The Sun is the one astrophotography target you can shoot from anywhere, in daylight, with no dark sky needed. It is also the only one that can blind you in a fraction of a second or destroy a camera sensor. Follow a few non-negotiable rules and it is safe.
The core rule: filter at the front
All the light must be filtered before it enters any optic. A telescope, lens, finder or binocular concentrates sunlight to a point hot enough to burn skin, melt plastic and permanently damage the retina. Eye damage from the Sun is painless while it happens and often irreversible.
A proper solar filter covers the entire front aperture, fits snugly so wind cannot lift it, and is designed and certified for solar use.
Two different standards
It helps to know which product is made for what.
Eclipse glasses and handheld viewers: ISO 12312-2
ISO 12312-2 is the international standard for filters used to look at the Sun directly with your eyes. Eclipse glasses and handheld solar viewers should meet it and come from a reputable supplier. They are for naked-eye viewing only. Never look through a camera, telescope or binoculars while wearing them; the concentrated light will burn straight through.
Filters for optics: solar film and glass filters
Filters for telescopes and lenses are a different product. The two main types:
- Baader AstroSolar Safety Film (OD 5.0): a thin film that you mount in a cell or buy pre-mounted. It gives very sharp white-light images and is used by amateurs and professionals alike. Baader states that it is for use in front of optics, not for making naked-eye viewers; it does not meet ISO 12312-2 because the glass in your telescope or lens is needed to block a little extra UV.
- Thousand Oaks SolarLite film and glass filters: tougher polymer and glass filters, often with a yellow-orange view of the Sun, sold in fitted cells for specific telescopes and lenses.
Inspect any filter before each use. Hold it up to a bright lamp: any pinhole, scratch or crease that lets light through means it goes in the bin.
What never to use
- Eyepiece solar filters. Older telescope kits sometimes included a dark glass filter that screws into the eyepiece. It sits where the sunlight is concentrated, heats up and can crack without warning. Throw it away.
- Photographic ND filters, even ND 1000 or stacked NDs. They are not designed to block the infrared and ultraviolet that damage eyes and sensors, and they are not tested for solar use. Looking through the viewfinder with one fitted is dangerous.
- Sunglasses, smoked glass, exposed film or CDs.
- Unfiltered optical viewfinders on DSLRs, even with a front filter being fitted. Use live view on the rear screen while aiming.
Cap the finder
A finder scope or a red-dot finder with optics is a second telescope pointing at the Sun. Remove it or keep its cap on. Aim by watching the telescope’s shadow: when the tube’s shadow is smallest and round, you are pointing close to the Sun. Small “solar finders” that project a dot of sunlight onto a target are made for this and are safe.
What you can photograph
White light
A film or glass filter shows the photosphere: sunspots, the granulated texture of the surface and bright faculae near the edge. Any small refractor or camera lens with a front filter works.
Hydrogen-alpha
Dedicated H-alpha solar telescopes, such as the Lunt LS50THa or Coronado PST, pass a very narrow band of red light. They reveal prominences arching off the edge, filaments across the disc and the textured chromosphere. They are built for solar use with filters integrated at the factory. Buy them new or from a trusted seller and never modify them.
Smart telescopes
Several smart telescopes handle solar work well and safely when used as directed:
- ZWO Seestar S30 ($399) and Seestar S50 Pro ($999) include a solar filter in the box; the S50 Pro’s is magnetic.
- Dwarflab Dwarf 3 ($549) has a built-in solar ND filter.
- Dwarflab Draco ($1,399, shipping November 2026) also has a solar ND filter.
Prices are US list prices as of September 2026; AstroSight shows the local price. Always check that the filter is correctly fitted or selected before the scope slews toward the Sun, and never leave it pointed at the Sun unattended where children can reach it.
Eclipses
The next two eclipses to plan for:
- 6 February 2027: annular eclipse, visible as a ring from parts of Chile, Argentina and West Africa, partial across much of South America and Africa.
- 2 August 2027: total eclipse across southern Spain, North Africa and the Middle East, with up to 6 minutes 23 seconds of totality near Luxor, Egypt.
Rules for eclipse day:
- Keep the filter on for every partial phase. An annular eclipse is never safe to view unfiltered, even at maximum.
- During a total eclipse, the filter can come off only during totality, when the Moon completely covers the Sun. Put it back on as soon as the first bead of sunlight reappears.
- Rehearse the whole sequence in daylight beforehand, including focus and exposure with the filter on.
- Protect the camera between shots; a sensor in live view under unfiltered sunlight can be damaged quickly.
Getting started
- Cheapest route: a camera with a 200 to 400 mm lens and a fitted solar film filter.
- Easiest route: a smart telescope with a solar filter included.
- Most spectacular: a dedicated H-alpha telescope with a planetary camera.
Solar work pairs naturally with lunar imaging, which needs no filter at all. Both work from the heart of a city; see the Bortle scale guide. For comparisons of smart telescopes with solar filters, read the best smart telescopes of 2026.
AstroSight flags which options include a solar filter: try Sun and Moon kit under $700.