Learn & Explore Series: Day Star Filters
Day Star Filters
Did You Know?
A Daystar Filter flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-51F in 1985 on a dedicated solar observing on the The High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph (HRTS) instrument.
During that mission, NASA called then owner, Del Woods to complain that the filter was acting erratically, “going on and off band”. (That is that the filter was not passing the desired wavelength of light coming from the sun). Del chuckled at the complaint and asked… “Let me guess. When the Space Shuttle is traveling away from the sun, it’s too Red and toward the sun it’s too Blue”.
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Did You Know?
Daystar filters are incredibly accurate. Our filters usually pass a range of light about a half an Ångstrom wide. On a scale where a Hydrogen Atom is the size of a pocket watch… (remember a hydrogen atom is ONE proton and ONE electron) On this scale, this half angstrom would be the size of a USB plug. Some filters are accurate to 0.05Å; which on this scale is the size of the head of a pin.
Equipment to test at this scale has to be 100 times more accurate than an electron microscope, so the owner tests each filter live on the Sun for final qualification.
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Did You Know?
Daystar has been making filters for close to 45 years, with some filters from the early 1970’s still in service today. At the core is a durable and heat resistant crystal that can last indefinitely unless it is disturbed.
On one sounding rocket mission to space, the rocket crashed from space in at the White Sands Desert. The payload was recovered. The Daystar Filter survived.
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Questions covered in the above interview:
- Let’s start off with basics, what is DayStar Filters?
- What year was this company founded?
- Let’s jump in the way back machine, let’s go back to the very day you acquired this company. What was the original inspiration for doing so?
- When a company releases a product they generally have a particular avatar or audience in mind. Can you share who that person is here?
- What has been your proudest accomplishment to date for DayStar Filters?
- It seems common that companies title their products/services as the “Best” in their market. How do you feel ’DayStar Filters’ compares to others in the marketplace?
- Another term that is somewhat cliché and tossed around a lot is “Innovation” How do you feel your products are innovating?
- What do you think is the biggest mistake photographers make when getting into solar photography?
- For those looking to get started in solar photography, what sort of options are available?
- Talk to us about your Camera Quark?
- Is this intended to work on any particular camera or lenses?
- Now you have a 80mm Hydrogen Alpha Telescope, can you expound a bit on what makes this such a unique instrument?
- Your products are inspiring folks from around the world, what does that mean to you as the owner of DayStar Filters?
- What sort of warranty is available on your products?
- What is the one word that you believe sums up DayStar Filters?