I was recalling the conversations that I have had with people over the last 1 to 2 years. Looking thru a solar telescope didn’t exactly wow the viewer. Trying to express that this was just the beginning, and that things would liven up was a repetative task. But despite it all, the Sun has had it’s moments, and even Solar Minimum has been interesting and educational…

There are a few of us that remember the last Solar Maximum. For many we simply took it for granted, having not experienced the previous Solar Minimum, we came to expect the daily show of Coronal Mass Ejections, Flare activity, a Sun covered in so many filaments that it looked like it would crack open at any moment. Yeah right.. Those were the days. And how many times did I hear that we were entering a Maunder Minimum? This and that person claiming that the Solar Activity had stopped and we were not going to see another Solar Maximum for many years. Did I even hear Ice Age??? What was I thinking starting a Solar Telescope company?.

To keep things in perspective, we live in a time full of predictions based on “scientific” calculations. How often have I seen a weather forecast stating Sunshine and warm temps, only to look out the window and wonder when the rain was going to stop. Upcoming events have a 50/50% chance of Rain, or is that Sun??

Sometimes all you can do is sit back and wait to see what happens. Put faith in the fact that despite it all, there will be another Solar Maximum. Life in the universe will continue to “go thru the motions”.

So looking up today (testing not observing ;) I am noting yet another active region coming around the limb, and while this may be a repeat performance from a few weeks ago, it is still new in it’s size and shape, it still holds the potential for something dramatic and unpredictable.

Did I say unpredictable?

That’s right. Unpredictable. For that is exactly why Solar Observing is such a unique and addictive pastime. Walk up to a night time observer and ask “what’s new?” ;) Both night and day have excitement and offer a Universe of Educational opportunities. The observation of a new system, galaxy, or star. While the night time observer has a wealth of objects to look at, the day time observer has only one. The Sun.. But we have a big one…The Sun is a Star, sort of the Ace in the deck. This Star is much like the vast number of other Stars that you can see at night. However, this start is close, very close. (okay it would still take 20 years to fly there in a jumbo jet)… It’s still close enough that we can see details of it’s surface thru even a small and inexpensive telescope. To understand the working of those distant points of light, we need only look inward into our own Solar System and study a perfect example up close, and personal.

I’ll go out on a limb here and state that like most Stars, ours is unpredictable. An ever changing picture of super hot ionized gasses, moving and churning thru and around magnetic storms in the surface layers of the Sun. In the months and years to come this activity will increase dramatically. Daily observations will amaze and educate the onlooker. The potential for a flare will increase. Even in these days, we have seen flare activity. The odds of a Solar event effecting the Earth will also increase. As we watch the active regions move across the Sun’s surface, there will be times when they cross the very center of the disk, and the Earth is left facing the event head on. What effect would a significant flare or eruption have on our planet? The seeing of the event in real time to the effect it has right here at home? From Northern Lights as our own atmosphere is ionized by high energy particules, to electric outages, and loss of satellite signals, (hey, my GPS deosn’t know where I am??).

Today’s Solar Telescopes allow you to look at and into the heart of an active region that may be as few as 2 or 3 times the size of the Earth to many 10s of times larger. Observations will provide realtime realization of a dynamic Star. Unpredictable?.. You bet.. Easy to see? You bet.. WOW!! you bet..

I think it’s safe to say we can call off the Ice Age. At the very least we won’t be able to blame the next Ice Age on Maunder Minimum.

I invite you to look up with Lunt Solar. We’ll keep you posted on upcoming events, and we look forward to seeing you at a Star Party very soon.

About Lunt Solar Systems LLC…

Lunt Solar Systems is a manufacturing and sales facility located in Tucson, Arizona. Lunt Solar design, fabricate, assemble, and test solar telescopes and solar filters. Whether you are looking for a dedicated solar telescope or a solar filter for attachment to you own astronomy telescope, we can help. Solar telescopes models start at $499 for an LS35T (telescope) or the LS50F (filter) all the way thru the 152T and the 160F. Solar observing is both fun and educational. Don’t miss out on Solar Maximum. Feel free to contact us with question or comments and we’d be happy to help.

With the recent large production run of LS60Ts we are now in the position to be able to offer them from Stock!!

