Affordable Start to Solar Imaging - Baader Solar Filter

With weeks and months of clouds I decided to dip a toe into the world of Solar Imaging and was pleasantly surprised with what I got out of this very affordable solar filter. Here I take a quick look at the product, setup and capture.

[@thecampingastronomer8554]

Wow Ollie, you got some nice detail in there. I'm glad the sun is coming out for you occasionally, even if clear skies at night have been rare for you 🙂

[@AstroSoundscape]

Thanks Jon Yes at least with this I can take advantage of the Sun now and again. 👍 :)

[@AZ4Runner]

Looked Great to me Ollie!!!! great start to solar.. I Like it.. Bright skies..... but only during the daytime. I'm gonna look at one of these filters now.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey Jason - Absolutely could be great for you pal especially in the summer when it's too hot for DSO. Will look forward to see how you go :)

[@stefanschneider3681]

Just got one myself, had about the same fun 🤩!

[@AstroSoundscape]

Ye there awesome pieces of kit

[@avt_astro206]

Great start Ollie. Nice images of the sun there. Those sunspots and Faculae look pretty good contrast!

[@AstroSoundscape]

Cheers Avanteesh I reckon one of these solar films could go nicely on that Newt of yours 🤔 Clear skies.

[@avt_astro206]

@@AstroSoundscape Thats true. But yours is the same as mine. 150mm F5 Right?

[@ergio1]

Very cool mate 😮

[@AstroSoundscape]

Thanks Pal 👍

[@SimonsAstro]

Wow Ollie, that’s fantastic mate! I should think you were pleased with that! You’re the new southern hemisphere’s version of Chuck🤣 cracking image Ollie for a beginner and nice little storey at the end👍 Clear skies mate!

[@AstroSoundscape]

Ha thanks Simon, I was pretty pleased with this one. There are lots of interesting first nations stories, our earliest astronomers. :)

[@willsanchez5735]

Thank you for this video!! Planning on shooting the 2024 solar eclipse with my RedCat 51 and my planetary camera and I think you sold me on the Baader filter.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Cheers will, it's a good little filter should serve well.

[@tamrich7762]

Hi Ollie! Solar imaging is a very different ballgame you did well. Myself I got the Seymour Solar Type 2 Glass filter a few years ago for the Transit of Mercury, which unfortunately was a wash out here in the UK and other parts of the world. I managed to image the recent partial Eclipse using my ZWO Airplus which also stacks. Just got the ZWO ASI 585 MC three weeks ago and guess what it’s been raining ever since 😢. Lovely background music.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey Thanks Tam and yes you're not wrong it's certainly a very different ball game, just dipping my toes in first :). I've recently had someone recommend the 585 to me, looks like an excellent camera. Thanks for watching and clear skies soon to you !

[@tullyfisher]

Very interesting video about this solar filter and capturing the sun Ollie. Great first try and final image! - During the terrible summer (with regard to night AP) here when we have had very long time without a single clear night I also thought about starting solar imaging as well. I really love those solar Ha (and other solar) images on astrobin. Looks soo cool. But I'm not starting to do this this year... But once I will at some day in the future I will definitely know what video to watch again. :) This is a really nice way to start. I would be interested so see more from you about that as well in the future. 👍🏼 Have a great day & clear skies pal!

[@AstroSoundscape]

Gday Michael - It's at least something different to try for a little while. I think we are having a very unusual year this year with our wettest on record I think. Yes it will be good to try some more tests with different regions of view and camera types. I'm pretty sure I had not so great a match here. Clear skies to you in Germany:) Danke Schoen

[@tullyfisher]

@@AstroSoundscape Haha.. Thank YOU! ;) Indeed, really unusual... Hope at least the winter will be great with AP weather. 🤞🏼

[@DSOImager]

Very cool Ollie! I have some baader film in my closet. I used it years ago during a solar eclipse. Have not tried using it since. Solar is something I'd like to get into at some point.. just not willing to spend solar dollars when they can be spent on DSO stuff at this point :) I'm no expert.. but I believe to be able to see solar flares/prominence you need a special kind of Ha filter that is much narrower than what we are use.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey James, It might be worth finding that film out just for a bit of fun. Yes I understand hard with the DSO gear too, there's just too many cool things to do in this hobby. Ah I see that makes sense with the flares, looks like I'd need a little solar scope for this. Clears Skies :)

[@LogansAstro]

That little filter worked bloody well if you ask me. You had some nice detail on the big yellow orb. Personally, I've forgotten what the sun looks like to be honest (and those things called stars).

