Coronado Personal Solar Telescope

Description

Coronado’s iconic Personal Solar Telescope (or PST for short) is an incredibly portable way to view the sun in hydrogen-alpha light, capable of sitting on top of even modest photo tripods. The Sun’s got a lot going on, and the PST will show it to you. By zeroing in on the far end of the Sun’s visible light spectrum — the hydrogen-alpha line — the PST reveals our closest star rolling with violent, ever-changing activity. Best of all, the PST’s innovative design allows H-alpha solar viewing at an incredibly affordable price.

Designed and Manufactured in North America.

This compact 40mm f/10 refractor (400mm focal length) houses a special 30mm internal filter called an etalon, which transmits only the primary wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen at 6562.8 (Å) in the solar chromosphere, where all the action occurs. A very narrow bandpass around that wavelength of less than 1.0 Å allows the viewing of surface features and activity that get washed out with wider-bandpass filters.

The Sun in hydrogen-alpha light showing some of the different features visible around the solar disk.

The 1.0 Å bandpass is wide enough to provide a beautifully bright image of solar prominences, lifting off the edge of the disk of the sun. This bandpass was chosen specifically for best prominence detail in combination with affordability. Surface features such as granulation, filaments and plages are also visible through this PST, and can be brought out in even greater detail via photography and performing post processing of the images. For the highest contrast of surface features visible through the eyepiece, consider the even more narrow Coronado 0.5 Angstrom PST. Best of all, if you are on a budget and want to get in on the H-alpha fun now, you can always add the external SME-40 etalon (sold separately) at a later date, which will narrow the bandpass from <1.0 Å down to <0.5 Å simply by threading it onto the front of this PST.

The telescope is just 15″ long and weighs only 3 lbs., so it needs only a small telescope mount or a sturdy camera tripod for support. A ¼”-20 mounting socket under the scope’s rear housing provides the attachment point.

Incorporated into the body of the PST is a RichView tuning mechanism which allows the user to adjust the performance of the filter in order to boost contrast on solar features. Doppler shifting due to the rotation of the sun can cause a prominence to radiate at a slightly different wavelength, depending on where it is situated on the solar limb. In addition, barometric pressure and temperature at the observing location can also affect the exact wavelength being transmitted through the telescope. Simply turn the RichView tuning knob on the PST while observing through the eyepiece to find the “sweet spot” and make the contrast pop.

A built in Sol Ranger viewfinder makes locating the sun quick and easy by projecting a small image of the solar disk onto the viewing port located on the body of the PST, right next to the eyepiece. Simply center that small disk in the window, and the sun will be visible through the included 18mm CEMAX eyepiece. Focus is achieved by simply turning the small knob located on the rear of the telescope, within easy reach below the eyepiece.

The PST will show you how dynamic our nearest star really is, with some phenomena changing over several minutes time! Get a Coronado Personal Solar telescope today and get in on the action!

Coronado assures that all solar filters and solar telescopes are tested at specialized labs that are accredited to verify compliance with the ISO 12312-2 safety specifications for solar viewing.

Download or view our Solar Glossary.

Specifications