Why are they now in stock?

Although dealers have them on backorder, at this time many dealers are not able to take delivery of the single system for their own stock.

There are a great many Double Stack systems currently on backorder. Unfortunately, the LS50F is the delaying factor, and we are still putting the delivery of new orders for the LS50F and DS systems at ~8 months. People who have the DS system on order have the option of taking the LS60T as a partial shipment. The LS50F will be shipped at a later date (in order of the current BO list). By exercising this option you will be able to utilize the scope to experience the current growing Solar activity.

The LS60T/PT is still on a several month backlog due to mechanical parts manufacture. We do anticipate getting the PT version to stock in a few months (dependant upon ongoing demand). Please check our website dealer page for a list of dealers that do currently stock the PT version. The PT version has been a very popular purchase due to the recent articles in Popular Science and Sky and Telescope. We are working hard to catch back up with demand.

The LS60Ts are available with either a B600 or a B1200 Blocking Filter. They are also available in the Feather Touch version.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments. If you currently have a LS60T (single version) on order with a dealer, please contact that dealer for delivery.

Lunt Solar Systems is a manufacturing and sales facility located in Tucson, Arizona. Lunt Solar design, fabricate, assemble, and test solar telescopes and solar filters. Whether you are looking for a dedicated solar telescope or a solar filter for attachment to you own astronomy telescope, we can help. Solar telescopes models start at $499 for an LS35T (telescope) or the LS50F (filter) all the way thru the 152T and the 160F. Solar observing is both fun and educational. Don’t miss out on Solar Maximum. Feel free to contact us with question or comments and we’d be happy to help.

The continuation of the artical submitted by Stephen W. Ramsden.

We do have more winners coming up tomorrow.

When I started in solar astronomy it seemed a natural extension of my passion to share the experience with others. I decided that I was going to go all out and start my own official outreach program and make sharing the hobby my main priority.  I don’t know if it was my gregarious nature or my self admitted need for attention that spurned me in this direction but whatever it was, it has been a lot of fun.  I would highly recommend it.

 What do you need to get started?  Well it is as simple as a photo tripod and a Lunt filter set for your existing scope or as it can be as complicated as several goto mounts and the super high-end 100mm or 152mm LUNT dedicated systems. The sky (or the ground) is the limit.

I started with a single etalon LUNT 60mm scope and a manual mount.  It quickly became apparent to me at my first event that constantly adjusting the aim of the telescope between each viewer was not going to do it.   The tracking mounts became necessary to expand my capacity and allow me to lecture more and adjust less during an event.

 I find it highly useful to have handouts as well for the crowd. Everyone wants something that they can hold and take with them.  In my case I decided to order a few dozen pairs of solar eclipse viewing glasses. You know, the plastic lenses and cardboard frames that fold into sunglasses.   These became very popular right off the bat so I knew that I would need to place a larger order soon.  This is where the question came up….how much money was I willing to put into this thing as a free public service?

 In the United States, our almost indecipherable tax laws allow for the establishment of a nonprofit 501c3 corporation.  This is more commonly known as a charitable organization.  Under this structure I could then show any money spent on the outreach as a tax-deductible donation to my own charity.  I can also solicit donations and grants from outside sources and allow them to legally deduct their donations from their taxable income at filing time.   This setup helps to relieve the financial strain of providing a large outreach program.

About Lunt Solar Systems LLC…

Lunt Solar Systems is a manufacturing and sales facility located in Tucson, Arizona. Lunt Solar design, fabricate, assemble, and test solar telescopes and solar filters. Whether you are looking for a dedicated solar telescope or a solar filter for attachment to you own astronomy telescope, we can help. Solar telescopes models start at $499 for an LS35T (telescope) or the LS50F (filter) all the way thru the 152T and the 160F. Solar observing is both fun and educational. Don’t miss out on Solar Maximum. Feel free to contact us with question or comments and we’d be happy to help.

I have just been informed that the LS35T is now shipping from STOCK!!

You can now get an LS35T by contacting us at sales@luntsolarsystems.com

Thank you to Savio Fong for sending this excellent image of the Annular Eclipse from Hong Kong. This image was taken with an LS35T!

