| MadSci Network: Astronomy |
G'day! Hmmm... Modern sextants of today have at least two sets of filters to eliminate the excess of light, especially when observing the Sun. The use of two or more filters in front of the big mirror, when looking to the Sun, is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Hmmm again... As far as a difference between looking at the Sun through a non- filtered sextant and looking at the Sun directly, there really isn't any. Sure you have a smaller aperture to look through, but since the light is lensed a little bit as it goes in to the sextant, it pretty much sends a direct beam of sunlight straight into the unprotected eye. Ouch. It's exactly the same reason why you don't look directly at the Sun through a telescope or binoculars without exceptionally strong filters. Hope this helps! Steve Cartoon Web Engineer Edmark.com
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