PHaST ProjectA Portable H-alpha Solar Telescope |
The Portable H-alpha Solar Telescope is a personal project based on the Coronado MaxScope 40. The immediate goal of the project is to observe the June 8, 2004 transit of Venus. To image the Sun I use an SAC Imaging SAC IVB camera. The telescope is mounted on an Orion EQ-2 equatorial mount with motor drive.
The planned observing site for the transit is my cousin's house in Dubai. I'm testing the telescope in Big Bear City and Riverside, California.
Here is the first picture taken with the SAC IV B camera on March 27, 2004 from Riverside. The filter was a bit off-band. I have not applied flat field correction or limb darkening subtraction.
Here is what the portable setup looks like. For the transit I'll most likely be substituting a tabletop tripod instead of the full-size tripod shown here.
PHaST and the Transit of Venus
Telescope | Coronado MaxScope 40 |
Objective diameter | 40 mm |
Effective focal length* | 264 mm |
Camera | SAC Imaging SAC IV B |
Detector size | 640 x 480 pixels, each 5.6 micron square |
Bit depth | 8 bits |
Filter | Coronado full-aperture FP etalon |
Wavelength | 6563 angstroms |
Bandpass | 0.7 angstrom |
Computer | Apple PowerBook G4 |
Control Software | Equinox, BTV Pro |
* The telescope is f/10 (400 mm focal length). I'm using a focal reducer lens to change that to f/6.6 so that the solar image will fit on the detector.
More information to come...
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