Vaonis Vespera - Observations of the Sun

Introduction | First Experiences with the Solar Mode | First Conclusions | Links

On this page, I describe my first experiences with my electronic 2" refractor telescope Vaonis Vespera 50 mm/200 mm (f/4) when observing the sun. This was made possible through the release of a sun filter as an accessory for the Vespera in October 2022.

Notes:

See also page Vaonis Vespera - Information.
See also page Vaonis Vespera - FAQ.

Introduction

Photos: My Vaonis Vespera (end of July 2022)

Solar Filter


Solar Filter in its outer box...		... and taken out of the boxes

Since there is a solar filter for the Vespera available and the Singularity app was extended with a "solar mode" in time, you can also observe the sun in a simple way with the Vespera. In the article "Solar Mode with Vespera" of the Vaonis Knowledge Base (support.vaonis.com/portal/en/kb/articles/solar-mode-with-stellina) the procedure for observing the sun is described, so I do not want to repeat this here. In principle, sunspots are the easiest to photograph. Flares require post-processing of the photos, and further investigations make more work (see the article Observing the Sun with Vespera and Stellina). I myself have only observed sunspots so far.

First Experiences with the Solar Mode

October 26, 2022

A few weeks before the partial solar eclipse on October 25, 2022, the solar filter for the Vespera became available, and I quickly ordered one, hoping to be able to observe the eclipse with the Vespera. Unfortunately, a close call is a close call: The filter arrived one day after the eclipse. And since I did not have time for a first test until later in the evening, it nearly was a close call here, as well! From the terrace, the sun had already disappeared behind leaves of trees, as the first photo shows. Upstairs from the balcony, I managed to take some photos, even if I am not particularly pleased with their quality - they are simply not sharp enough for me.


Telescope alignment for the sun*	Vespera with solar filter	Vespera targeted at the sun

Vespera with solar filter	Vespera observing the sun	Photo of the sun on my iPad

*) The Vespera is correctly aligned when you see the slit in the shadow.

In the following, I present some of the photos that I took (it was a little cloudy).


Sun behind a tree - original		original

original		original

Sun Spots from June 2, 2023

For a long time, I did not use the solar filter. But on June 2, 2023 I saw a photo of the current state of the sunspots on the Website The Sky Live. And since I had never seen so many sun spots at once, I set up the Vespera including the solar filter for a solar observation. Overall, the resulting photos again did not seem particularly sharp to me. And so I chose the best one in my opinion and present it here as a 750 x 750 pixel crop, lightly processed (contrast) and vigorously sharpened (a bit grainy...):


Sun with sun spots, slightly processed		Ditto, sharpened

Comparison photo from the Internet (The Sky Live)

First Conclusions

Observations of the sun are easily conducted with the Vaonis Vespera and its solar filter. So far, however, I am somewhat disappointed of the low sharpness of the photos/sunspots.