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Posts Made By: Tom Masterson

November 5, 2005 09:34 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Anybody seen one of these?

Posted By Tom Masterson
Ivan:

I looked through this scope at the HOTS conference last month.

It was amazing!

Tom

November 26, 2005 07:03 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

70mm Calcium K first light

Posted By Tom Masterson
Ralph:

Great report on the 70mm Cak. Irs interesting to hear your experience using the Cemax eyepieces as well as the effect of cataract surgery.

I know the lens in the eye become more opaque with age and I've read reports of people seeing the blues in planetary nebulae much easier after having their lenses removed. I have noticed since I reached middle age that many "blue" planetary nebula look grey to my.

The "old" conventional wisdom was that viewing with CaK filters was a young person's hobby. Seems like Coronado has worked their magic again and somehow produced filters that can be used visually, even by those of use older than thier 20s.

Please let us know how the Stella-cam works and please share the photos.

Clear, red and BLUE skies.

Tom

PS - the Solar graphic in your next post is perfect! You should print it out and make it into a sticker for the side of your scope.

November 26, 2005 07:40 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

What can you see thru a PST??

Posted By Tom Masterson
David:

In a word the answer is YES!

In h-alpha the sun is dynamic not static and can change from day to day or hour to hour. There's no comparison between white light and viewing. I too found white light viewing boring but I LOVE h-alpha views. There's nothing like sitting and watching a solar flare go KA-BOOM, and evolve over 10 - 20 minutes. Or watching tiny needle-like fingers of a new prominence reaching up into space, bending over toward each-other and connecting into a loop, or a loop "snapping" and retracting into the limb.

As for the images posted, they indeed represent what can be seen visually. I've been imaging for years and my greatest frustration is capturing that can be seen visually. Here's a shot taken through my PST using a inexpensive Meade LPI. The filament is unusually long, but everything visible in the image was easily seen with the eye. This day there was only a tiny sunspot group visible in white-light so indeed the sun would have been nearly blank, yet look what was happening in h-alpha!



One last thing - these scopes retain their value VERY well, so you are safe to buy and try. If you don't like it you can sell it for pretty much what you have into it.

Tom

December 21, 2005 02:53 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

Got my PST CaK and sub zero temps to boot

Posted By Tom Masterson
Congratulations on the arrival of the new toy!

Sorry about the lousy weather though. If you DO take it outside to observe in the cold weather remember, DON'T put your eye back up to the eyepiece if the first look brings tears to your eyes! Walking around with a Cak-PST stuck to one's face isn't a pretty thing. =:^)

Tom

PS: We'll be waiting for your first light report.

December 23, 2005 06:48 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

First Impressions of CaK PST

Posted By Tom Masterson
Jim:

Excellent review - very informative. They are many people sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for user feedback on these new scopes. Thanks for posting your impressions.

When I first looked though one I had little hope of seeing anything thanks to my middle aged eyes. I was surprised when I was able to see the solar disk a dim one. This started me thinking - if I wanted to use the scope visually, I'd have to treat it differently than my other solar scopes. I expect a hood will become a requirement instead of an accessory. I also expect I'll have to "dark adapt" when observing, which means either keeping my head under the hood for a while, or maybe wearing welding goggles/helmet while setting up? YIKES! What will the neighbors think!? Geeze they already think I'm a bit nutty for walking around in the backyard a night with a red flashlight!

If visual observing doesn't work for me, I'll be happy with just imaging with the Cak-PST. Say, that reminds me - although you mentioned you don't image, I DO suggest you pick-up a monochrome electronic eyepiece, either from Meade or Orion. They are pretty cheap and work amazingly well in Cak light.

Thanks again for sharing your first light experience.

Tom

January 18, 2006 01:30 AM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

BO/TMB 6mm

Posted By Tom Masterson
Hey Jim.

Thanks for the report. I have the 6 and the 9 but haven't tried them in my PST. Looks like its time to try!

Tom

April 2, 2006 06:41 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

First solar image with my PST

Posted By Tom Masterson
Tom:

Nice first try! Much better than my first shot.

You know you are doomed now. Once this h-alpha imaging bug gets under your skin, that's it - no known cure.

You exposure is about right for prominences. If you want disk details try a shorter exposure. A properly exposed disk shot will look almost too dark on the camera's LCD. Bracket your exposures and look for the one that gives the best results. It's VERY difficult to get the image exposed properly for both disk and prominences. Its best to combine two images.

Thanks for sharing your image.

Tom M


April 26, 2006 05:01 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

First light..white light!

Posted By Tom Masterson
Nice shot Luca! Those Herschel Wedges are hard to beat.

AE875 is continuing to put on a nice show. Here's a shot I took today in h-alpha.

Tom Masterson



May 1, 2006 04:29 AM Forum: CCD Imaging and Processing/Solar System

A Big Sun

Posted By Tom Masterson
Nice shot Alan - just the way it looked in the eyepiece - WOW!

Tom

May 31, 2006 06:21 PM Forum: Coronado-Lunt-DayStar Solar Filters

First Solar shots with a ST2000XM

Posted By Tom Masterson
Nice job James.

Your comment about it being a lot of work, yet fun is right on the money. A lot of time I find it therapeutic sitting in the chair in the evening processing images while the family watches TV.

The more you do it the more natural the process becomes.

Keep up the good work and keep sharing.

Tom

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