What can you see through the Coronado PST?

The Sun in hydrogen alpha: prominences at the edge, dark filaments across the disc, bright active regions and the sunspots a white light filter also shows.

Is the Coronado PST safe to point at the Sun?

It is built for it. The solar filtering is internal and cannot be removed, and the Sol Ranger pinhole finder centres the Sun without anyone looking along the tube. Never point an ordinary telescope at the Sun without a proper solar filter.

Is a white light filter enough?

For sunspots, yes. My $10 filter on a phone and the Seestar S50 with its filter both showed sunspots; I scored those views 2 and 6 out of 10. For prominences and filaments you need hydrogen alpha.

Can you photograph the Sun with the PST?

Yes. I recorded the full disc and the prominences with a small planetary camera in the 1.25 inch holder. FLO notes that focus sits about 5 to 10 mm above the eyepiece holder, so check your camera can reach it.

What mount does the PST need?

A photo tripod is enough: it weighs 1.45 kg and has a standard 1/4-20 camera thread underneath, and I used mine on an ordinary photo tripod.

Is the Coronado PST still made?

No. Meade and Coronado ceased operations in December 2024 and their assets went to auction. FLO lists the PST as unavailable and Agena as discontinued; Khan Scope in Canada still lists stock.

What have I not tested on the PST?

I did not stack or process images through the PST, measure its resolution, or compare it with another hydrogen-alpha telescope on the same day.

Coronado PST review: a one-trick pony that nails its trick

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 42 telescopes on my board, against price
Rank	Telescope	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	Askar 50P	95 out of 100	£299
2	ToupTek Hope D60	93 out of 100	£749
6	Askar 91F	89 out of 100	£995
19	Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76Ha	74 out of 100	£2,399
21	Celestron Cometron 60	73 out of 100	£44
32	Sky-Watcher HAC125	61 out of 100	£405
34	Coronado PST	55 out of 100	£859
41	Celestron 114 LCM	42 out of 100	£361
42	Celestron AstroMaster LT 76	13 out of 100	£200

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 In the hand
04 From the review video
05 The rig on the mount
06 What is it for
07 Watch the review
08 Should you buy it?
09 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 55/100

Reviewed 29 Dec 2023 Updated 23 Sep 2026

Rank: #34 of 42 telescopes
Verdict: With reservations

Written by Damon Scotting 3 min read

Buy it if

You want to see prominences, filaments and active regions on the Sun, not just sunspots.
You want a light, self-contained hydrogen-alpha telescope that sits on a photo tripod.
You observe the Sun often enough to justify a telescope that does nothing else.

Skip it if

You only want sunspots: a white light filter on a telescope you already own shows them.
You want one telescope for the night sky as well as the Sun.
You need to buy new with a maker behind it: Coronado has stopped trading.

A one-trick pony, but boy oh boy is it good at the trick it does: the Coronado PST provides a unique perspective of the Sun's landscape that I could spend hours observing.

Specifications and features

Coronado PST reviewed #34 of 42
Recorded UK price	£859
Aperture	40 mm
Focal length	400 mm
Focal ratio	f/10
Optical design	Hydrogen-alpha refractor, 30 mm internal etalon and blocking filter, 1.0 angstrom bandpass
Image circle	1 inch (25.4 mm)
Back focus	Focus about 5 to 10 mm above the eyepiece holder
Focuser	Built-in focuser, 1.25 inch eyepiece holder
Weight, tube	1.45 kg
Length, tube	381 mm
Dew shield	not recorded
In the box	PST, lens and eyepiece holder caps, 18 mm Plossl eyepiece

In the hand

Six frames from my 4K footage

From the review video

Three frames from my video

Full disc in hydrogen alpha, raw webcam view

Full disc in hydrogen alpha, filaments across the disc

A prominence at the limb, exposure raised

The rig on the mount

On the TeSeek 11, then on six other mounts

What is it for

Four things it is for

Hydrogen alpha

The PST lets me view the Sun in the hydrogen-alpha wavelength, a very specific frequency of the spectrum that reveals solar flares and prominences, so I see far more than the sunspots a standard solar filter shows.

