Are solar telescopes dangerous to use?

Should you be taking extra care when using one of these specialist telescopes?

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Provided they’re used correctly, solar telescopes are safe to use

Provided they’re used correctly, solar telescopes are safe to use

Asked by Neil Simmons

Solar telescopes aren’t dangerous as long as they are used correctly. Clearly looking at the Sun with the naked eye, binoculars or telescopes not designed for solar viewing would be disastrous. Looking at the Sun in this way will almost certainly result in damage to our eyesight and should be avoided at all costs.

Solar telescopes use a series of filters to lower the risk to the eyes. The filter helps lower the intensity of the light from the Sun and by lowering the intensity it’s possible to use a solar telescope to investigate the fascinating features of our star safely.

Answered by Josh Barker from the National Space Centre

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