Light pollution/nebula filters

[petermarknimmo]

Browsing the telescope house website, I have noticed there are a number of so called light pollution/nebula filters that claim to cut down the effects of light pollution and enhance deep sky objects. I am curious to know if these actually work, because they claim to block the wavelengths of mercury etc emmitted from streetlights, but then surely they must also block the light from deep sky objects?

Living in a light polluted area, it would be great if these did actually work, but I am just a bit weary of some of the claims the manufacturers are making. Would anybody be able to tell me if these actually work?

Thanks.

[Tribal-Wolf]

I have just bought a Baader neodymium filter for this purpose which arrived this morning so once I have a chance to try it I will gladly let you know.

[rfdesigner]

check out this excellent independant analysis

Astronomical filter curves

(I have a Lumicon Deep Sky filter.. looking through it at night is like having your own personal power cut!)

Derek

[swamp thing]

Hi

Not entirely convinced by LP filters. They work pretty well photographically though.

Visually both the UHC and O-III work. And work well.

The H-beta also works well but has fewer objects that it works well on.

Regards Steve

[Tribal-Wolf]

I can't get it out of the flipping box lol.

Edit.

No swearing T-W

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Guys, from the filter curves posted by Derek, there seems little to choose from, the vertical lines are the Red, Green, Blue for what the eye can see (I think)- so I would have thought that any other "visual" block would be undetectable to the human eye - so any filter that blocks everything else except RGB would be ideal - so the cheaper UV/IR filters do the same thing (I also think) please help me on this, not too sure - is this why the Neodymium filter now has enhanced UV/IR to justify the price!!. Paul.

[David Smith]

I bought an OIII, UHC and Neodymium recently. Neodymium works really well visually with planets such as Mars and Jupiter, helping to bring up some of the detail. UHC does a nice job with the Orion nebula and some other objects as well. OIII I have used less as it is a more specialised filter. On the few objects I have tried it I would say the jury is still out. The view is different but whether it is "better" I am not sure at this stage. I am however looking forward to trying these on objects like the ring, helix and dumbell nebulae.

[DOBBY]

OIII might be a bit strong for a 10 inch

[barkis]

check out this excellent independant analysis

Astronomical filter curves

(I have a Lumicon Deep Sky filter.. looking through it at night is like having your own personal power cut!)

Derek

I have one of those LPR filters Derek. It's a 2" one. Cost almost a ton at Fullerscopes years ago.

I have a lot of Sodium pests around my home, and they disappear with this baby.

Ron.

[steve_bham]

I've seen some guys on cloudy nights talking about how they used the OIII filter in a small scope 4"-5" and had good results? Is that because they have better seeing ?

[David Smith]

OIII is quite dark in my 250mm, so can't imagine being able to see much at all in a 100 - 125mm scopw. Mind you there is a huge amount of extraneous light where I am so with good dark adaptation this might change a bit.

[Nibor]

I can't get it out of the flipping box lol.

Edit.

No swearing T-W

And I thought that I was the only one who had this issue!!!

[LukeSkywatcher]

This really does work well:

First Light Optics - Skywatcher Light Pollution Filter

[swamp thing]

I use an O-III in my 10" with no problems at all.

You can even use it held up to your naked eye at really dark skies.

Regards Steve

[RikM]

I have SkyWatcher LPR filters in both 1.25" and 2". The 2" is a virtual necessity for imaging. It lives on the end of my coma corrector. The 1.25" is very subtle visually. Where I do use it, is with the Moon and Jupiter (yet to try Mars or Saturn) on some nights it really helps to up the contrast or limit the effects of seeing or does something that makes detail easier to see.

I also have an Astronomic UHC and this makes quite a difference to the visibility of nebulae like the Orion nebula. I am really very impressed with this filter. I am going to use it over the summer and see what sort of enhancement it makes with some of the planetaries and the vail and then decide if I get an Oiii or not.

[Tribal-Wolf]

I can't get it out of the flipping box lol.

Edit.

No swearing T-W

Hey it was good enough for Father Ted lol

[umadog]

The OIII works well in my 10" too. The trick with these narrow-band filters it to be well dark adapted. If you live somewhere with direct street lights then you need to use an eye patch and observe under a sheet. The UHC is probably a better starting point, however.

There are some impressive objects which go from invisible to visible when you use a UHC or an OIII. The Veil and N. America nebulae are prime suspects in this regard. Even from Bortle 1 skies I would use a filter on those objects. Another that is helped a lot is NGC 1514. Plenty of objects look better with a filter, such as M8, even though they are quite visible without.

[rwilkey]

I can't get it out of the flipping box lol.

Edit.

No swearing T-W

Push out the tray from the back, I usually break off the hanger phlange so that it fits in my case better, but it is difficult to open first of all, have you broken the label across the top at the front, not sure why Baader seal it like this? Once opened you shouldn't have any further trouble, the padding inside is what makes it problematic.

[petermarknimmo]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[Eastridge]

As different sources of LP have different spectrums FLO suggested to me buy one, try it & if it doesn't work return it and try the other.

I got a baader neo & when (like all it seems) I eventually got it out of the box & held it up to the sky by moonlight & artificaial lights it definately makes the sky look darker. Not had much chance to do comparatiobe with / without testing as cloudy.

[Tribal-Wolf]

Push out the tray from the back, I usually break off the hanger phlange so that it fits in my case better, but it is difficult to open first of all, have you broken the label across the top at the front, not sure why Baader seal it like this? Once opened you shouldn't have any further trouble, the padding inside is what makes it problematic.

Thanks, I got it eventually, it was the label I hadn't split. It was one of those things where I didn't want to force it and have something break lol

[rwilkey]

They're well packed aren't they Chris!

[rory]

Is it fair to assume it wouldn't really benefit small apeture scopes, I have a 90mm refractor, would I be better waiting until I get a bigger scope ?

[rwilkey]

Hi Rory, my wife has a Meade 90mm refractor and regularly uses the Baader Neodynium filter, yes, it makes the sky darker, but views of stars are pin-sharp as you'd expect, the filter is also good for the Moon and bright planets.

[rory]

Oh, that's good to know, thanks robin .