Sol Ranger finder

To align it I use the handy tool at the base: a pinhole that throws a faint image of the Sun into the viewfinder window, and I centre it there before I look through the eyepiece.

Prominences at the edge

The surface is very bright, but if I crank up the exposure, huge eruptions appear at the edge of the Sun in real time.

A camera in place of the eyepiece

With a webcam in the eyepiece holder, the raw footage already makes the Sun look like a very alien landscape, with sunspots and huge filaments.

Watch the review

What YOU can SEE through a $10, $500 and a $1,000 SOLAR Telescope! · published 29 December 2023 · 12:00 · Watch on YouTube · 80,679 views, 1,748 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

0:50 $10 solar filter
3:03 $500 smart telescope and solar filter
6:27 $1,000 solar telescope
6:47 The Sun in hydrogen alpha
7:12 Aligning with the Sol Ranger
7:39 The raw webcam view
9:35 Eruptions at the edge
10:15 What will you get?

Transcript of the review video 2,405 words · 10 chapters · searchable

Press a time stamp to play from there.

0:00 Intro

0:00 Right, in today's video we're going to be doing some stargazing, but as you can probably figure out based on the background behind me, it is currently daytime, we have some crystal clear blue skies. 0:08 So you can't see many stars at the moment, but you can see one, and that is our Sun. 0:13 Today's video is going to be a bit different, because I'm going to be using different amateur setups to see what the Sun looks like through each of them. 0:18 The first of which is going to be using a $10 solar filter and placing it in front of my smartphone. 0:24 The next is going to be utilising one of the latest smart telescopes. 0:28 And then lastly, we're going to be using our personal solar telescope. 0:31 This views the Sun through a very specific wavelength, allowing us to make out many of the features that are invisible to our naked eyes. 0:37 All of these setups are reasonably within an amateur's budget. 0:41 So let's find out what the Sun looks like through each of them. 0:43 I'm Damon Scotting, and this is Astronomical.

0:50 $10 solar filter

0:52 Okay, so putting this aside just for now, I'm going to start off with using my phone and a $10 solar filter. 0:58 The listing said it was a 40mm solar filter, which you can actually place on top of amateur telescopes like the one I've got inside there. 1:06 I'll show you that in just a second. 1:07 Now in order to get the best image of our Sun, I'm actually going to be using one of the Samsung S20 Ultras. 1:18 I think it needs to be said very early on in this video that you should not at any point look up at the Sun for prolonged periods. 1:24 You should not at any point point your telescope towards the Sun. 1:27 This can cause severe damage to your eyes, let alone the equipment that you are using. 1:31 Please do not point this at the Sun, you dum-dum. 1:41 And that's exactly what we're going to be doing, but we're going to be taking some precautions. 1:44 I'm going to turn on screen record on my phone so you can see what I'm looking at. 1:47 I'm also going to be holding it in landscape, because that's a better format for you watching it right now on YouTube. 1:51 But it does make it a bit cumbersome for me to hold in my hand. 1:53 I'm then going to be pointing up towards the Sun. 1:55 So that's what it looks like right now, just with the phone's ability. 1:59 This is the ultrawide lens at half zoom, the one-time zoom, and then we're going up to the five-time zoom. 2:05 So we can see this sort of circular shape of the Sun, but now we're going to be using something that's a lot more helpful. 2:11 We're going to be using a solar filter. 2:13 So allow me to place this in front. 2:15 So if I hold the phone in front of my eyeline of the Sun, it actually makes it a lot easier to see. 2:20 So that's one-times, still can't make out much. 2:22 Jump up to five times, you can see a bit of the shape of the Sun, that's quite cool. 2:29 And I'm going to keep zooming in, we're at ten times, zooming in more. 2:34 It's definitely not in focus, or is it? 2:34 I don't know. 2:38 Now we're going to go all the way up to a hundred times. 2:45 So granted, the Sun is quite low in the horizon here whilst I was filming it, but you can make out the faintest of sunspots present on its surface, all from the remarkable zoom capabilities of a smartphone and a $10 solar filter. 2:56 But with that being said, I'd have to classify the observing quality of this setup as a two out of ten. 3:01 Not that much better than what you could see with the naked eye.

