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Old 28-02-2019, 10:30 AM
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mental4astro (Alexander)
kids+wife+scopes=happyman

mental4astro is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: sydney, australia
Posts: 4,979
Jeremy,

What model Quark do you have, Chromasphere or Prominence? This makes a big difference.

It is the Chromasphere model that will show more granulation. If you have the Prom. model, like I do, granulation is there, but it takes a patient eye to view it, and patience with waiting for the tuning to do its thing.

A Quark does not have the range of tuning capability of a dedicated Ha scope, even from that of modest PST. This is why there are two Quark models, each designed for a specific aspect of Ha viewing. This is the trade off that Daystar has always been at pains to express.

My Prom. Quark is stupendous with prominences. I can see chromasphere details, but I need to be much more patient. Even with all my patience, I still sometimes need a helping hand from something like a dedicated Ha scope to track down the chromasphere features through my Quark, or as I more often do, use the H alpha network web site to get an Ha image to chase down these features:

http://halpha.nso.edu

What also helps with bringing out chromasphere features is to change eyepieces to vary the magnification and hence the contrast range. This is a BIG help. I even sometimes use a 0.5X 1.25" reducer to really squeeze the image when using a 30mm plossl. It doesn't increase the TFOV, but what it does is concentrate the image which helps the eye in its response to pulling out chromasphere details. Don't just use the one eyepiece or magnification with a Quark. Varying the magnification is a very good trick.

I use my Quark with an ED80. I can just get a whole of disk image with it, but it's not what I would describe as a usable whole of disk image - scope has too long a focal length for the Quark to do this. But this isn't a concern for me as I am primarily chasing proms, and any surface features I pull are an added bonus.

The last two pics below of my sketches shows I can see plages, sunspots, filaments and all manner of other surface features with my Quark. Just don't rush your gear or your eyes.

ALSO, right now there has been little solar activity, which makes spotting granulation on the surface more difficult for our eyes as there is bugger all features to allow our eyes to focus on and make their necessary adjustments. This current solar activity minimum has been a very deep one. Very little activity of any kind has been visible for some time. So not entirely your fault either. If you look at the GONG site linked above, you will see the Sun really is showing bugger all activity. Next to nothing really.

Alex.

PS, the Quark is not a camera. It is an Ha optical filter with electronic tuning of the etalon. There is no CCD or CMOS or other such element inside.
Attached Thumbnails
Click for full-size image (Orion ED80.JPG)
169.1 KB26 views
Click for full-size image (Teathered Dragon LR ii.jpg)
207.0 KB30 views
Click for full-size image (Coronal Loops (1) LR.JPG)
111.2 KB27 views
Click for full-size image (Sol April 21 2016 LR.JPG)
134.9 KB29 views
Click for full-size image (Sol 6th Dec (2) - LR.jpg)
68.2 KB30 views

Last edited by mental4astro; 28-02-2019 at 12:35 PM. Reason: more info
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