Observing with Astronomik OIII & 150 PDS Newtonian

[Mark at Beaufort]

Yesterday I took delivery of an Astronomik OIII filter and because it was so windy decided to use it on my Skywatcher 150 PDS Newt on the SkyTee 2 mount rather than the 10" Dob.

Being an OIII filter the first object had to be the Veil Neb. I used my 21mm Ethos and could clearly see both parts and after studying the area I could slightly make out Pickering's Triangle. Over to the North American Neb and this has to be the best view I have ever had and I could also make out the Pelican Neb.

Switched to the 13mm Ethos to view M27 (Dumbbell Neb) then over to M76 (Little Dumbbell) and to improved the view I switched to the 8mm Ethos. I am now very pleased with this new filter so I decided on a challenge and headed for the Helix. Well in the 21mm Ethos it was so clearly visible and I felt I could also make out some faint detail. My second major challenge was the California Neb - well I thought I could make out some brightness but perhaps it was wishful thinking. Even the H Beta filter did not produce the goods.

With the sky being so transparent I removed the filters and viewed some old favourites plus a few difficult ones. Viewed M57, M13, M74, M33, M77 and finally NGC 253 (Sculptor Galaxy).

So it shows that a 6" Newt can be a very good DSO scope and that the OIII filter works very well with this size scope.

[cotterless45]

Lovely, certainly if the skies are that good, small aperture produces results,

Nick.

[swamp thing]

Just shows that old saying about O-III filters needing large aperture is just old wives tales. They will work in any scope. Or even no scope at all.

[jkwhinfrey]

Very interesting. I've got a 150PDS and, as has been said, assumed that it was much too small for an OIII filter. Tempted :-))

The sky was crystal clear here last night, but I've never seen the stars flicker that much before. Fine for relatively low power DSO watching by the sound of it.

[John]

Nice report Mark

I've had an Astronomik O-III for a couple of years now and I've found it excellent and effective with all my scopes, even the 4" refractor. The band pass of the filter seems to allow it to perform well in a wide range of apertures. I've used other O-III's that were, for me, too "severe" in smaller apertures though so you need to do your research - which you obviously did

[Paul73]

Nice report Mark

I was out on Tuesday night too. Got reacquainted with M42. Given the good transparency, a squizz at the Veil was on the list, but a short (OK - 90min) spent exploring the Bodes galaxies meant that I missed it (could only get seven which was a bit disappointing).

For some inexplicable reason, I have never tried an OIII on the North American / Pelican nebula. I'll give it a go as I have been struggling to get these convincingly.

You'll have fun with that new filter.

Paul