3:03 $500 smart telescope and solar filter

3:04 You may be questioning my choice in sunglasses, but rest assured they are for this video only, as they were inspired by Doctor Otto Octavius from Spider-Man. 3:11 The power of the Sun in the palm of my hand. 3:16 So next up we have the Smart Telescope. 3:19 Now with the two most popular varieties that are currently available today for a very cheap value, we have the Dwarf II Telescope, which is about $400, and then the Seestar Smart Telescope, which is about $500. 3:30 With the Dwarf one, you can buy the deluxe package, and if you do, you're given a slap-on magnetic solar filter that goes across the front here. 3:38 It also protects the wide angle lens, which is also available on this telescope. 3:43 The field of view for the DwarfLab is actually quite wide, whereas the Seestar has a bit more magnification and is therefore a tiny bit better for solar observing. 3:49 Same principle as the Dwarf Telescope, where you have a solar filter that you just clip into the very end and then start doing some observing. 3:56 The apps available for each of the two telescopes are very handy, because they allow you to find the Sun with a great deal of ease. 4:01 And these are the images that I managed to capture with each of the two. 4:04 So this is what I managed to capture with the Dwarf Telescope. 4:07 I have sharpened the video as much as I could in an effort to try and bring out as much detail as possible, but alas, this proved quite difficult. 4:14 So instead, let's try out the similarly priced Seestar S50 Telescope, and its included solar filter. 4:20 In the beginning, I actually did struggle a little trying to centre the Sun, and then once I found it, I was slightly disappointed in its lack of clarity, until I realised that I hadn't actually focused the telescope properly. 4:29 Its autofocus function made correcting this very easy, and boom, look at that. 4:34 Suddenly, several more sunspots have become visible. 4:36 Once I increased the sharpening of the video footage, even more detail can be made out. 4:40 I pinched my screen to zoom in whilst recording a video, and was actually quite impressed by what I was seeing. 4:45 I'd give that a 6 out of 10 in terms of observing quality. 4:47 To further explain what exactly it is we're looking at, sunspots are cooler regions of the Sun's surface that regularly pop up all over the place. 4:54 The one I'm focusing in on here is roughly the size of three Earths. 4:58 Yeah, try not to think about that too much. 5:00 It might send you down a spiral of existential dread. 5:04 Yeah, I'm very impressed. 5:04 One of the things that I actually do take a great deal of interest in is capturing the motion of our universe, and I feel like having smart telescopes that are so easy to set up, and you can just leave outside and let them do their business, is very handy because you can take on these long-term projects, you can try and undertake something that's going to last a month. 5:19 Now, if I want to record the motion of our Sun, and show how it changes throughout the year, the time it takes to rotate on its axis, I believe, is about a month. 5:26 That's the time it takes for it to rotate on its axis once. 5:29 On the surface of it, you are seeing sunspots constantly pop up and disappear, but what's really cool is that from day to day, you can actually record the rotation of the Sun, thanks to the help of these sunspots. 5:40 That's a really cool thing to record with your own back garden setup. 5:44 Having something like this, so easy to set up, means you can do so. 5:46 It's manageable. 5:48 If you're actually interested in buying a solar filter for your telescope, let's say you already have a telescope and you want to look at the Sun, you can buy solar filter paper for fairly cheap. 5:56 I think it's about $20 to get a decent sized piece of paper. 6:01 You can then shape it to fit your telescope specifically, or you can actually buy pre-designed solar filters that match the aperture of your telescope size. 6:08 So this one here from Amazon costs just under $10, and it says 40 millimetres. 6:14 It actually goes on top of the lens cap for my other telescope, just through here, 130 millimetre Skywatcher telescope, which is about five and a half inches. 6:21 It's actually a small amount of solar filter paper. 6:23 Yeah, it's actually very cheap and easy to get into imaging the Sun when using solar filters.

6:27 $1,000 solar telescope

6:28 The real expense comes when you want to image it in incredible amounts of detail. 6:32 And that's what we're going to be doing right now with Coronado PST. 6:36 So we're going to be stepping things up several levels, but bear in mind these telescopes, smart telescopes, and the smartphone itself are capable of doing a lot more stuff than what this is. 6:44 This is a one-trick pony, but boy oh boy, is it good at the trick it does.

