The Technology and people behind Solarscope Ltd
The Solarview 50 uses an ultra-narrow-line-width transmission filter comprising a precisely
tuned Fabry Perot air spaced etalon together with a secondary multi-cavity interference
filter.
The latter blocks all transmission peaks of the etalon except for one at 656.28nm which corresponds to the key spectral line of hydrogen, also known as the H alpha line. Hydrogen emits at this frequency due to the arrangement of the electrons on the hydrogen atom and their change from one state to another.
Any good book on basic quantum chemistry can explain this in greater detail, but suffice it to say that as the surface layer of the sun contains a very high proportion of hydrogen, then the frequency at which hydrogen emits energy is the best frequency to use to view the sun, and hydrogen alpha telescopes and filters are designed to exclude the rest of the spectrum and really just look at what is going on in the hydrogen.
A Fabry Perot 'air spaced' etalon consists of a matched pair of 'fine pitch' polished and accurately figured fused silica plates, with highly reflective 'non absorbing' coatings for the desired transmission wavelength.
The etalon is assembled by optically contacting spacers to the plates, defining the appropriate air gap. A Fabry Perot etalon used as an optical filter provides the major benefits of very narrow spectral line transmission and high throughput. Descriptions of etalon theory can be found in the more comprehensive optics textbooks.
Solarscope Ltd is based in the Isle of Man, and is located in a modern, custom built factory one mile from Ronaldsway airport.
The environment is ideal for manufacturing optics to the highest standards.
The test room has been built on separate foundations from the main building
to eliminate vibration when testing optics.
A Zygo Interferometer is used to monitor optical quality during the production process. The Solarview 50 is produced by a team of highly skilled engineers, technicians and opticians, each with more than twenty years experience in the design and manufacture of Fabry Perot etalons and instrumentation.
Their skills enable them to work to the highest standards of optical flatness and parallelism tolerances.
This is a British Company through and through, founded by a British resident who has lived and worked on the Isle of Man all his adult life. We are pleased to say that this means that the instruments are normally available from stock and deposits are therefore not usually required.
The latter blocks all transmission peaks of the etalon except for one at 656.28nm which corresponds to the key spectral line of hydrogen, also known as the H alpha line. Hydrogen emits at this frequency due to the arrangement of the electrons on the hydrogen atom and their change from one state to another.
Any good book on basic quantum chemistry can explain this in greater detail, but suffice it to say that as the surface layer of the sun contains a very high proportion of hydrogen, then the frequency at which hydrogen emits energy is the best frequency to use to view the sun, and hydrogen alpha telescopes and filters are designed to exclude the rest of the spectrum and really just look at what is going on in the hydrogen.
A Fabry Perot 'air spaced' etalon consists of a matched pair of 'fine pitch' polished and accurately figured fused silica plates, with highly reflective 'non absorbing' coatings for the desired transmission wavelength.
The etalon is assembled by optically contacting spacers to the plates, defining the appropriate air gap. A Fabry Perot etalon used as an optical filter provides the major benefits of very narrow spectral line transmission and high throughput. Descriptions of etalon theory can be found in the more comprehensive optics textbooks.
Solarscope Ltd is based in the Isle of Man, and is located in a modern, custom built factory one mile from Ronaldsway airport.
The environment is ideal for manufacturing optics to the highest standards.
The test room has been built on separate foundations from the main building
to eliminate vibration when testing optics.
A Zygo Interferometer is used to monitor optical quality during the production process. The Solarview 50 is produced by a team of highly skilled engineers, technicians and opticians, each with more than twenty years experience in the design and manufacture of Fabry Perot etalons and instrumentation.
Their skills enable them to work to the highest standards of optical flatness and parallelism tolerances.
This is a British Company through and through, founded by a British resident who has lived and worked on the Isle of Man all his adult life. We are pleased to say that this means that the instruments are normally available from stock and deposits are therefore not usually required.