Julius Welby was able to take some pictures of the venusian transit, and he brings up the topic of H-alpha filters in his comments. These filters are complex and expensive, and make some of the most spectacular images in all astrophotography, such the last picture on this page by Kevin Smith (I don't think it's the same guy that did Dogma, etc.)
As you can see, the alpha line of the hydrogen spectrum is deep red (about the same color as a red laser pointer) and thin. In fact, a good H-alpha filter passes less than a nanometer of the spectrum, centered on the absorbtion line to yeild this fantastic contrast on the solar surface. I wonder if similar H-beta filters could be developed in this region where human vision has more acuity?
The speciallized lens Julius mentions in his comment, looks nice, it'd fit onto the Nikon with only a couple adaptations. But until then, I'll keep a real-time eye on the sun through this H-alpha equiped, webscope at Big Bear Observatory, which is about 100 miles east of LA:
Here is the sun from Southern California
(a live image, updated every minute the sun is out)
