Quote:
Originally Posted by Renato1
....... well, relatively speaking, that is.
Today I remembered that I owned a Personal Solar Telescope (PST), so I had a look at the sun. Saw two ultra tiny sunspots, and then could just make out a third teeny one, and a little solar flare.
I bought the PST eight or nine years ago and the sun has been a disappointment ever since (apart from the occasional flare).
I fondly remember the days back in 1982 and 1983 when, with my newly acquired K-Mart Focal 114mm reflector and its sun projection attachment, one could see most of the face of the sun heavily pock marked with dozens of sunspots.
Is anybody else here old enough to remember those wondrous solar days of 30+ years ago?
Cheers,
Renato
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Hi Renato,
I am definitely old enough, but my Focal 114mm reflector DID NOT HAVE the solar projection attachment !!! After all this time, I am seriously hacked off that such a thing existed and I did not know !
It did come with a solar filter, a piece of dark glass that screwed into an eyepiece. Even at fifteen years of age I was pretty dubious about the ability of this piece of glass to dissipate the 100 W or so of insolated energy on a 5" mirror. So I tested it … I put it in the scope, aimed at the sun using the shadow, and stayed right away from the eyepiece. After fifteen seconds I heard the "crack !" of the dark glass shattering. I pushed the scope off the sun, removed the eyepiece and filter, and sure enough it was hot as the hinges of hell, and cracked down the middle.
In the bin it went.
Regards,
Tony Barry