Refractors: ES AR152 f/6.5 Achromat on Twilight II, Celestron 102mm XLT f/9.8 on Celestron Heavy Duty Alt Az mount, KOWA 90mm spotting scope Binoculars: Celestron SkyMaster 15x70, Bushnell 10x50 Eyepieces: Various, GSO Superview, 9mm Plossl, Celestron 25mm Plossl Camera: ZWO ASI 120 Naked Eye: Two Eyeballs Latitude: 48.7229° N
Thanks everyone! Despite Sun being close to solar minimum I have managed to catch a few sun spots in the last couple of months and shared some with family to.
If you use FL 400mm scope the sun disk just about fits the screen of the projector scope. Placing 2x barlow element at different points in the optical chain I can zoom in as necessary. Should be handy for the Mercury transit in November.
