A Different Light

Amateur telescopes come in a couple of flavors. On the right, the view in white light, showing the surface or photosphere. White light filters show sunspots, brighter plage regions at the edge of the sun and in good seeing, the subtle granulation of the sun’s surface.

On the left is the view seen at the wavelength of hydrogen alpha light. Only in this narrow slice deep in the red end of the visible spectrum (656.3nm) can we see edge prominences, arching filaments, hot active regions and the beautiful convolutions of the solar chromosphere - the atmosphere of our sun.