Anyone looked at the sun with a Meade ETX-125?

Question

What filter did you use? I'm considering buying a full aperture filter for my '125 and was looking for recommendations.

Answer 1

If you're just looking for a white-light filter, the Baader Astro Solar filter is inexpensive, completely safe, and high-quality. There is also the Thousand Oaks filter, which is more expensive, made of glass, and is equally effective.

I should add that solar projection is recommended only for use with refractors. It can damage reflectors like the ETX 125.

Anyway, modern solar filters from *reputable* manufacturers are completely safe and reliable. Contrary to other answers, there's no danger from looking at the Sun through these filters, which block out all harmful radiation and let through only a miniscule amount of visible light. The only dangerous filters are the ones that screw into the eyepiece, but thankfully, those have pretty much disappeared.

Answer 2

I use my Celestar 8" scope to view and photograph the Sun. I use the Thousand Oaks full aperture filter which is glass with a steel ring. It gives me an orange color to the Sun.
Whatever you buy make certain that you buy a reputable filter. This is the most important thing you need to research as it could mean your vision.
Remember to leave the caps on your finder scope. Even though you won't use that for pointing the intensified heat in the finder could destroy the air spacing in the objective lens and it burn up your cross-hair reticle. Put a cover over the finder if you don't have the lens caps.

Answer 3

Never look at the Sun with any thing, filter or not. Blindness can result and will be permanent.

Solar observations are made with the telescope eyepiece focused onto a card. Then you look at the card. Never point any kind of binocular or telescope you are using at the Sun.

Answer 4

The best and safest way to view the sun is to project its image from your telescope onto a viewing screen in a dark room. If you set up the telescope and tracking motor correctly, it will project a motionless image thru a hole into the dark room. Then you can use various color filters on the eyepiece to show various kinds of details.