We are all astronauts.
We are manning the spaceship called Earth, as it sails through space majestically, navigating its circular path around its one true navigational reference: the Sun.
There are only two ways to explore Space and the celestial bodies: you either leave Earth physically or you 'travel' the stars visually, with your own telescope.
Of all the things you can examine in the sky, the Sun is the only celestial body that is in constant shift. Its surface is never still, always transforming, reshaping. Always new. As we drift through the frozen emptiness of Space, we observe this lively, dynamic change, the visual expression of the immense forces at play there, under that shifting surface, powering our world.
This is the Sun Log, where we share the details of this journey along with all kinds of information, advice, or ideas about everything related to solar photography.
How to Handle Ground Seeing in Solar Photography?
Some people believe they should not invest much in solar photography, because they can't exert the performance from their equipment. The images will not be good enough, so why even try?
That's a wrong assumption.
You need to overcome a singular, pivotal obstacle while taking photos of the Sun: the dreaded Ground Seeing.
Once you find a way to minimize this effect to an acceptable level, you're good to go. The rest is down to fiddling with settings. You will perfect your technique with practice, and it's part of the fun.
In this article, I will show you an easy trick to basically eliminate seeing.
DATE 20/09/2024
Introducing the innovative primary mirror coatings of the Soleye 300, custom-made for H-alpha and Calcium-K
We currently offer three different primary mirrors for the Soleye 300. One is uncoated, and the others are coated using a unique and innovative method. These three mirrors cover the most popular methods of solar photography: continuum, H-alpha, and calcium-K.
What are these, and how do the mirrors achieve the results you can see in our Gallery? You can find out all about it in this blog post.
DATE 11/05/2024
The Solar Maximum is Here: Everything You Need to Know
I admit the incoming Solar Maximum put some pressure on developing our first telescope, the Soleye 300.
Since the telescope features many custom-made, detail-rich parts that require fine CNC work and some special equipment imported from three different continents, the manufacturing process is quite long. It takes several months, and the number of orders we can take is limited. All of them are hand-built by myself, so, I guess it's not that surprising.
This means those who order their scope right now (towards the end of February) are still in time to make the most of what this year's summer offers.
The solar maximum is the perfect opportunity to make some unique and memorable solar photographs, so this would be 'high time' for Soleye products.
But why so?
DATE 09/05/2024
What is Lucky Imaging And How to Use It Well In Solar Photography?
Lucky imaging is the method that is most often used in many disciplines of astrophotography, as it dramatically enhances the results. Solar photography is almost unimaginable without it.
In this article, I would like to provide some basic insight into lucky imaging, and share some of my own methods, settings, pieces of hardware I use, et cetera.
So, let's get to it.
DATE 29/01/2024
3 unique elements in the design of the Soleye 300
Now that our website is live, and our first telescope is up for sale, we can celebrate a tiny bit and share some interesting details with you.
There have been a lot of decision points while designing the telescope and some unique challenges to overcome.
So, what are some unique features of the Soleye 300, and why are they the way they are? Let me give you a quick tour!
DATE 16/02/2024