WARNING!
Never view the sun through a telescope or binoculars without the use of a solar filter! You can seriously damage your eyes!
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This afternoon I was watching an episode of Wonders of the Solar System, in which Brian Cox got really excited about a solar eclipse. Being as easily excitable as I am, I couldn't help but get caught up in it, and even though there was not currently an eclipse of any kind happening over Ireland, I dragged out my telescope for a look at the sun!
Since our failed attempt at viewing the Venus transit in June, I have been itching to get a good look at our nearest star and luckily, today was the first day in at least a month with no rain and few clouds! I stuck my solar filter on and had a look. It's really cool looking at the sun though a scope! There were a few sunspots visible close to the edge of the disc. After much fiddling around, I managed to get a photo that was relatively in focus.
I upped the contrast to bring out the sunspots and got rid of the chromatic aberration (Here's a tutorial!). There's cloud in the bottom right and the focus is slightly soft. But for a first effort I'm pleased with it.
This is an image from SpaceWeather.com showing the sunspots that were visible while I was shooting.
(Source)
It was great *finally* getting my telescope out again after weeks of rubbish rain. I even convinced my family to come out for a quick look! A fun evening of sun watching was had by all (but mainly me!)!
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