Our pick of the best telescopes for safely observing the Sun.

By Iain Todd

Published: Friday, 17 November 2023 at 10:18 AM


When observing with the best solar telescopes, the Sun becomes arguably the most dynamic and interesting object to observe in the sky.

Solar telescopes use an etalon, which is a precision filter that restricts the light that enters the telescope (allowing, for example, only H-alpha to pass through), so you can safely observe the Sun up-close.

Details on the Sun such as solar prominences, filaments, plage and fibrils become startlingly visible when using a solar telescope.

Sol with Solar Prominences and Surface Detail by David Pickles, Rushden, Northamptonshire, UK. Equipment: Lunt LS50THa B600 Hydrogen Alpha solar telescope, Altair GPCam 290 mono CCD.

It goes without saying that observing the Sun with anything other than a certified solar telescope or certified solar filter is incredibly dangerous, and will seriously damage your eyesight.

You should only use well-made solar telescopes from reputable suppliers – accept no substitutes!

This is our list of some of the best solar telescopes available, and links to where you can buy them online.

Read our guides on how to safely observe the Sun and how to see sunspots.

Observing a solar eclipse with a telescope

An annular solar eclipse captured from Lubbock, Texas in 2012. Credit: Willoughby Owen / Getty Images
An annular solar eclipse captured from Lubbock, Texas in 2012. Credit: Willoughby Owen / Getty Images

A solar telescope isn’t the only way to safely observe a solar eclipse: you can adopt a variety of different methods from solar projection to eclipse glasses and even using a colander!

But if you really do want a magnified view of a solar eclipse and are thinking about the 8 April 2024 total solar eclipse, you must use a solar telescope.

Just as is the case when observing the Sun throughout the year, only a certified solar telescope from a reputable supplier will do.

And read our complete guide to find out when the next eclipse is taking place.

Below is our pick of the best solar telescopes, suitable for a solar eclipse but also for year-long solar observing.

Best solar telescopes

Lunt LS152THa solar telescope

Lunt LS152THa solar telescope

The Lunt LS152THa is a 6-inch hydrogen-alpha (h-alpha) telescope, which is huge by h-alpha standards.

The telescope is designed for safe solar observing and reveals one of the Sun’s inner layers, called the chromosphere.

The LS152THa is extremely well-engineered and solidly built.

It’s brilliant at showing you fine detail in and above the chromosphere, while also revealing bright and structurally detailed prominences.

While testing the telescope, we were able to observe some active sunspot regions and found the zoom eyepiece allowed us to get a close look at the action.

We saw plenty of surface detail and very good resolution.

We were also able to easily observe a layer of hydrogen plasma jets, called spicules, at the edge of the Sun.

The Lunt LS152THa is a fantastic telescope that effectively gives you a solar observatory in your back garden.

Key specs

Read our full Lunt LS152THa solar telescope review

Daystar Solar Scout SS60-ds H-alpha telescope

Daystar Solar Scout SS60-ds H-alpha telescope

The 60mm Solar Scout SS60-ds is Daystar’s dedicated solar telescope aimed at solar astronomy beginners.

There are two versions: a basic model and the bundle option, the latter being the version we reviewed.

The bundle includes a 1.25-inch diagonal, a 25mm eyepiece, a power pack and a mains charger to power the telescope and charge the powerpack.

The SS60-ds boasts an internal Ha filter giving a bandpass of around 0.5Å.

There are positives and negatives to this.

There is less detail in prominences with the bandpass of 0.5Å, but more detail in filaments and surface structures.

Setting up is very easy. After mounting, you just plug in the power pack and set the tuning knob to the centre.

Once heated, it was ‘on band’ and the LED turned from red to green, ready to use.

We could easily locate the Sun in the solar finder with Daystar’s ‘Solar Bullet’ finder.

The Daystar SS60-ds has much offer anyone considering an upgrade from their white light solar setup and it should meet the budget of many astronomers.

Key specs

Read our full Daystar Solar Scout SS60-ds H-alpha telescope review

Coronado Personal Solar Telescope

coronado personal solar telescope

The Coronado Personal Solar Telescope has a quoted bandpass of less than 1 Angstrom (Å), which makes it great for revealing prominences and surface detail.

During testing, the PST delivered a very acceptable view.

We found prominences appeared bright, detailed and with good contrast against the background sky.

There was amazing detail on the edge of the Sun and a distinctly fur-like appearance.

This was the presence of spicules, short-lived plumes of glowing hydrogen gas.

The PST also revealed well-defined active regions and filaments with buckets of intricate detail.

We also found excellent results during imaging.

This budget H-alpha solar observing classic continues to deliver low-, medium- and high-magnification views of the Sun.

It’s a great grab-and-go solar scope, too.

