Baader AstroSolar Eclipse Glasses

Solar Viewer AstroSolar® Silver/Gold
Solar shades / eclipse glasses with an Optical Density of 5.0
The Solar Viewers by Baader Planetarium are a high-quality product which is extremly well suited for naked-eye solar observations. The most-common use-case for them are solar eclipses.

As the moon passes slowly in front of the sun, you can easily observe how the sun disappears behind it through the Solar Viewer. The spectacular event of a total solar eclipse itself, which usually lasts only for a few minutes, should then be enjoyed without the glasses and safely with the naked eye.

However, the SolarViewer can not only be used to monitor solar eclipses. You can also see larger sun spots through it, or simply discover the sun.

Safety instructions and information about AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film
Notes and specifications about Baader AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film OD = 5.0
AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film has been specially developed for visual solar observation at zero magnification for use with solar viewers. This film is only being used for production of our Solar Viewers.

The optical density of Solar Viewer Solar Viewer AstroSolar® Silver/Gold is OD 5.0. Our Solar Viewer are CE-certified and comply to the Norm EN ISO 12312-2:2015 – thus they are certified for a safe and direct view into the sun.

AstroSolar® Silver/Gold has no added treatments to attain fine-optical properties necessary for high magnification work. It is not suited to being used in combination with telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes or camera lenses.

We are producing Baader AstroSolar® Silver Film for more than 25 years. In the year 1999, during the grand total eclipse over Europe, more than 20 million solar viewers equipped with this film were in use. For the great american solar eclipse in USA 2017 we now introduce the successor to the market: Solar Viewer AstroSolar® Silver/Gold, with eye-sided reflex-free material for an excellent viewing experience.

In contrast to the black, soot-filled light-absorbing films of other manufacturers, the reflective metal-layers of our AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film are much more efficient at blocking the red (and especially the invisible infrared) light, and thus achieve a better security rating at the necessary optical densitiy of OD 5.0.

Why don’t we use this film for telescopes – a simple answer
When using precision-grade AstroSolar® Safety Film (pictured at the right) for telescopes, perfect optical quality is most important. However – this film must be treated with great care since the metal and protective coatings applied onto both sides of the film are very similar in their technical properties to the reflective surface applied onto astronomical mirrors.

Since a Solar Viewer AstroSolar® Silver/Gold is used visually at zero magnification, the optical grade of the film is not of prime consideration. Instead it is most desirable to apply protective coatings of highest durability grade, to end up with a protective film of much higher resilience against inadverted rough handling. This is being achieved for AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film with its metal hard coated layers applied onto both sides of the film, making it scratch resistant without sacrificing in sharpness and without creating a double image of the Sun due to adding up several layers of dark and/or reflective film onto each other.

A single layer of AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film provides a perfectly sharp and energy balanced solar image – including the ability of identifying large sunspots and without transmitting irresponsible amounts of infrared(heat) radiation as with simpler sooth-filled energy absorbent films which do not offer added IR-blocking by metal reflective coatings.

Due to the dual side metallization process designed for AstroSolar® Silver/Gold Film, the film remains safe for a straight look into the Sun, even in case the front side of the viewer would suffer a scratch or mild kind of abuse. Still every solar viewer must always get a thorough inspection by the user to detect possible damages due to wrong handling and must be discharded in case a defect would be visible.

Never try to take an image of the sun through a Solar Viewer – neither through a camera or by mounting it in front of e.g. a pair of binoculars, because larger lenses will not be covered completely by the Solar Viewer. Solar Viewer AstroSolar® Silver/Gold may never be used together with any optics which are pointed at the sun without a solar filter.

Never look at the sun with the naked eye without a Solar Viewer – danger!
Only and exclusivly during the few seconds of minutes of totality (when the sun is completely eclipsed by the moon) can you take a safe look at the sun's corona with the naked eye (see image below). Nevertheless, the complete eclipse, which lasts for hours – from the beginning when the moon touches the disk of the sun for the first time until the end, when it is completely visible again – must only be viewed through a safe and certified solar filter – the Baader Solar Viewer AstroSolar® Silver/Gold.

You must use a proper filter at any time for all other kinds of solar observation, too – no matter if during a partial eclipse, an annular eclipse, or simply your daily check for large solar spots. Even if the sun is eclipsed by 99%, the remaining sickle is is still so bright that you must use a good filter.

Never even try to look at the sun with your naked eye, regular sun glasses or insufficient filters! Every carelessness when chosing the right kind of protection can cause permanent eye damage or blindness.

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

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