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USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:31 pm
by WilliamPaolini
USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
by WilliamPaolini
1. Overview For the vast majority of my astronomical observing life, over 50 years, I have never used filters of any kind for planets or otherwise. But after half a century of reading the extraordinary claims by manufacturers and observing organizations alike about the many benefits of the various color...
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Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:44 pm
by notFritzArgelander
Looks to be a valuable addition to the discussion of filters.... Thanks for your efforts.
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 12:01 am
by Ylem
Nice resource Bill, thank you!!
I also have never been a big filter guy, with the exception of the Moon and maybe Mars.
Will have to play around with the ones I currently have.
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 12:42 am
by Bigzmey
Great review Bill! Filters are not getting used enough for the planets and Moon.
My all time favorites are Baader Moon and Sky glow and Baader Contrast Booster individually or stacked together. They work great on Jupiter, Mars and to a lesser degree Saturn. For Saturn and crescent Moon may favorite is Orange #21, for full Moon - Green #58. I also has good results with Red #23A and #25 on Mars.
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:10 am
by messier 111
very nice of you thx .
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 4:13 am
by Lady Fraktor
Thank you for the great article Bill, I will be trying some of these combinations.
I already tried the Baader M&S + 82A on the Moon, not a combination I would have thought of myself.
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:22 pm
by KingNothing13
This may have given me the shove I need to actually pick up some filters and give them a go. Thanks Bill!
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:55 pm
by WilliamPaolini
If you like to experiment with color filters, then a fun and inexpensive way is to get a Roscolux Swatchbook sampler which has probably around 100 or more small gel filter sheets, each showing its spectrum. This is a resource for stage lighting. I've found that many of their gel filters do a superb job for planetary, some better than any of the production astronomy filters! The small sample gel sheets are fragile, but the sampler books are so inexpensive, and the single large sheets are also similarly inexpensive that does not matter as when they get too beat up just use another. I have also cut these get filters and put them in a conventional astronomy filter holder. When experimenting with these it is easiest to use a long eye relief eyepiece and simply move the get filter between your eye and the eye lens of the eyepiece. This is actually a great way to assess the impact as you can rapidly move the filter in and out of the view to see the difference it makes without delay. Below are links to the sample book. Many places sell these that cater to stage lighting. There are 2 links, the second "E-Color" version link is for Europeans as it uses their numbering system for color stage lighting filters.
https://www.stagelightingstore.com/swat ... swatchbook
https://www.stagelightingstore.com/colo ... swatchbook
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2021 5:00 pm
by dagadget
You mean like when I did this with a Blue Filter?
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:13 pm
by Makuser
Hi Bill and all. This is a superb article on the use of filters. When I got back into astronomy, I remembered my photographic days and I bought a bundle of filters for my telescopes, as you can see here:
However over time, I found that these are the filters that I find most useful:
The variable polarizing filter is great for reducing the incoming light level from the moon on some nights and may reducing "blooming" from some of the brighter surface objects in your captures. And, it works well on some nights with Jupiter and Saturn.
The Wratten #8 yellow (also called "minus blue" in some photographic or scientific circles) is very handy for daytime images of the moon, as it will darken the blue sky, and may increase the contrast of lunar surface details. It is also useful for increasing the contrast in the maria on Mars.
The Wratten #11 yellow/green also can increase contrast on the moon, and as a bonus may reduce the chromatic aberration of apochromatic refractor telescopes as you approach the lunar limbs.
The Wratten #15 deep yellow can be used to bring out Martian surface features, and the polar ice caps. It can also be used to enhance the orange and red features, bands, and festoons on Jupiter and Saturn.
The Wratten #82A light blue works well on Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and the moon. It's pale blue color enhances areas of low contrast and avoids significant reduction of overall light level at the same time. And here is another bonus. Some users report seeing more details face-on spiral galaxy arms and galactic structure, such as on M51.
Thanks for your great article Bill, and I hope that I have added some useful information too.
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:12 pm
by j.gardavsky
Makuser wrote: ↑Sun Jun 27, 2021 7:13 pm
Hi Bill and all. This is a superb article on the use of filters. When I got back into astronomy, I remembered my photographic days and I bought a bundle of filters for my telescopes, as you can see here:
However over time, I found that these are the filters that I find most useful:
The variable polarizing filter is great for reducing the incoming light level from the moon on some nights and may reducing "blooming" from some of the brighter surface objects in your captures. And, it works well on some nights with Jupiter and Saturn.
The Wratten #8 yellow (also called "minus blue" in some photographic or scientific circles) is very handy for daytime images of the moon, as it will darken the blue sky, and may increase the contrast of lunar surface details. It is also useful for increasing the contrast in the maria on Mars.
The Wratten #11 yellow/green also can increase contrast on the moon, and as a bonus may reduce the chromatic aberration of apochromatic refractor telescopes as you approach the lunar limbs.
The Wratten #15 deep yellow can be used to bring out Martian surface features, and the polar ice caps. It can also be used to enhance the orange and red features, bands, and festoons on Jupiter and Saturn.
The Wratten #82A light blue works well on Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and the moon. It's pale blue color enhances areas of low contrast and avoids significant reduction of overall light level at the same time. And here is another bonus. Some users report seeing more details face-on spiral galaxy arms and galactic structure, such as on M51.
Thanks for your great article Bill, and I hope that I have added some useful information too.
Marshall,
these are very nice sets of the filters, reminding my sets of filters for the classic photography in past.
Since those times, most of my photography filters are gone, keeping the pol filters, the neutral graduals, some KR to kill the skylight, and the Neodymium color contrast enhancers - still useful for digital as well.
Best,
JG
Re: USING FILTERS FOR LUNAR/PLANETARY OBSERVATION
Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2021 9:18 pm
by Bigzmey
Since we are sharing, I have this older set of Celestron filters made in Japan. To my eye they perform to the same level as modern premium color filters like Baader and Lumicon.