Imaging the Sun is something that’s not particularly intuitive given how we all know never to look directly at the Sun. However if we use the correct safety equipment we can look or image the sun using a telescope. This is normally done thru one of two methods:
White Light : A relatively inexpensive method we can use a white light filter such as a Baader Solar Filter ASTF 80. This is placed in front of the telescope and blocks most of the light. These block 99.999 percent of sunlight to allow us to see the Sun’s visible surface, or photosphere.
Hydrogen Alpha : These filters block all of the wavelength except those emitted by Hydrogen Alpha atoms. These are usually much more expensive and are either dedicated solar scopes or units such as a Daystar Quark that can be used with an existing telescope.
Here’s the video and the subsequent image processed from the video taken from here in Geelong on the 28/04/2024 of the suns surface. Similar to lunar photography a small video is taken which is subsequently stacked and processed in this case using Autostakkert, imppg and finally Photoshop.
This was taken using a SVBONY 503ED 102mm with a Daystar Quark.
Video file recorded in Sharpcap
Processed Image
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