A Different Type of Sunset Picture

I took these a couple of weeks ago but am just getting around to sharing them. Both of them were taken with my cellphone through a telescope.

The first one was taken through a Lunt 60mm hydroghen alpha telescope. This telescope only lets through a very specific color of light given off by hydrogen (656nanometers for those keeping track at home). This lies in the red-orange part of the spectrum. As the Sun was setting, I got some saguaros in the foreground.

I then hopped over the to the 6 inch Nexstar scope I had setup with a white light filter. As the name implies, this filter lets trough all colors of light (at least visible light) but filters out enough that it is safe to look at the Sun with a telescope.

Look closely at the top limb of the Sun in this pic. You can just see a little bit of the blue rim in this pic. Earth's atmosphere acts as a prism and separates sunlight into its component colors. You can't see this naked eye, but with a telescope you can magnify it enough to be seen (and yes, this is the first step in forming the green flashes I try to photograph).

We have lots of clouds in Tucson, so it is kind of the off season here for photography. The improv theater is also keeping me busy between performing in shows, working tech and teaching classes.