Lunt 50mm tunable H-alpha filter 6mm blocking filter 2" Diagonal for scopes under 600mm focal length

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$1,615.00

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This 50mm clear aperture Lunt H-alpha filter can be used to provide striking views of solar prominences and disk detail with virtually any telescope having a focal length under 600mm . . .
Our Product #: LS50B62
Lunt Solar Systems Product #: LS50FHa2/B600
 

Product Description

This Lunt Solar Systems 50mm clear aperture H-alpha filter provides a highly detailed full disc Hydrogen-alpha solar image with virtually any refractor up to 600mm in focal length. The filter's passband is approximately <0.75 Ångstrom. This is capable of providing high contrast views of both prominences and surface detail alike.

The filter consists of two parts: a combined energy rejection filter and etalon that mounts in front of your telescope's objective lens and a separate blocking filter mounted in a star diagonal the fits into your scope's focuser. The front filter element (containing the red ERF and the etalon) requires an optional custom mounting plate to attach it to your specific telescope.

The filter's 6mm clear aperture B600 blocking filter is mounted in your choice of either a 1.25" or 2" right angle star diagonal. Please specify in the comment section of the order form which size diagonal is desired when ordering your filter.

Using the filter with a telescope whose focal length is much longer than 600mm will usually vignette the solar disc, cutting off the prominences if you center the scope on the Sun. For example, a 500mm focal length scope will produce a 4.5mm diameter solar image in the 6mm diameter aperture of the blocking filter.

Versions of this 50mm filter with larger clear aperture blocking filters are also available, but provide no visible advantage over the B600 filter on scopes in the 600mm and under focal length range.

If you plan on using a binoviewer for solar viewing with your 600mm or shorter scope, however, the B1200 version of this filter would be a better choice than this version. Binoviewer use requires a Barlow or optical corrector lens in the binoviewer's 1.25" barrel to reach focus. The focal length amplification of the Barlow will very probably vignette the solar image if you use the B600 blocking filter.

Choosing a version of the filter with a somewhat larger clear aperture blocking filter than the B600 might make more sense in the long run, even if you don't plan on using a binoviewer. You would be able to use the 50mm etalon on a variety of scopes by simply buying a relatively inexpensive second mounting plate, rather than having to buy both a mounting plate and a considerably more expensive larger aperture blocking filter/diagonal to put the H-alpha system on a longer focal length scope. The B1200 or B1800 would be the largest blocking filter versions recommended, as too large a blocking filter may result in ghost images at the edges of the field.

You can add an optional second etalon (thereby double stacking the system) to reduce the passband to approximately <0.55 Ångstrom (depending on the telescope). This will give you higher contrast and higher resolution on disk detail during viewing and/or imaging, although with some loss of faint prominence detail.

Some events on the Sun - notably active flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) - are extremely fast moving. If such features occur on the disc of the Sun, rather than on the limb, their high velocity towards the observer results in their wavelength being Doppler-shifted to a shorter wavelength than the H-alpha line. If the velocity is high enough, this Doppler-shifted wavelength could be outside the passband of the filter and the feature would not be observable. The Lunt 50mm etalon has a built-in mechanical tuning mechanism that allows you to de-tune the filter slightly from the H-alpha line to make such Doppler-shifted phenomena more visible. A rotary thumbwheel built into the side of the etalon accomplishes the tilt necessary to move the passband of the filter.

The two-part Lunt filter system comes in a protective transport case. A protective metal thread-in dust cover is provided for the etalon. The image above shows the front element housing, with the red ERF concealing the etalon within the housing. The feature image below shows the filter with its thread-in dust cover and the 2" star diagonal containing the B600 blocking filter.

Tech Details

Color 0 - Not a color filter
Warranty 1 year

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