The Ultimate Guide to Broadband Solar Telescopes, Filters, Observing and Imaging @AZASTROGUY

Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

This video is everything I wish I had when I started white-light solar observing and imaging. We cover what you can expect to see, solar safety, broadband vs. contrast filters, capture techniques, telescopes, cameras, and more!

☀️ TAKE YOUR SOLAR OBSERVING TO THE NEXT LEVEL
The Solar Observer’s Handbook is my comprehensive, critically acclaimed guide to viewing, capturing, and processing the Sun.

📖 Available now in softcover, personally signed softcover, and PDF:
👉 azastroguy.com/solar-handbook

⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction & What you can see
01:53 - Safety First
03:03 - Herschel Wedges, film vs glass broadband filters
04:44 - Refractors for solar
06:29 Contrast Filters and why you need one (540nm Continuum & 430nm G-Band)
08:20 Comparing 540nm images to 430nm images
09:18 Seeing: how to optimize where and when to observe and image
10:25 Barlows, Powermates and Telecentrics: how to choose?
10:56 Binoviewers for solar
11:22 How to choose Broadband cameras for solar
12:02 Lucky imaging
12:20 Specific solar camera recommendations
12:58 Conclusions, telescope and filter recommendations

🔔 SUBSCRIBE & JOIN THE CHANNEL
Subscribe for more solar time-lapses, tutorials, equipment discussions, and deep dives into our nearest star!

⭐ Become a YouTube Member for exclusive perks:
• Early access to new videos
• Live demonstrations & Q&A
• Discounts & preferred consideration for new content topics
👉 Click the "Join" button above to support the channel!

🔭 SOLAR EQUIPMENT LINKS
If you are considering buying a solar telescope or astronomy gear, using my affiliate links below supports this channel at no extra cost to you. I may receive a small commission from qualifying purchases:

• Agena Astro: bit.ly/3qfWaZS
• High Point Scientific: bit.ly/4p7f7HA
• Lunt Solar Systems: luntsolarsystems.com/?rfsn=8727310.7de84a

For Player One cameras and filters, I recommend AstroWorldTelescopes:
https://astroworldtelescopes.com?sca_ref=11939575.K06rkut1Vo

☕ SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL CONTENT
Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/azastroguy

#SolarAstronomy #SolarImaging #Astrophotography #Telescope #Sun

$The Ultimate Guide to Broadband Solar Telescopes, Filters, Observing and Imaging This video is everything I wish I had when I started white-light solar observing and imaging. We cover what you can expect to see, solar safety, broadband vs. contrast filters, capture techniques, telescopes, cameras, and more! ☀️ TAKE YOUR SOLAR OBSERVING TO THE NEXT LEVEL The Solar Observer’s Handbook is my comprehensive, critically acclaimed guide to viewing, capturing, and processing the Sun. 📖 Available now in softcover, personally signed softcover, and PDF: 👉 https://www.azastroguy.com/solar-handbook ⏱️ CHAPTERS 00:00 - Introduction & What you can see 01:53 - Safety First 03:03 - Herschel Wedges, film vs glass broadband filters 04:44 - Refractors for solar 06:29 Contrast Filters and why you need one (540nm Continuum & 430nm G-Band) 08:20 Comparing 540nm images to 430nm images 09:18 Seeing: how to optimize where and when to observe and image 10:25 Barlows, Powermates and Telecentrics: how to choose? 10:56 Binoviewers for solar 11:22 How to choose Broadband cameras for solar 12:02 Lucky imaging 12:20 Specific solar camera recommendations 12:58 Conclusions, telescope and filter recommendations 🔔 SUBSCRIBE & JOIN THE CHANNEL Subscribe for more solar time-lapses, tutorials, equipment discussions, and deep dives into our nearest star! ⭐ Become a YouTube Member for exclusive perks: • Early access to new videos • Live demonstrations & Q&A • Discounts & preferred consideration for new content topics 👉 Click the Join button above to support the channel! 🔭 SOLAR EQUIPMENT LINKS If you are considering buying a solar telescope or astronomy gear, using my affiliate links below supports this channel at no extra cost to you. I may receive a small commission from qualifying purchases: • Agena Astro: https://bit.ly/3qfWaZS • High Point Scientific: https://bit.ly/4p7f7HA • Lunt Solar Systems: https://luntsolarsystems.com/?rfsn=8727310.7de84a For Player One cameras and filters, I recommend AstroWorldTelescopes: https://astroworldtelescopes.com?sca_ref=11939575.K06rkut1Vo ☕ SUPPORT EDUCATIONAL CONTENT Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/azastroguy #SolarAstronomy #SolarImaging #Astrophotography #Telescope #Sun$

90 minutes on the Sun in a 24 second timelapse

First look at a new telescope mount! The TTS160 Panther Lite

$Broadband sun The Sun on Nov 25, 2025. We see a full disk image of the Sun in broadband. The light areas near the limb are faculae, hotter spots on the Sun. Then we zoom in on a sunspot group, and identify the parts of the sunspots. The umbra in these sunspots are about the size of the Earth. Pores are pre-sunspots that may develop into sunspots or be reabsorbed into the Sun. Granules are hot upwellings of plasma about the size of Texas that last about 15 minutes. I took this with my TEC160FL refractor and a Lunt herschel wedge. You can turn your refractor into a solar observing telescope like this with a Lunt herschel wedge that can be obtained here: https://luntsolarsystems.com/?rfsn=8727310.7de84a This is a referral link. You pay no more for using this link but I may earn a small commission. Thank you. #luntsolarsystems #telescope #solar #solarimaging #astrophotography #space #sun #star #astronomy I put a lot of work into these tutorials. It really helps if you subscribe to my channel. Thanks. Links Sun and Seeing conditions: SDO: https://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ Astrospheric: https://www.astrospheric.com/ Meteoblue seeing: https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/... Goodtostargaze: https://www.goodtostargaze.com/ Clearskyscharts: https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/$

$How I created a Hydrogen Alpha Solar telescope I am fortunate to have two great solar telescopes. But to get more aperture in hydrogen alpha, I either had to spend $$$ for another refractor I really didnt need, or build my own using an existing scope. This video describes my journey, in detail, and shows what I achieved. I got a great result, but your mileage may vary! Click on the links provided to learn more about the products I used in this video. In some cases these are Affiliate links. This takes you directly to the manufacturers website. You will not pay more, but I may earn a small commission if you buy something. I appreciate your support! Links to Lunt Products: Lunt solar products: https://luntsolarsystems.com/?rfsn=8727310.7de84a My YouTube review of Lunt 40mm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEZMTBtrwcE My YouTube review of Lunt 100MT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1CYEFpwBQ Link to sol searcher sun finder: https://bit.ly/4eZbSNh Link to AM5, AM3 https://bit.ly/4bDc4Px Link to Refractor telescopes: https://agenaastro.com/?rfsn=7540858.352184 Link to RAF Lunt40 etalon adapter: https://rafcamera.com/adapter-lunt-40mm Link to Broadband solar filters https://agenaastro.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=solar%20filter Link to Daystar Quark https://agenaastro.com/daystar-chromosphere-quark-eyepiece-filter-dsz4c.html Link to Solar Spectrum https://solarspectrumopticalfilters.com/ Link to IMX174 solar camera: https://bit.ly/3XXimq0 Want to buy me a coffee? Its appreciated! https://buymeacoffee.com/azastroguy #solarimaging #telescope #astronomy$