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey Logan I had to work even to get this little sunny spell, mostly it's just Haze !! I'm currently just trying to get enough clear skies to get the back spacing tested on my new flattener. It's like some curse or something 😣

[@AstroLaVista]

That's really great for a first go Ollie! A decent spread of Sun spots, plus a bit of granulation and faculae. The Sun is still relatively active now, a couple of years back when I last did some white light the disc was completely blank! I have heard you can occasionally detect flares in white light but I don't think its a common thing to capture without a Ha solar scope, quark etc. Nice to mix up the hobby and make the most of what's out there when the clouds allow :)

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey Chris - Cheers pal and yes you're very right it's good to mix things up a bit especially when you've got this big bright ball going over your head each day. Indeed yes it looks like I will need something like a dedicated scope for those flares. Clear skies pal !

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

@@AstroSoundscape that black spot is called sun spots

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

@@AstroSoundscape also look into solar color filters that you can add on that will blow your mind using

[@GalaxyArtMedia]

Good results buddy! I am thinking to do more solar imaging also soon. Been cloudy here for some time

[@AstroSoundscape]

Cheers Ioan, yes even here we've been struggling to even get some time on the Sun. Hope you get some clear soon, seems the whole world is covered in clouds at the moment.

[@GalaxyArtMedia]

@@AstroSoundscape Yes i have been struggling from last month to gather images for the Andromeda mosaic, still need more, the Maksutov is slower compared with other faster scopes

[@whatmattersmost6725]

Nice Ollie, Solar is a different kind of beast to photograph, there are 3 levels in my mind. Level #1 what you just did and for the low cost well worth it. Level #2 is where I went with a DayStar Quark Chromo unit $1300.00 it's an special eyepiece that would go on to your 400mm scope with a high end diag and the Quark with a USB battery pack or power supply filters everything but the Chromo bands that are what we want to see and photograph. By adjusting the exposure of the Astro camera and you want a Mono camera but an RGB will also work, Cost is about $1500. Level #3 is the top as there are special scopes made for Solar, Lunt is 1 of the scopes. They use a special filter close to the Daystar Quark but this is the most costly, $5K+ and can only be used for Solar imaging, where the DayStar being an eyepiece can be used with may refractors 100mm and smaller. It's a whole kind of Astronomy and the most dangerous kind as to loosing your eyesight in a micro second.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Thanks very much for all the tips. I've certainly seen the Quark and it looks a nice piece of kit but quite a step up in price. I think the other option is just one of the small Solar scopes like the Lunt ls40tha which also look a nice in-between option maybe for casual users who want a bit more. Lots to ponder 🤔 Thanks again and clear skies to you.

[@DavesAstrophotography]

Great job Ollie! Setup contrast edge detection autofocus in SharpCap - Bill Blanshan talked me though it on one of my livestreams, makes focusing easier.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Thanks for that Dave I think I've tried that once or twice with planets so will give it a go. 👍

[@billblanshan3021]

Thanks for the shout-out Dave 🙂 It does make things much easier and prime focus makes a huge difference. Just make sure you auto stretch your histogram before autofocus in contrast mode to ensure you have the best contrast. This will give you peak contrast for auto focusing. This is key for both solar and lunar focusing. I really need to do a video on this, lol. Maybe Dave can do it for me 😎

[@AstroSoundscape]

@@billblanshan3021 Thanks for the tips both and yes a video would be handy too. 👍

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Proper solar scopes in Hydrogen Alpha are very pricey.... very!You can get dedicated white light ones,I think Meade and Celestron do them,but there doesn't seem much point as you can put solar film over a normal refractor which you can also use for night time astronomy.

[@AstroSoundscape]

Yes very pricey maybe one day might get a small aperture one like a little Lunt.

[@Thunder_Dome45]

​@@AstroSoundscape I use a quark chromosphere filter for refractors for Ha. That's the cheapest I've seen for solar to see prominences. But it's around $1300. I've had some fun times with it. It can be used with various refractors so I've used it in a 60mm, 72mm, and 115mm apertures. The 115mm really gets in there because it's 805mm focal length, then the filter has a Barlow 4.3x. I often wish it didn't have the 4.3x Barlow. Way too close, sometimes. Other times it makes a feature take the whole sensor.

[@IcemanAstro]

Hey Ollie, so if the camera gain and exposure are all the way down, what is next ? That I have read, (long time ago,) I thought that the glass filters had more light blocking and therefore you can get more detail ? Not sure just mentioning it to you. But as you said, the not bad at all for what you paid for! CS!!

[@AstroSoundscape]

Hey Isaac they certainly could have more light blocking, the only other lever I found worked well is using the histogram.

[@johncooper1715]

Nice work - ISS transit 15 minutes in across the top?

[@AstroSoundscape]

Thanks John I think it was just a bird but something I should try one day.

[@johncooper1715]

I’ve done it a few times - most satisfying. Once I missed the ISS but captured a plane transiting the sun and that is a great few frames too!

[@nikaxstrophotography]

If only the sun actually came out down here........

[@AstroSoundscape]

I know Nik even this sunny spell I got didn't last 😩

[@Youtuber-ku4nk]

Didn't you even try to observe with your own eyes? That must be the ultimate way of using a telescope. You are not experiencing what your telescope can do, you only seeing a picture on a screen.