The Sun provides amateur astronomers with one of the few opportunities for daytime observation. Observing the major features of our nearest star requires the use of special telescopes that have a very narrow visible bandwidth, as narrow as 1 × 10 -10 m (1 Angstrom) and centered on the absorption line of neutral hydrogen. This makes visible many major features of the Sun's chromosphere. Such narrow-band filters were too expensive for amateur use until the introduction of the Coronado range of solar telescopes. The entry-level Coronado telescope, the PST (Personal Solar Telescope) costs under $500. In this book, a team of contributors show just how much solar observation work can be accomplished with Coronado telescopes, and explain how to get the best from these marvellous instruments. The book shows that Solar prominences, filaments, flares, sunspots, plage and active regions are all visible and can be imaged to produce spectacular solar photographs.

The first introduction to H-alpha solar observation for amateurs Dedicated to the popular Coronado range of H-alpha telescopes Contains superb images of the Sun in H-alpha taken with Coronado telescopes by top amateur astronomers Detailed sections on imaging and image-processing Covers the range of equipment from the entry level PST to advanced, but with emphasis on the low-cost models Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

Autorentext

Philip Pugh is a mathematician, member of the Institute of Technical and Scientific Communicators, and travels the world as a freelance trainer in science and business. He has had his articles published in Sky & Telescope, Astronomy, and Astronomy Now, and is the author/editor of Springer's forthcoming book, Observing the Sun with Coronado(TM) Telescopes.

Zusammenfassung
The use of digital photography and computers has changed all astronomy, not just amateur solar astronomy, and it has certainly made a lot more techniques available for photographing the Sun. Secondly, the use of white light solar filters has improved the detail that can be seen on the solar surface.

Inhalt
Personal Solar Telescope.- MaxScope 90.- Other Coronado Solar Telescopes.- Imaging.- Alternative Products.- Untried Products.- Summary.- The Physics of the Sun.- Coronado Price List.