Key specs

Read our full Coronado Personal Solar Telescope review

Bresser Solarix Telescope 76/350 with Solar Filter

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Bresser Solarix 76 350 smartphone

It should be pointed out from the offset that the Bresser Solarix 76/350 telescope is not a dedicated solar observing telescope, but comes with a solar filter that makes solar observing possible.

It is an interesting, multi-purpose offering that’s really only suitable for beginners or those after a budget telescope.

Solar observing is just one facet of the Bresser Solarix 76/350, and it’s aimed at beginners who want to try out some of the different aspects of astronomy with just one piece of equipment.

It’s comprised of a 3-inch (76mm) Newtonian reflector atop an aluminium tripod with a manual push-to mount.

The telescope includes a decent collection of accessories including 20mm and 4mm eyepieces, a 2x Barlow lens, a smartphone adapter and, importantly here, a certified solar filter.

Setting up is quick and easy and converting the Bresser Solarix 76/350 telescope to solar use is simple.
You just need to attach the front-mounted solar filter.

The solar-use instruction manual and the many safety stickers on the Solarix do a good job of informing the user how to safely observe the Sun.

It won’t give you amazing views of the Sun like other solar scopes on our list, but is suitable for beginners or kids who want to take their first seps into the world of astronomy, solar or otherwise.

Key specs

Read our full Bresser Solarix Telescope 76/350 with Solar Filter review

Coronado Double-Stacked PST

coronado double stacked pst solar telescope
coronado double stacked pst solar telescope

The Double-Stacked Personal Solar Telescope may look similar to the PST, but it has a second etalon screwed into the front lens cell.

This arrangement further reduces the telescope’s bandpass to 0.5Å, increasing the definition of surface features such as dark filaments and bright plage areas.

One downside to this reduction in bandpass is a reduced visibility of prominences.

Indeed, during our tests we did notice a slight dimming, but bright prominences were still impressive.

The visual performance of the DS PST was definitely something to shout about.

This is a superb scope, ideal for increasing the visibility of subtle features that wider bandpass instruments may struggle with.

Key specs

Read our full Coronado Double-Stacked PST review

Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope

lunt ls35 solar telescope

With a 35mm aperture, the Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope is among the smallest solar scopes we’ve used.

The LS35 Basic uses a full aperture, unobstructed etalon with a bandpass of <0.75Å.

There are two versions of the LS35: Basic or Deluxe. We tested the Basic version.

It uses a B400 (4mm) blocking filter at the base of the helical focuser, which enables the whole solar disc to be seen in one view.

During testing, we found the LS35 performed very well and gave us a bright, high-contrast image of the Sun.

Solar prominences looked beautiful and the thin chromospheric layer at the edge of the solar disc appeared furry due to spicules.

In fact, the Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope’s delivery of edge detail was among the best we’ve seen in solar telescopes.

Key specs

Read our full Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope review

Coronado SolarMax 40

The Coronado SolarMax 40 has focal length of 400mm and a 40mm aperture.

Its etalon is front-mounted, full aperture and obstructed with an internal spacer.

The SolarMax 40’s bandpass is quoted at 0.7Å and we found its view of the Sun to be much better defined that cheaper solar telescopes we’ve used.

Tuning is done via a T-Max tuner, which sits between the etalon and tube and enables well-defined views.

You can also use it to alter the scope to follow material speeding away from the Sun.

The view through the eyepiece revealed excellent detail on the Sun’s disc and contrast within prominences.

The chromosphere too was especially well defined.

In summary, this solar scope delivered a great overall low-power view of the Sun.

The Sun looked like a 3D ball of turbulent plasma, and the solar limb was full of contrast and detail.

Key specs

Read our full Coronado SolarMax 40 review

How we test the best solar telescopes

When we test each solar telescope, we examine the following features.

Accessories

solar telescope accessories

There aren’t many peripheral bits and bobs needed with solar scopes, but a good finderscope and mounting plate are among those that we consider essential. We tried out those supplied and found out how good they were.

Construction

solar telescope construction

Looking fantastic, as all these scopes do, is no substitute for good design and this is something that can only be assessed when they’re being used. We wanted to know whether the design would help or hinder when put to use.

Field of view

solar telescope field of view

A common issue with many solar scopes is the sweet-spot effect whereby features pop in and out of visibility depending on where they are in the field of view. We evaluated the uniformity of each scope’s field, keeping an eye on feature contrast.

Focusing

solar telescope focusing

We looked through each scope to evaluate how easy it was to find the Sun, achieve focus and tune the etalon to give us the best view possible. We also assessed how comfortable the view was after long observing sessions.

Imaging

The Lunt Ls35 Basic delivered some excellent views of the edge of the Sun. Credit: Pete Lawrence

We hooked a high frame-rate planetary camera up to each scope to find out just how image-friendly they were. We also took a number of shots of the same objects through each scope and compared the processed results.

Images captured using the best solar telescopes

For more reviews, read our pick of the best telescopes for beginners, the best telescopes for astrophotography and the best telescopes for kids.