6:47 The Sun in hydrogen alpha

6:49 It allows us to view the Sun in hydrogen alpha wavelength, which is a very specific frequency of the spectrum, which reveals a lot of detail about the Sun's features, including solar flares and prominences. 7:01 So not only should we be able to see sunspots like we can with the other telescope setups and normal standard solar filters, but we should be able to see a lot more detail than that. 7:10 The first thing to do in order to align it is this handy tool at the bottom.

7:12 Aligning with the Sol Ranger

7:14 It's like a sort of pinhole, which allows us to see an image of the Sun, not crystal clear or anything, just literally a very faint light. 7:21 And we can centre it on our sort of viewfinder here. 7:24 So this is the viewfinder equivalent on a solar telescope where you sort of centre it up based on the light coming in for the pinhole at the base just down here. 7:32 And then, sunglasses off, we can actually, there you go, that's perfect. 7:36 We can see our image of the Sun. 7:38 So this is the raw footage from the webcam and already our Sun is looking like a very alien landscape.

7:39 The raw webcam view

7:43 We can still see our sunspots in fairly similar amounts of detail, but now we're observing these huge filaments erupting from the surface all over the place. 7:55 This one is actually from six years ago when I last owned the Coronado PST. 7:59 And you have to admit that this is just the most phenomenal view of the Sun that an amateur can observe for themselves. 8:06 We've lifted the curtain and we are observing details and processes that our naked, unaided eyes could never witness for themselves. 8:13 This is mostly due to the overwhelming power of the Sun, but by limiting the light we see to a very specific frequency of the spectrum, known as the hydrogen alpha frequency, we filter out other more powerful bandwidths of light and as a result, we provide ourselves with this glorious, spellbinding view of our Sun. 8:30 But the wonders don't stop there. 8:31 Let's increase the exposure a little bit.

8:32 A prominence close up

8:33 Okay, so what I'm going to try and get for the final shot just using this telescope is off to the right-hand side there's a huge, huge solar prominence. 8:42 I'm just going to zoom in and crop in on that and try and get a really nice crisp image of that. 8:46 I think it's actually breaking off. 8:47 It's not just one sort of tail that's attached to the Sun itself. 8:51 I think it's actually starting to branch off and separate, which is really cool to look at. 9:02 That's good, isn't it? 9:05 That is incredible. 9:06 Wowee! 9:08 Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! 9:09 Look at that to the left. 9:11 That's incredible. 9:13 That is absolutely incredible. 9:14 Look at that shooting off to the left there. 9:16 The size of that is enormous. 9:19 That is probably several times larger than our entire planet. 9:23 So I was trying to focus on the one on the right but that one on the left is just stealing the show right now because it is absolutely phenomenal. 9:30 Jeez! 9:34 The surface is of course very bright but if we crank up our exposure then you will notice towards the edge of the Sun we see these huge eruptions occurring in real time.

9:35 Eruptions at the edge

9:42 For many of these solar eruptions the Sun's own gravity is too powerful for them to overcome and instead they are pulled back down and suffocated at the surface of the star. 9:52 But for those most powerful eruptions they break off from the surface. 9:56 These are solar flares and are what cause one of the most majestic sights known to humans back here on Earth, the Aurora. 10:03 I've looped this short clip because you can faintly see some of the clouds from here on Earth passing in front of our view of the Sun's very own clouds. 10:11 And that is some of the coolest footage you've ever seen.

10:15 What will you get?

10:15 So, there we have it. 10:16 Three views of our Sun on three different budgets. 10:18 I think it's very important to note that these views were not all taken on the same day but they still do provide a valuable insight into what it's like to solar observe on a variety of different budgets. 10:27 I think you are fairly restricted with what phenomena you can observe using just a white light filter but the Coronado PST provides a unique perspective of the Sun's landscape that I could spend hours observing. 10:37 It truly is spellbinding. 10:39 With that being said the fact that you can buy a solar filter at what is essentially 1% of the cost of your own PST is what makes it a very affordable and capable accessory to consider purchasing for yourself. 10:49 Monitoring the rotation of our Sun and the development and disappearance of sunspots is quite an addictive activity. 10:55 Even more so when you have the help of a smart telescope. 10:57 They can be set up, taking photos and packed away in less than five minutes. 11:02 So yeah, I'll let you decide for yourself in the comments which of these you would most rather have but I think for once we have a clear winner. 11:08 This is well worth the money investing in your very own personal solar telescope. 11:13 So yeah, thanks for watching. 11:14 I'm Damon Scotting and this is Astronomical.

