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Live image of the Sun Today in Hydrogen Alpha: |
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September 01, 2011
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In 2011, on special request of a client in the UK, DayStar fabricated a Hydrogen Beta filter. Owner Jen Winter has looked for an opportunity to build a Hydrogen Beta filter ever since 2008, when she visited Mt. Wilson solar observatory and the technician at the 150 tower specially requested this filter.
This first filter of CWL: 4861.34Å in 0.4Å FWHM was fabricated in the spring of 2011 and thoroughly tested in the DayStar laboratory. A unique chromosphere is visible, with spicule and field transition arches and emerging flux regions. However, the view of sunspot structure is quite unique. |
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Few academic applications exist for viewing the sun in Hydrogen Beta, as this lower wavelength light represents a lower energy level. The view through Hydrogen Beta, however provides an interesting and contrasted view vs. Hydrogen Alpha. The Hydrogen Beta line is narrower than the Hydrogen Alpha line. The H-alpha line is 0.8Å wide, whereas the H-beta is approximately 0.5Å wide. Therefore, in order to extinct unwanted continuum of the surrounding solar spectrum, a narrower equivalent bandpass would be required. |
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| Prominences are also very visible in Hydrogen Beta. It should be noted that almost all visual observers noted a higher contrast view of prominences as compared to hydrogen alpha. Photographically, the prominences imaged very similarly. It has been surmised that because the human eye is more sensitive to the wavelength of 4861Å of Hydrogen Beta vs the 6563Å of Hydrogen Alpha, that the image would visually appear brighter to a human. |  |
All Photos, Text, Graphics & Materials are (C)2007 Jen Dudley Winter, ICSTARS Astronomy.