moon filters

[Mr Spacely]

why and which are recommended

Thanks

[Caz]

You may find this thread useful http://stargazerslounge.co.uk/index.php?topic=2527.0

Also, its dropped in price: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=bneodymium A bargain!

HTH

Caz

[Mr Spacely]

Thanks

Just wondering though

I do not have much light pollution,so will this still be as effective?

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

Were you in fact refering to neutral density filters which reduce the amount of light getting through the 'scope to make the image brightness more bearable? If so they should all be much of a muchness, as they're not clever filters like narrowband Ha and OIII filters, just an optically flat bit of dirty glass.

Tha answer to your why part Mr. S, is that if you aim a large reflector, for example, at the moon, it collects enough light to make the observer feel that he should have sunglasses on at low power. To combat this the sunglasses are fitted at the input end of the eyepiece and this allows more comfortable viewing. Big aperture 'scopes allow better resolution of detail and therefore will allow high magnifications to be used but even with high magnification the light levels can be too high for comfort.

The type of filter that Caz was refering to cuts down the effect of having a moon roaming the sky, which can reduce the contrast between the stars or nebulae that you want to see and the background sky. The lightened sky effect can be reduced by using the Neodymium filter, the difference is quite marked photographically so I'd expect it to be noticeable visually.

HTH

Captain Chaos

[Mr Spacely]

Were you in fact refering to neutral density filters which reduce the amount of light getting through the 'scope to make the image brightness more bearable?

Captain Chaos

Not sure really :?

Just kept reading about moon filters on here,wasn't sure if it was to make the moon more viewable or to reduce the amount of glare from it to enable to see the stars etc

Thanks for the comprehensive reply

much appreciated

[Caz]

I recommended the Baader filter because thats what I use when I'm observing the moon, it cuts out the moons bright light, but its also excellent for observing nebulae etc, brings out more detail, but if your one of the lucky ones who isn't plagued with orange skies, then perhaps a simple Moon Filter will do you just fine...

http://www.firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=mnd96moon

[Greg]

I would go with Caz and opt for the moon filter...It's a cheap option and if you'r imaging you can use longer exposures to bring out more detail.....

IMHO of course!

[Mr Spacely]

Thanks everyone

Hard work this learning :shock:

From what I can now gather the Baader is more suibtable for reflectors??

Mine is a refractor and only 70mm @ that ,so I guess the baader is not best for my equipment

Moon filter it is then :moon:

[FLO]

The best filters are made from optical glass and are true neautral density filters. That is, they don't effect the colour. They also have thin-walled metal cells (the outer metal part that holds the filter) that don't act as aperture masks.

[Protostar]

Hi Mr Spacely,

There are the polarizing type of Moon filter to consider too.

I like the idea that they are user variable.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320089117385&rd=1&rd=1

Protostar

[FLO]

I have an Astro-Engineering polarizer.

It is fiddly but useful for larger apertures.

[Astroman]

I use a variable polarizing filter on the Moon all the time, especially for public viewing, and I always get comments like, "That's the best view I've seen so far!". User variability is great.