The Sunspotter Solar Telescope

 

Sunspotter telescope: £ POA

 

 

 

Comments About the Sunspotter . . .

"A delightful way to share the sun with relatives, friends, neighbours, and students. Rest assured I'll put my Sunspotter to good use."

-- Richard Tresch Fienberg, Editor in Chief, Sky & Telescope

"I think this device is terrific, and I expect to order a lot of them."

-- Dr. Douglass Duncan, University of Chicago

"I imagine that it's one of the few tabletop experiments about which, 200 years from now, they will say, 'That's back when they made clever, quality instruments.'"

-- Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson, Hayden Planetarium, New York

 
This wooden, folded-path, Keplerian telescope provides a much safer and convenient way to view the brilliant light of the sun than other more common methods. By using a series of mirrors, the device projects a bright 3.25-inch solar image onto a 5-inch white viewing screen through a powerful 62mm diameter objective lens. In its perfectly curved cradle, the Sunspotter is easily aligned to the sun in seconds, without the complication of telescopes, solar filters, and tripods.

Unlike other ways of viewing the sun, the compact and sturdy Sunspotter is convenient, easy to set up, lightweight and fun to use. And, because of its unique design, this kid-friendly instrument makes our closest star a safer subject of study by even the youngest students. Use the Sunspotter for viewing the sun, eclipses, and for daily record keeping. Track sunspots as they appear, move, and vanish. Useful for group viewing, the Sunspotter allows several observers to simultaneously see the sun's disk and quickly trace the changing positions of sunpots and compare them on a daily basis.

Sunspotter Specifications

Telescope type: folded-path refractor, F 11, altitude-azimuth design

Objective lens: 2-element achromat, 700 mm FL, fully coated

Objective aperture: 61.7 mm diameter, stopped down to 57.0 mm

Mirrors: 50 mm x 50 mm x 10mm, two @ 25 mm x 25 mm x 5 mm , <1/4 wave

Field lens: 4-element, 12.5 mm FL Plössl, fully coated, 10 mm aperture

Total path length: 875mm, fixed focus

Equivalent magnification: 56x

Approximate solar image diameter: 85 mm (3.25")

Field of view: .75° (1.5 solar diameters)

Pointing range: altitude 0°-30°, 30°-90° (reversed), azimuth 0°-360°

Pointing aids: 2.2 cm gnomon (±30°), 22 cm pinhole projections (±3°)

Frame material: 15mm 9-ply (cradle), 20mm 13-ply (telescope), Baltic plywood

Overall dimensions (H x L x W): 40cm x 37cm x 15 cm (16" x 15" x 6")

Total weight: 3 kg (6.6 lb.)

Sunspotter telescope: £ POA