Configuration for Full Disk Solar Observing

I had written previously about finally finding a configuration of gear that makes full disk solar observing far more enjoyable than without this new configuration of solar gear.  The purpose of this blog entry is more about documenting this new and unusual configuration so I can duplicate it again each time I want to observe the full disk of the sun with my Quark solar filter.  Of course, I have this configuration documented in my notes too but I figured it would be good to document it here as well.  

My larger telescopes provide more closeup views but I like to see the whole disk as well.  In order to improve my full disk view, I had to play around with a few ideas on how I could possibly accomplish this.  I kept going back to my assortment of astronomy components to assemble different configurations.  Then I had to play around with spacing.  It was a fairly long process of trial and error based upon the knowledge I had gained through experience but I eventually hit upon the right combination of components.  Now I just needed to get the spacing between each component just right. 

In astronomy, the spacing of each piece in the optical train must be just right or you might not see anything through the eyepiece.  Or, if the spacing isn't just right, you might get a lot of distortion or blurriness.  You need to get the spacing just right and this usually happens by trial and error.  

Until now, I had been just observing without this new heavy configuration of extra components.  I was just using the telescope, my Quark Chromosphere solar filter, a diagonal and an eyepiece.  Unfortunately, observing with the bare minimum of parts was kind of frustrating.  The sun was rather small in the view yet there was very little room left around the sun before the sun was moving out of the field of view.  It was okay but it was not a nice nor comfortable view.  The view was so tight with this basic configuration that I was always wondering if I might be missing seeing a big prominence lifting off the surface of the sun since that would be out of my too-tight field of view.  I needed (or wanted might be a better term) a wider view through this telescope which wasn't quite wide enough for my tastes.

I knew that if I purchased a more appropriate telescope, I could have a nicer view but I didn't want to be purchasing another telescope solely for this purpose.  I had intended to use this Skywatcher telescope for this purpose so I was determined to find a better way.  I want all my telescopes to be useful under the night sky as well as during the day for solar observing and imaging.  If I purchased a new smaller telescope solely for solar astronomy, I knew I would not be using it at night unless I used it as a finder scope or guide scope.  I don't really need a larger finder scope or guide scope so I was in no hurry to go down that path.  I just wanted to avoid yet another telescope purchase if possible.  I wanted to find a way to get a better view through the gear I had on hand.

I finally came up with a configuration that made my view far, far better!  You can see this configuration fully assembled on the telescope in the above photo.  The photo below specifically names each component in this configuration.  

Now I can observe the full disk of the sun comfortably.  Through this assembly of components, the sun is actually larger in my view and yet there is also plenty of room around the sun in my field of view.  I can leisurely watch the sun as it slowly drifts toward an edge of my field of view.  Of course, if I am using a tracking mount (as opposed to a manual mount), then the sun would always stay centered in my field of view.  Quite often, however, I keep things simple and use manual mount when only observing.  

I've also found that if I stop down the aperture of this 72mm telescope to around 52mm, I get a crisper view of surface detail.  Without stopping down, this telescope does better at viewing prominences.  

This new configuration is a huge improvement!  If I come up with further improvements, I'll write about them here.