Greetings fellow astrophiles!
In preparation for upcoming 2013 lecture and observing sessions, we have put together instructional brochures to help introduce the Night Sky to attendees. The third of these, entitled “A Guide For Solar Observing,” addresses our solar observing sessions and is provided below in PDF format. This brochure will be available at our combined lecture/observing sessions, but feel free to bring your own paper copy (or the PDF on a tablet – but have red acetate ready!).
NOTE: These brochures are made better by your input. If you find a problem, have a question, or have a suggestion (bearing in mind these are being kept to one two-sided piece of paper), please contact CNYO at info@cnyo.org.
NOTE 2: We’d like to thank the great solar photographer Alfred Tan for the use of his solar image in this brochure. For a regular feed of his stellar (pun intended) solar views from Singapore, we encourage you to subscribe to his twitter feed at: twitter.com/yltansg.
A Guide For Solar Observing
Solar Safety: Read Me First!
“NEVER Look At The Sun Through ANY Eyepiece Without Protection!”
Pre-Observing Observing Tips
“The Sun is a blindingly bright object all by itself – and your observing session has you constantly looking in its direction!”
Sun Cross Section – 697,000 km Radius
“Radiative Zone: 348,000 km thick, energy from the core is passed through as photons (light) – thousands of years for light to pass through it from the core!”
The Solar System To Scale
“The solar diameter in “planets” is listed.”
More Information About The Sun
“The Sun is the reason why we’re here!”
And Just Why Is The Sky Blue?
“At sunrise and sunset, most of the blue light has been scattered by air molecules, so more of the Sun’s longer wavelength light (red and orange) makes it to our eyes (“R”).”
What You’ll Observe On The Sun
“The savvy (or lucky) observer may see a plane (1), a satellite, a planet (“transit” of Venus (2) or Mercury), or the International Space Station (3).”
About The Sun (History & Future)
“The Sun is a spectral type G2V star in the Orion Arm (Orion Spur) of the Milky Way, some 25,000 light years from the Milky Way’s center and, on average, 8 light minutes away from Earth.”
What You’ll See Through Solar Filters
“All other filters work by picking out a single wavelength (shade of one color) from the entire visible spectrum (ROYGBIV – red, orange, etc.), allowing only that color to pass through to your eye.”
