Seeing THE SUN in white light

Pete Lawrence observations is your guide to making safe visual of our nearest star this summer

- Pete Lawrence

Observing the Sun in white light is rewarding and relatively simple to do. It's also inexpensive, especially if you already have a telescope; all you need is a white-light solar filter.

There are many different ways to make a record of white-light solar activity, including simple counts of surface features, full-disc images, generic sunspot classifications and detailed classifications. In this article we'll guide you through solar observation, from the basics to performing detailed, daily sunspot classifications. Your observations will really help solar science, and don't forget that this is a unique opportunity to study a star close up!

First, though, we have to address the issue of solar safety. Concentrating the Sun's energy through a lens or with the concave mirror of a reflecting telescope raises it to potentially dangerous levels, so never look through or point any unfiltered telescope directly at the Sun. This includes small finder telescopes too, as apart from the obvious fire risk, there's a good chance you'll burn out their crosshairs. We'd recommend capping, filtering or removing finderscopes just to be sure.