Hi folks,
Just a quick review of my newest gadget, a Daystar Quark solar filter.
I've been debating about getting a dedicated solar scope for some time. What stopped me has been not just their cost, and that they are
another scope...
Then I came across the Daystar Quark filter that makes use of your ordinary garden variety refractor, and turns it into a cracker-jack H-alpha solar scope!
I've had my Quark for less than a week, used it twice, and it is stunning! Mine is the Prominence model which is where I want the majority of my viewing to be done. The chromosphere is less prominent, but still visible, and a steady mount goes a long way to revealing detail here. The Quark Chromosphere model has a bias towards the chromosphere (surface of the sun), so the prominences are less pronounced. Like everything, no free lunch here...
I had a quick session with it today, and the detail I was getting is just fabulous. I just had to do a sketch of a spectacular spicule that had a very busy base with a jet of bright material shooting up - gorgeous image that changed before your eyes!
Now, here's a wonderful gadget that is no bigger than a large eyepiece (but half the weight), and turns a modest f/5 refractor into a spectacular daytime proposition. As with all H.alpha scopes, tuning of the filter needs to be done, but with the Quark this is done electronically, automatically tuning the filter for optimal performance at a given setting. The Quark is not an electronic projection eyepiece - the electronics just regulate the configuration of the etalon filter within it (if I got my terms correct).
And my scope? A humble little 100mm f/5 achromat,
In the photos below I had it stopped down to 50mm f/10 as I was waiting on the UV/IR filter to arrive. As per Murphy's Law, it arrived no sooner that I packed away the scope...
But what about the heat!!!
Well, there is none. The heat that is present is regulated by the filter as it would be by a dedicated solar scope.
But the inside of the refractor would get hot!!!
Nope, it doesn't. Put it this way, remember that magnifying glass you used to zap poor unsuspecting ants with? If you held it at focus, yes the sun's image burns. But have the image OUT of focus, and there is no heat - the image isn't concentrated enough to burn. This is where the Quark comes in. The unit is set within the focus of the refractor, so the heat that comes in, is focused within the filter itself, just like in a solar scope, and the energy leaving the filter is safe for eyepieces and our eyes.
So why the UV/IR filter!!! Well, a UV/IR filter is recommended for apertures over 80mm, or when prolonged viewing is done. My session today was brief, so I was comfortable just to stop down the scope to 50mm. But I will keep this UV/IR filter with the Quark. The filter sits in the front of the 2" diagonal, as the solar image is very unfocused here there is no danger of overheating the filter or its coatings.
Now I can spend my daytime hours at the scope too, WOOHOO!
The solar finderscope you see on the refractor I made myself. Very simple bit of gear that took a whole of 10 minutes to make,
, and cost nix as I just used stuff I had at hand. Easy.
I'll look to do a more comprehensive review once I get to use the Quark in my un-stopped down refractor.
Oh, and for the photophiles, yes, the Quark can be used for imaging:
Photos of sun using Daystar Quark
Oh, and a big thanks to my cousin,
, Steve Massey from Astroshop for this marvelous piece,
See ya,
Mental.