Make sure to get a T-ring that matches your camera brand. Rings are not interchangeable between different brands. Attach the camera to the end of a telescope. Unscrew the eyepiece from your telescope, and slide in the T-ring adaptor. Cover the end of your telescope with a solar filter. Solar filters help protect your camera from getting damaged by the Sun and reduces the amount of lens flare.
Cut out a circular piece of solar film the same size as the diameter of your telescope. Hold the film in place so the shiny side is facing the Sun. Use tape to hold the filter in place while you take your photos. Check the filter for any holes and scratches since they could let light through.
Point your telescope at the Sun and take the picture. Use the live-view screen on your camera to make adjustments and place the Sun in the center of the frame. When the shadow is either a circle or the shape of your camera, the Sun will be close to centered in your frame. Victoria Sprung Professional Photographer. Victoria Sprung. You're photographing something that's really far away, so any small movement during the shot can throw the composition off.
It may be blurry, or you may entirely miss what you're shooting at. The tripod will keep your camera stable and keep it from moving around while you take your shot! Yes No. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 2. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Check your local library to see if they rent out camera gear.
Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0. If you want to take photographs of a solar eclipse , take necessary precautions first to avoid damaging your eyesight.
Webcams help reduce the effects of atmospheric seeing. A monochrome high-frame-rate camera will produce the best results, especially when used with a narrowband filter system. The high frame-rates these cameras can achieve is ideal for reducing seeing effects. A monochrome, cooled, astronomical CCD camera can work well with narrowband-filtered images.
The best technique is to take lots of short-exposure images and stack them together using a registration and stacking program such as RegiStax. In need of a good camera? Browse all our camera reviews. The techniques used to image the Sun are similar to those used to capture images of the Moon and planets.
The exception is that the intensity of the light from the Sun must be reduced. The best camera for imaging the filtered Sun, especially if you intend to use a bit of magnification, is a mono high frame-rate camera like a webcam or a dedicated planetary camera. White-light imaging reduces the amount of sunlight to safe levels, cutting out harmful, invisible wavelengths.
Narrowband imaging is completely different. It calls for filters that are typically many times more expensive than a basic white-light filter. The reason for this expense is down to the very fine optical tolerances that need to be met in order for the filters to work.
These higher tolerances mean higher costs. The main narrowband filter types used for solar imaging concentrate on the hydrogen-alpha light, which has a wavelength of This is also known as bandwidth. A low-cost hydrogen-alpha filter, like one from a Coronado PST see towards the bottom of this page , has a stated bandwidth of less than 0.
Bandwidths can get narrower to 0. Filters with windows this narrow can cost many thousands of pounds. Stacking two matched filters on top of one another — a technique known as double-stacking — can also help reduce bandwidth.
Fortunately, if your scope is mounted on an equatorial mount, the solution is pretty straightforward. Begin by rotating the camera so that any features visible move parallel to the bottom edge of the imaging frame when you slew your scope in RA. The north edge of the Sun is found by using a finger to apply a small bit of upward pressure to the front of the tube.
Again, the last edge of the Sun that would be visible if the motion were continued would be its western edge. Called solar granulation, this looks a bit like lots of rice grains packed together. If the Sun is active, there may be sunspots on view too. Larger spots typically appear in groups called sunspot groups pictured or active regions.
A typical sunspot has a dark centre known as the umbra, surrounded by a lighter region known as the penumbra. Through a hydrogen-alpha filter, the photosphere is hidden under a blanket of hydrogen known as the chromosphere — only light from this outer layer gets through.
Where magnetic tension erupts, there are vast releases of energy from bright flares. Snake-like clouds of hydrogen known as filaments float above the chromosphere. Calcium K filter reveals detail in a low part of the chromosphere immediately above the photosphere. Consequently, the view is not dissimilar to that seen through a white-light filter. There are, however, some subtle differences: for example, a CaK filter is especially good at bringing out detail in and around active regions.
Solar granulation is hidden from view but the Calcium K Sun does show a large-scale network of bright interlinked paths known as the chromospheric network. Bright prominences may also be imaged as they extend off the edge of the Calcium K Sun.
White-light imaging involves removing most of the harmful light that could reach your camera sensor. Projection and Herschel Wedges are discussed below in How to capture a white light image of the Sun , but both are limited for use with refractors. The more flexible option is to use a white-light filter such as Baader AstroSolar Film.
This type of filter is easy to make see below , and can be used with all telescope types. Never use cheap solar filters that fit onto eyepieces. A white-light filter will show sunspot groups that will appear and rotate across the disc over the course of a couple of weeks.
These filters are more expensive than white-light filters and can only be used for solar work. They record all manner of exotic phenomena including solar prominences.
Whichever filter system you opt for, once fitted, imaging the Sun is no more complicated than imaging the Moon. To capture the finest detail, a high frame-rate camera like a webcam or planetary camera will produce the best results. It is better to practise on simpler kit, gain experience, and only move on to more expensive kit when you have mastered the technique. I started narrow-band solar imaging with a second-hand 35mm solar scope. I had a load of fun with that scope for years, and only when I felt I was limited by the scope rather than by my skills - and I was sure my interest in solar imaging was an enduring passion - did I get a bigger solar scope also second hand.
I used Lunt H-alpha filters in a custom-made telescope to bring details of the solar activity out using high magnification. Solar limb images often have a 3D appearance, as in this image. How to photograph the Sun: the basics By Scott Tully, shortlisted, Our Sun, Astronomy Photographer of the Year When photographing the Sun you will need to use a special solar filter A large size lens or telescope can give good details and a tracking mount is helpful The best time to photograph the Sun is early morning, before the atmosphere becomes heated and unstable.
However, a special "planetary camera" a kind of webcam on steroids will give better results. A monochrome black-and-white planetary camera is best to see the layer of the sun just outside the photosphere called the chromosphere. Not to scare you, but solar photography is not without risks. It is important to use your good judgment and use caution when observing the Sun.
Without a proper filter , this can cause serious damages. The apparent size of the Sun in our sky is very close to that of the Moon. When the Moon transits between us and the Sun we can witness a full solar eclipse. In a distant future, people here on Earth will only get to see a partial solar eclipse. Every second, the Sun produces the same energy as about a trillion 1 megaton nuclear bombs. Per comparison, the Hiroshima bomb had the power of 0.
The Sun is not a quiet place. Its activity is not constant and follows an years long cycle. Within this period, the solar activity increases to hit its max after about 5.
For us photographers, periods of high solar activity are great. We can photograph sunspots and solar flares more often. At the time of this article, the Sun is at its lowest activity. We are living on the third planet from the Sun. Both Mercury and Venus are on inner orbits with respect to us. On rare occasions, those planets transit between us and the Sun. When this happens, the planet transiting in front of the Sun is visible in silhouette.
On November 11 this year Mercury will transit in front of the Sun. Planes are the obvious candidates for this type of photography. This website can help you to find out when the ISS will transit over your location. The Sun is not yellow. Its light is actually white. For white light solar photography, you only need a classic solar filter placed in front of a normal lens or telescope.
Glass filters are also available, but they are pricey. You should consider starting with mounted foil filters. As opposed to common photography filters , most solar filters are not the screw-on type. Instead, the filter is mounted using thumb screws pushing on the lens or telescope body. You need a white light filter to safely photograph planetary transits and Solar eclipses , as well as Sun details and features. There are many interesting things you can still observe and photograph using a classic telephoto lens of a focal length longer than mm.
With classic photographic gear, because of the low magnification, you will always photograph the entire solar disk. The solar disk appears brighter in the center than around the limb.
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