The Question was: How does the Nighthawk perform on the Sun ?? I built a Filter with 80mm free diameter out of some BAADER Astro Solar filter foil. And it works !

Last Update: 02 May 2006

Visual Impression

It was the first time I could observe the sun with my Nighthawk telescope (80/480mm). I was impressed to see all the fine details in the sunspots you see below in the images. There were many very small spots around the largest one. Easy to see was also the light - bridge in the big spot. If I see the images below I must say, that they do not give all the details that were visually noticable. For visual observation I used a VIXEN LV 20mm and a 12,5 VIXEN Otho eyepiece. Using the VIXEN LV 4mm did not bring out further details.

The Sun through the Nighthawk (Combined Image)

A few but interesting sunspots are visible. No granulation is visible.

NIKON D70 at ISO200

Stellarvue NightHawk (AT1010 / Classic) 80/480mm Achromatic Refractor / BAADER Solar Filter foil / BAADER "Fringe Killer" Filter)

28 April 2006 0734 UT / 8 * 1/3200sec

Image treated with ImagesPlus 2.75 and PaintshopPro 9.01. Colour image turned to Black and White

The Sun through the Nighthawk

A few but interesting sunspots are visible

NIKON D70 at ISO200

Stellarvue NightHawk (AT1010 / Classic) 80/480mm Achromatic Refractor / BAADER Solar Filter foil / BAADER "Fringe Killer" Filter)

28 April 2006 0734 UT 1/3200sec

Image treated with DigiKam under LINUX only. Colour image turned to Black and White

The Sun through the Nighthawk and 25mm Eyepiece projection

The sunspots are more detailed now. There has been some dust on the projection lens.

NIKON D70 at ISO200

Stellarvue NightHawk (AT1010 / Classic) 80/480mm Achromatic Refractor / BAADER Solar Filter foil / BAADER "Fringe Killer" Filter)

28 April 2006 0945 UT 1/800sec

Image treated with DigiKam under LINUX only. Colour image turned to Black and White

The Sun through the Nighthawk and 25mm Eyepiece projection / Full size crop

This full size crop shows more details in the spots with a light bridge in the largest spot.

NIKON D70 at ISO200

Stellarvue NightHawk (AT1010 / Classic) 80/480mm Achromatic Refractor / BAADER Solar Filter foil / BAADER "Fringe Killer" Filter)

28 April 2006 0945 UT 1/320sec

Image treated with DigiKam under LINUX only. Colour image turned to Black and White

Some comments from the web

Exceptional picture, Christoph!
Your solar image was fantastic! By the way, if you look carefully, there's some interesting photospheric distortion about the groups. This is the kind of stuff I can see visually when seeing is good, esp. when using narrowband techniques. Your setup is digging VERY deep into the photosphere, and a lot of what you are seeing, while visible in H-alpha light, is also visible [though less so] in white light.
Excellent job!
Darren

Christoph,
I don't know if you are aware, but your solar images can be enhanced farther than they are by using a monochromatic filter, preferably high quality green, then assigning a psuedo color like yellow. The refractor is most likely optimized for green.
I would have happy to get those images, the last two nights have been spent trying to get mag 10 galaxies through a light haze. All I could do is verify the goto of my mount !
David

Excellent work on the sun with the Nighthawk Chris. Thanks for posting.
David J...in the Mo. Ozarks

Chris,
Wow! That's good.
How did you get you N70 mounted to your Nighthawk? Were you using projection or a T-ring?
Keep those solar shots coming in.
-Stuart in KS

Hallo Christoph,
schoene Aufnahmen, Glueckwunsch zum Solar-Firstlight Hm, wo nehmt Ihr alle den freien Blick auf die Sonne her ? Ich sitze hier seit Tagen frustig unter Dauerwolken
Viele Gruesse & CS, Oliver