Solar Observing

The Sun is often more visible than nighttime targets in the Seattle area and I keep my C5+ armed and ready with a solar filter much of the time to go shoot photos or observe visually.    This page is broken up into the following: sub-sections:

• Visual Observing
• 35mm Photography
• Solar Links

Visual Observing

Always, and I mean always, use a solar filter when viewing the sun.  I use an Orion full aperture filter on the C5+ that works great and gives me a yellow, not a blue, sun.   My usual solar observing run goes something like:

1. View at 26mm and sketch the basic groups and spots on a disk
2. Move to 15mm and sketch the primary groups and larger spots
3. Count the spots using the 15mm eyepiece
4. Record the sunspot count along with the drawing

Solar Links

Here are some of my favorite Solar links...

• ALPO Solar Page
• Big Bear Solar Observatory