How to Observe the Sun Safely

The Sun is the brightest and most accessible object in the sky, and it has much to offer the amateur astronom er with modest equipment. On most days it shows sunspots and other features that displaya wealth of fine detail and change their appearance strikingly from day to day. But observing the Sun can be dangerous. NEVER look at the Sun through a telescope or other optical aid, even for a brief instant. The Sun's intense radiation, amplified and focused by a telescope, will almost certainly cause eye injury and could weIl lead to complete blindness. Do not attempt any solar observing until you have read and understood the safety precautions and observing advice set out in Chapter 2 of this book - even if you think you have the correct equipment. Be especially wary about using filters to observe the Sun. If you have a filter that makes the Sun look dark, it is not necessarily safe, as it is largely the Sun's invisible radiation that is harmful to the eye. But provided you use the correct techniques, such as projecting the solar image onto a screen or using a specially designed, quality solar filter that fits over the telescope aperture, it is quite easy to observe the Sun safely.

Inhalt

1 Introducing the Sun.- The Sun's Place in Space.- How the Sun Works.- Solar Activity.- The Sun's Influence on the Earth.- 2 Equipment for Observing the Sun.- Telescopes for Solar Observing.- Mounts.- Observing the Sun by Projection.- Solar Filters.- Other Observing Methods.- Observing the Sun with the Naked Eye and Binoculars.- 3 What We Can See on the Sun.- Setting up for Solar Observing.- The Sun's Surface.- Faculae.- Flares.- 4 Solar Drawings and Position Measurements.- Drawing Using the Projection Method.- Deriving Sunspot Positions.- What We Can Learn from Drawings.- Detailed Drawings.- Co-operation with Other Observers.- 5 Measuring Solar Activity.- The Mean Daily Frequency.- The Relative Sunspot Number.- Recording and Reporting of Results.- Observing Faculae and White-Light Flares.- Observing Naked-Eye Sunspots.- 6 Observing the Sun in Hydrogen-Alpha.- Equipment for H-Alpha Observing.- Prominences and Filaments.- Flares.- 7 Solar Photography - Part 1: Photography with Film.- Equipment.- Photographic Techniques.- Taking Pictures.- Photography in Hydrogen-Alpha.- 8 Solar Photography - Part 2: Digital Techniques.- Equipment for Digital Photography.- Taking Digital Images.- Handling and Processing Digital Images.