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"Amazement is the first step towards respect, the second step is knowledge". This quotation of Nicolas Hulot is perfectly summarizing the way I see life and espacially my passion, the Astronomy.
Hi, my name is Didier Favre. Since 1981, few nights a week I discover our universe through my little telescope but this environment is dark and freezy in winter. Celestial objects seem so cold and motionless. Fortunately, in 2003, I could reach the alive astronomy purchasing my Solarmax 40 BF 10. Now, I am definitively convinced that the sun is the most amazing and spectacular star I ever observed in 24 years of practice.

Indeed, this star is not at human scale. With its 1392000 km of diameter, it offers us a daily spectacle with its giant prominences and filaments, its oversized sunspots and its terrifying flares.
Everytime I see the sun, I can't prevent myself from thinking that this star at the origin of life could be also that at the origin of our disappearance. Indeed, the Sun is a dangerous star and enormously requires precautions for its observation. Thanks to Coronadofilters, the amateur is able now to observe safely all the active phenomena which make our star an alive star. Each minute of observation is different from the following one and deserves to be recorded. As I mentioned earlier, I observe with a Solarmax 40mm of which I try to extract a maximum of its possibilities with my Skywatcher 80/400 refractor.

It should be said that we live some formidable times thanks to arriving of the new tools of digital imaging. Cameras and computers allow the amateur to shoot perfectly our amazing star and Internet connects the amateurs between them. We share, broadcast, teach, learn some wonderfull things from each other. For these many reasons, I wished to connect the whole of the solar community of amateur astronomers to communicate in the whole world their observations. In February 2005, I thus tried to associate all these tools for the profit of the amateurs of the whole world. The solar database in amateur H-alpha images had been born ! Its name is BaseHalpha.

With through it, each observer can send images taken to the assistance a digital sensor and of a system of H-alpha filtration like the Coronado's instruments and see what it is possible to observe with such or such configuration. Above all, this database makes possible to keep every one informed about the solar activity every day through amateur images. More than 1100 images are currently available thanks to the participation of about fifty members all over the world. Each person wishing to take part in this project is cordially invited to be registered.

During my stay in US, I benefitted from many hours of observation and thus to acquire a good experiment in solar imaging. I thus wanted to share this experiment with other amateurs by creating a website devoted to the catching and processing technics of the digital solar images. You can discover this website at L656.28. This website is in french but easily tranlatable via google .

The problem is that the solar astronomy quickly becomes a devouring passion and one still wants to have some more. Unfortunately, my finances, for the moment, do not enable me to invest in a filter of larger diameter, but this is planned for the future and I will see then more details.

If, in your turn, you dream to admire the activity of our Sun directly in your eyepiece, then do not hesitate! A 40 mm filter will be able to offer to you an incomparable spectacle of every moment that you will not see elsewhere. After having to throw the first glance on our star with a H-alpha filter, I am sure that in your turn you will want to share these unforgettable moments !

I am impatient to see your h-alpha solar images !