With an aperture of just 35mm, the Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope is among the smallest solar scopes we've reviewed.
The LS35 Basic uses a full aperture, unobstructed etalon with a bandpass of <0.75Å.
Before you can start observing, you need to attach the mounting block to the tube with a pair of guide-scope rings so that you can place the LS35 on a tripod or telescope mount.
It doesn't include a solar finder – this is an optional extra.
At the rear of the scope there’s a helical focuser and eyepiece assembly screwed into a 90° star diagonal.
This in turn is attached to a drawtube that can be unlocked, extended or retracted to the correct position and then locked again.
Once unlocked, the drawtube can also detach from the scope, so it pays to be careful if you’re pointing the Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope high in the sky with a camera attached – it could slip out.
This telescope features in our list of the best solar telescopes.
The focusing arrangement works well visually, but was troublesome for imaging as the helical focuser rotates whatever’s locked into the eyepiece holder.
Once focused, the inability to lock the focuser also caused problems: we found that even a gentle pull on our camera’s cable was enough to rotate it out of focus.
During our camera tests we encountered the same lack of inwards movement from the focuser as we’d met with the Coronado Personal Solar Telescope.
We were unable to focus our camera in the prime focus position. Attaching a 2x Barlow lens solved the problem though.
Lunt LS35: Basic or Deluxe
There are two versions of the standard LS35: Basic or Deluxe.
Our test version was the Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope. This uses a B400 (4mm) blocking filter fitted to the base of the helical focuser, which just enables the whole Sun to be seen in one go.
For an extra £150 the Deluxe package uses a larger B600 (6mm) blocking filter designed to give images of the Sun a less constricted field of view.
Testing the LS35 alongside the SolarMax 40, which uses a 10mm blocking filter, made us realise that the LS35 basic’s view was quite tight.
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Visually, the LS35 performed extremely well and provided a bright, high-contrast image.
Prominences stood out beautifully and the thin chromospheric layer at the Sun’s edge looked furry due to spicules.
The Lunt LS35 Basic solar telescope’s delivery of edge detail was among the best we've seen in solar telescopes.
With a slight tweak on the tuning dial, bright plage areas stood out clearly and silhouettes of dark filaments snaked their way across the Sun’s disc.
The brightness of the disc made it tricky to see delicate detail at times, especially at low magnification.
This was a great scope for observing, but was let down by the helical focuser when it came to imaging.
Vital stats
- Price: £529
- Focal length: 400mm
- Aperture: 35mm
- Etalon: <0.75Å; 35mm unobstructed
- Finder: None
- Eyepieces: None
- Weight: 1.4kg without holder
- Supplier: The Widescreen Centre
- Tel: 020 7935 2580
- www.widescreen-centre.co.uk