Check out more videos on the Coronado PST

Ep 4: Imaging the SUN in JAW DROPPING Detail!

24 Jul 2024

Should you buy it?

55/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

“It shows the Sun in hydrogen alpha, which reveals solar flares, prominences and filaments, not just sunspots.”
“Push the exposure and eruptions at the Sun's edge stand out, changing in real time.”
The built-in Sol Ranger pinhole finder centres the Sun safely, with no looking along the tube.
The solar filtering is internal and cannot be removed, so there is no front filter to slip off.
At 1.45 kg with a standard camera thread, it rides on an ordinary photo tripod.
“A small planetary camera fits the 1.25 inch holder, so the same view can be recorded.”

Cons

“It is a one-trick pony: it shows the Sun in hydrogen alpha and nothing else, where a smart telescope or a phone does far more.”
“A white light filter costs about a hundredth of the price and still shows sunspots.”
The disc is far brighter than the prominences, so seeing them means pushing the exposure until the surface burns out.
It is discontinued: Meade and Coronado stopped trading, FLO lists it as unavailable and Agena as discontinued.

This is just the most phenomenal view of the Sun an amateur can observe for themselves.

Who the PST is for

Wants to see prominences for themselves

Buy

Hydrogen alpha shows prominences, filaments and active regions that no white light filter can.

Family or school solar sessions

Buy

The filtering is internal and cannot be removed, it weighs 1.45 kg on a photo tripod, and the Sol Ranger finds the Sun without anyone looking along the tube.

Only interested in sunspots

Skip

My pick is a proper white light solar filter on the telescope you already own: it shows the same sunspots.

Beginner wanting one telescope

Skip

It does the Sun and nothing else. My recommendation is a smart telescope such as the Seestar S50, which takes a solar filter and does the night sky too.

Owns a refractor up to about 150 mm

Skip

My recommendation is the QuarkStar Chromosphere, which puts hydrogen alpha into the telescope you already have.

Wants detailed solar images

Skip

The 40 mm aperture limits fine detail, and the bright disc needs pushed exposures before the prominences show.

Three alternatives I have reviewed

Questions and more about this review

Reviewed by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Seven questions, answered

Questions about the Coronado PST

Reviewed 29 December 2023 ·Updated 23 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Some shop links are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded

What can you see through the Coronado PST? The Sun in hydrogen alpha: prominences at the edge, dark filaments across the disc, bright active regions and the sunspots a white light filter also shows. From the review video ↓
Is the Coronado PST safe to point at the Sun? It is built for it. The solar filtering is internal and cannot be removed, and the Sol Ranger pinhole finder centres the Sun without anyone looking along the tube. Never point an ordinary telescope at the Sun without a proper solar filter. What is it for ↓
Is a white light filter enough? For sunspots, yes. My $10 filter on a phone and the Seestar S50 with its filter both showed sunspots; I scored those views 2 and 6 out of 10. For prominences and filaments you need hydrogen alpha. Watch the review ↓
Can you photograph the Sun with the PST? Yes. I recorded the full disc and the prominences with a small planetary camera in the 1.25 inch holder. FLO notes that focus sits about 5 to 10 mm above the eyepiece holder, so check your camera can reach it. From the review video ↓
What mount does the PST need? A photo tripod is enough: it weighs 1.45 kg and has a standard 1/4-20 camera thread underneath, and I used mine on an ordinary photo tripod. In the hand ↓
Is the Coronado PST still made? No. Meade and Coronado ceased operations in December 2024 and their assets went to auction. FLO lists the PST as unavailable and Agena as discontinued; Khan Scope in Canada still lists stock. The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓
What have I not tested on the PST? I did not stack or process images through the PST, measure its resolution, or compare it with another hydrogen-alpha telescope on the same day.