It would seem to me, that to an extent, this is true of anything we view through amateur astronomical equipment. The "thrill of seeing something in real time" is a huge driving force, whether it be a Jovian moon transit, a supernova or solar dynamics. But, as you've said, the real difference here is that decent solar gear ain't cheap. And its application is generally for a single object. So, how much is that thrill worth? Darrell Spencer -----Original Message----- From: az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:az-observing-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stan Gorodenski Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 11:07 AM To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [AZ-Observing] Re: The stunning images and movies of the Swedish one meter solar telescope Victor, Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Except for the thrill of seeing something in real time with one's own telescope, is there there some other advantage to spend the money on a Coronado, Lunt, or Daystar system when sites like this exist, the existence of SOHO, and when the Solar Dynamics Observatory is launched? The Sun is pretty heavily studied and imaged and what one can see through one's own telescope has already been seen in much more detail by these other observatories and probably can be downloaded. If the Coronado, Lunt, or Daystar were inexpensive items it would not be an issue, but the Coronado system (I think it is a 3" refractor) is over $5,000, and the Lunt Etalon and filter for a 4" refractor (you supply your refractor) is over $5,000. Stan On 6/13/2011 10:13 AM, Victor Herrero wrote: > The stunning images and movies of the Swedish one meter solar telescope > Classic view with 3 recent posts and wonderful widgets ! > http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/ > > Plain view, downloads faster > http://herrero-radio-astronomy.blogspot.com/view/sidebar > > Best wishes from Salida Colorado > > -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list. This communication, including any attachments, may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, confidential or legally exempt from disclosure. If you are not a named addressee, you are hereby notified that you are not authorized to read, print, retain a copy of or disseminate any portion of this communication without the consent of the sender and that doing so may be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender via return e-mail and delete it from your system. -- See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please send personal replies to the author, not the list.