H-alpha telescope
An H-alpha telescope is a telescope specially designed to observe the sun . The telescope is equipped with an interference filter ( Fabry-Pérot interferometer ) that only allows solar radiation to pass in a narrow spectral range (<1 Å ), which corresponds exactly to the wavelength of the excited hydrogen at 656.281 nm . This spectral line is the first of the Balmer series (main quantum numbers n = 3, m = 2) and is called H-alpha because it is the brightest hydrogen line in sunlight.
In the H-alpha light, the sun appears in deep red and shows, in addition to the sunspots, the structures of the chromosphere - sun flares and radiation bursts ( flares ) - as well as the larger protuberances at the edge of the sun .
H-alpha telescopes and filters have been very expensive in the past because of the technically sophisticated interference filters. Due to larger series production, the price has been reduced significantly in recent years, making them affordable even for amateur astronomers . Many amateur telescopes can be equipped with an H-alpha filter.
Web links
- h-alpha solar filter at astronomie.de