Lunt Solar Systems 1,25" Herschel prism for solar observation

Herschel Wedges / Solar Wedges are used to observe the sun with refractor telescopes.

About 95% of the sun light will be suppressed by the Herschel Wedge. The remaining 5% are dimmed by the installed ND3.0 strong gray filter. A polarizing filter (optional accessory) can reduce the light to the desired level.

The difference between Herschel Wedges and normal front mounted filters is that the filtering takes place just before the eyepiece or camera. This will provide a better contrast and sharpness of the solar image.

Only for use with refractor telescopes up to 102 mm aperture:

Because the full energy and heat of the sun will be inside the telescope, we advise to use only refractors with a Herschel Wedge. The refractors must not have corrector lenses at the back. Optical elements like corrector lenses or secondary mirrors of reflector telescopes become very hot by the concentrated solar energy and could be damaged.

Please note: Herschel prisms must therefore not be used on Petzval systems or other telescopes that have glass in the optical path near the focal point. Multi-lens systems do not pose a problem as long as all optics are only at the front of the objective.

Tuning the brightness:

Because the Herschel Wedge produce polarized light, you can use a normal polarizing filter at the eyepiece or camera-adapter. By turning the polarizing filter the brightness will be reduced.

Additional dimming can be done with neutral density (gray) filters or the Baader Solar Continuum Filter, which enhances the contrast.