Thousand Oaks Full Aperture Glass Solar Filter


Long before the solar observing revolution began, there was Thousand Oaks Optical. Founded more than 30 years ago, Thousand Oaks Optical products now fly above the Earth in NASA's Space Shuttle and serve on the ground for users such as ABC, BBC, CBS, NBC, NOVA, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic and most major universities and observatories throughout the world. Originally located in Thousand Oaks, California and open for business in 1979, this small staff of dedicated professionals have produced literally tens of thousands of solar filters over the years. No wonder millions of solar observers world wide know the Thousand Oaks Optical name!

Thousand Oaks Solar Filters are an observing standard. The Thousand Oaks Type 2+ Glass solar filter was created from high quality hand selected glass which is in turn coated with the exclusive metallic Solar II Plus - simply the most durable on today's market. Thin layers of vacuum-deposited nickel and chrome are applied on the inside surface of the glass substrate, keeping the coating shielded from damage during use. Thousand Oaks Solar II Plus coatings reject 99.999% of the solar energy spectrum - from ultra-violet to infrared. This ensures complete safety for both your eyesight and your telescopes optics! The glass filter elements are then placed into a polished friction-fit spun aluminum cell which is custom tailored to your telescope's outer aperture diameter specifications. A wide exterior cell band is then lined with supplied self-adhesive felt strips for a secure fit. This design helps to prevent heat from building up inside the telescope tube, protecting its exterior and interior components. No danger of a cracked mirror or eye damage... If handled with care, your Thousand Oaks Solar Filter should last a lifetime! Providing a aesthetically pleasing yellow-orange solar image against a black background sky, your Thousand Oaks Type 2+ Filter will show dark umbra and dispersing penumbra sunspot regions, as well as convection-cell granulation on the Sun's surface.

Thousand Oaks Solar Filters Features...

Wide exterior cell band.
Custom self adhesive felt liners for a perfect fit.
Most durable coating available on today's market.
The safety of this product is guaranteed by ensuring the coating has a transmission of 0.001% or less.
All solar filters are covered by a limited liability warranty from defects in material and workmanship.

Description

Kendrick "Baader" Astro Solar Filters are full aperture filters (some are "Off Axis" type, if indicated) for all the most commonly used telescopes in amateur astronomy.

The cells are aluminum and all have three nylon thumb screws to facilitate a secure fit on the front of your telescope. The filter material itself is the famous BAADER AstroSolar Film.

This film has set a new standard for white light filters and gives a very pleasing and high resolution image. The image color is a bluish white.

Optical quality: This highest precision film consistently produces strehl ratios of 94 to 96 percent at interferometric tests - thus it performs optically like a Fluorite Triplet Lens by Carl Zeiss or Astro Physics (Interferometric test results).

With Baader AstroSolar filters the Sun appears in it's real color - Neutral White. Other films and most glass filters produce a blurry Bluish or Reddish Solar image, thereby cutting part of the spectrum. Especially with an Orange Sun, it is very hard to see faculae regions which are visible predominantly in the Blue wing of the spectrum.

Eye safety: AstroSolar is essentially free from pinholes, since - other than with even the most expensive glass filters - it is coated on both sides, so that the chance of two pinholes overlapping each other is extremely faint. Baader AstroSolar safety film has been approved for eye safety by the National Bureau of Standards in Germany, the PTB. Unlike any other Solar Filter on the market, AstroSolar is CE-tested according to EG-Norm 89/686 and EN 169/92 ( notified body 0196). All processes connected to this product have been thoroughly tested. Coatings are inspected constantly for consistency to ensure your eye safety!

With a Baader Astro Solarfilter you are set to see the Sun's hidden grandeur at a fraction of the cost for comparable equipment. Real professional solar work was always restricted to a few dedicated amateurs who would put up the $1000 or more for a real precision 1/20 wave glass filter or 2" Herschel wedge.

The development of AstroSolar was only possible due to the incredible demand during the 1999 eclipse. Dozens of miles of film were destroyed during tests to produce the tooling and process techniques to receive an absolutely uniform molecular structure for the substrate. Not to speak of the related treatments, annealing and dual side coating that the film undergoes until it has attained the desired properties.

A must-have filter for safely observing the Sun through an 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope without damaging your eyes

Solar filter with a 12.31" inside diameter fits snugly over your telescope's front aperture to block 99.999% of incoming sunlight
Glass elements are machine-polished and triple-coated with nickel-chromium stainless steel

Each Orion telescope solar filter is mounted in a foam-lined aluminum cell featuring three equidistant securing thumbscrews, 4x 1/16" thick adhesive foam tabs, and 4x 1/8" thick adhesive foam tabs for customized friction fit to your telescope

Note: All Orion solar filters are designed for use with an adequate friction fit attachment. Thumbscrews should ONLY be used to keep filter securely in place once a friction fit has been achieved


Who said you have to be in the dark to do astronomy! Turning your telescope to the Sun is fun and educational. Watch the march of giant sunspots, the clouds of glowing vapor in the photosphere, and solar "granulation" detail. But be sure to protect your precious vision with a safe Orion solar filter! Looking at the Sun without one, even for an instant, can permanently damage your eyes.

Superior to Mylar
These full-aperture optical glass filters deliver superb views of the Sun, without risk to your eyes. While more expensive than Mylar filters, Orion solar filters provide better contrast, a more natural yellow-orange—color rather than blue—and are more durable. They’re ideal for photographing the Sun too.

The glass elements are machine-polished and triple-coated with an advanced nickel-chromium stainless steel alloy for a scratch-resistant surface. The filter passes only a fraction of the incoming light, rejecting harmful ultraviolet and infrared radiation.

Each Orion filter is mounted in an aluminum cell that slide-fits over the front of your telescope. Size shown in the chart below is the ideal diameter of front of telescope; filter will fit diameters up to 1/4" smaller with foam tape liner supplied.