The LS35T is probably a perfect example of a product that I fully espected to get from design to Customer in a few months, but ended up taking almost a year.

As many will know the main issue was the ability to ship the product and have it arrive in good working condition. For those that received their LS35T un-damaged, they have been very pleased with the performance. However, Lunt received alot of calls from Customers who’s LS35T was damaged via decontacting, bent screws, and even broken ERFs. This despite the fact that we box the scope in fitted foam, in a box, in foam end caps in another box. Shipping thru the standard shipping companies has simply been down right difficult. When they state that a product needs to be safe for a 6 foot drop, they mean it. The first guy to pick up the box launches it into the back of the truck from 6 feet away.. (don’t get me started, it hurts)..

Anyway, after much mechanical re-deisgn, the use of different potting products, locking screws, and mechanical stops, we have finally achieved a very high success rate on product survival.. Not to mention a few tweeks to the optical design along the way ;)

Of the couple of hundred LS35Ts we recently shipped, (cross our fingers) only a few have not survived the gauntlet.

Of the Customers recieving the LS35T, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Images like the above are proof that the system really does perform very well (is this where I say “told you so?”). The ongoing decision of discontinuing the product (which we have done for 6 months) are being re-thought, and it does look like we can start to accept new orders for the product.

As you might expect there is still a few months leadtime on new orders as we work to remove the backlog.

Some have waited for a year. We appreciate your ongoing patience, and certainly hope that you find the product worth the wait.

In closing.. It has, and will ALWAYS be our policy to hold product back if we feel that it does not reflect the performance and safety that is so important.  Solar Telescopes are NOT your average Telescope. They contain many highly specified, highly sensitive optical elements. The amount of technology contained within even the basic scope is amazing and goes far beyond that of even the most advanced night time scope. We are working on shipping backlogged product as fast as we can, but will continue to maintain the highest level of quality in every product.

About Lunt Solar Systems LLC…

Lunt Solar Systems is a manufacturing and sales facility located in Tucson, Arizona. Lunt Solar design, fabricate, assemble, and test solar telescopes and solar filters. Whether you are looking for a dedicated solar telescope or a solar filter for attachment to you own astronomy telescope, we can help. Solar telescopes models start at $499 for an LS35T (telescope) or the LS50F (filter) all the way thru the 152T and the 160F. Solar observing is both fun and educational. Don’t miss out on Solar Maximum. Feel free to contact us with question or comments and we’d be happy to help.

The Lunt 2″ White Light Solar Wedge is ready for shipping!!

The Lunt White Light Solar Wedge provides superior White Light views of the Sun.

The Lunt Wedge is designed to replace the standard diagonal at the rear end
of your refracting telescope. Unlike front mounted filters the Wedge
transmits a safe level of full spectrum light providing true white light
views.

The Lunt Wedge contains a fully integrated heat trap. The heat is allowed to
pass thru the prism and is directed to the rear end of the Wedge. At the
rear of the Wedge you will note a red disk. This disk serves to absorb the
heat and prevent internal reflection of the residual light. The fins act to
pull cooler air thru the rear part of the system as the heat sink heat up.
This convection will keep the heat sink from getting too hot.

Price: US$288.00

Includes:

• 2″ White Light Solar Wedge
• 2″ ND3 Pre-installed Filter
• Metal Carrying Case
• Die cut foam with room for accessories

Recommended Accessories:

• 2″ Polarizing Filter set (US$149)
• 2″ to 1.25″ Reducer for 1.25″ Eyepieces (US$20)
• Lunt Zoom Eyepiece (US$149)

Visit: http://luntsolarsystems.com/catalog-Optical-Accessories.html for more info.

About Lunt Solar Systems LLC…

Lunt Solar Systems is a manufacturing and sales facility located in Tucson, Arizona. Lunt Solar design, fabricate, assemble, and test solar telescopes and solar filters. Whether you are looking for a dedicated solar telescope or a solar filter for attachment to you own astronomy telescope, we can help. Solar telescopes models start at $499 for an LS35T (telescope) or the LS50F (filter) all the way thru the 152T and the 160F. Solar observing is both fun and educational. Don’t miss out on Solar Maximum. Feel free to contact us with question or comments and we’d be happy to help.