How to safely observe the Sun🌞

While a person who is more knowledgeable about such tips doesn't have to read, a beginner adept can easily lead to the destruction of his equipment or even worse deprive himself of the basic but the most important observation instrument he has, that is his own eyes.

People observing a Solar eclipse in Iceland in 2003

By Shizhao link CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Observations of the Sun must be carried out with due caution. The brightness of the solar disk is so large that even when looking at the unaided eye, we squint our eyes and look away. If we look directly at the Sun using a telescope or even binoculars, we risk partial or complete loss of sight! Advanced astronomy enthusiasts use a variety of solar filters that greatly reduce the amount of light reaching the human eye. However, you must always be sure that the filter is applied to the lens, not to the eyepiece, and that it is of high quality. However, these are methods that I don't recommend and I almost never use myself. I suggest a simple and absolutely safe method - a projection method. It involves projecting the image of the Sun onto the screen (a white sheet, glued to a piece of cardboard) and is often used to observe sunspots. If we have a telescope or binoculars on a tripod, we set our equipment as accurately as possible towards the Sun. Opposite the eyepiece, set the screen and gently move the telescope or binoculars looking for a solar shield (without looking through the eyepiece!). It is a good idea to use an eyepiece with the lowest magnification in the telescope. Once we find the Sun, set the focus until the edge of the disc isn't blurred. Because the Earth is rotating, during the observation it is necessary to slightly adjust the telescope setting, looking only at the screen.

Mercury Transit Observation

By Biswarup Ganguly link CC BY-SA 3.0 license

How do you observe the sun to see something and at the same time not hurt yourself? The sun is 150 million kilometers away from us, but this large distance only seemingly provides us with safe observations. The sun can't be viewed directly with the naked, unprotected eye. All the more, optical equipment such as telescopes and binoculars may not be used without proper filters. It can end with burning out the retina and blindness. Filters can be bought online or in astronomical stores. Are cheap. Badeer's film (ND 5, which transmits only 0.00001 part of the sun's rays), we need observation glasses with such a foil. Thanks to the foil, the solar eclipse phenomenon, or the Sun itself, what is happening on its surface, can be observed both directly and by optical devices, if the foil filter is placed on the front of the binoculars, camera or telescope, and not from the eyepiece.). If Badeer's foil could not be bought, I advise against using homemade methods such as CDs, floppy disks or smoked glass. Under no circumstances are you allowed to observe the Sun through even the darkest sunglasses. Using such inventions, you aren't sure whether the amount of sunlight will be sufficiently reduced before it reaches the eye.

Solar telescope in use

By Blue Plover link CC BY-SA 3.0 license

Solar telescopes are fun. However, they allow observations in the brightest hydrogen band (H-alpha). This means that they show us details that are normally invisible due to the Sun's too great brightness. Unfortunately, these expensive telescopes, however, show the true face of our star, like from NASA photos. The most popular are models of such producers as Coronado or Lunt. The cheapest ones cost about $ 1,000. Believe that they are worth the price! The received views compensate for the instrimnet price. Imagine watching our Sun in this form in real time, with a delay of 8 minutes, which light needs to reach Earth. Really amazing!

Greetings to lovers of Astronomy!

Sources:

Sun
Sunspot
Observing the Sun for Yourself
Solar telescope
and my knowledge...

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