A solar telescope allows you to view the sun in all its might without you having to twitch your eye every second because of the discomfort. It is a great piece of equipment for anyone who is fond of the mysteries and the depth of the universe, which is why sales have shot up in recent years.
The underlying problem is simple: how to differentiate the best solar telescope from the ordinary ones? Your guide to making that decision is here on this article, as we unveil the specifications you need to consider before purchasing a solar telescope.
Specialized Optics
The best solar telescopes will have incorporated the specialized optical designs made by scientists in their telescopes. These optical designs, such as the infamous alpha hydrogen filter, also known as the H-filter, are important distinguishers because they considerably improve the performance of your telescope as you glare directly into the sun.
At this point it is not important to go into the depths of how such filters work, but it is important to have some understanding on which ones are the best before you go to buy a solar telescope. Opt for those which are equipped with these specialized optics and always go for a trial run before selecting, because you cannot determine the quality of the optical lens/filter inside unless you try it out for yourself.
Stop Heat
The working of the solar telescope is simply by the focusing of the sunlight, which can be problematic because when such high energy rays are focused at one point the heat generated is sufficient to damage the solar telescope for good and harm the person using it. How cheap a telescope is usually determines the ability of the telescope to withstand focused rays, and it is your best bet to assume this is the case because a test for durability cannot be carried out in ten minutes.
The cooling component of solar telescopes usually works through the principle of convection currents, but since that cannot be tested in a short time, it is best to search for review websites and scientific blogs which create lists of the best solar telescopes. The best ones will certainly have a good cooling system, so it is your best bet to go with those.
Enjoy the Complete Spectrum
The color of sunlight is white, which means that every ray constitutes of all the colors we see in the rainbow, so why restrict yourself to red only since it has the lowest frequency? This is an aspect that was considered by the producers of top notch solar telescopes who started looking into safe ways of allowing people to view the sun in all its might. This resulted in the creation of solar telescopes which had a wide array of colors present in the filters which could be altered to give you a beautifully eclipsed view of the sun.
This additional feature should be looked for in modern telescopes because you might as well invest in something that is not so monotonous in features.