Filters + lenses...

[Steve Swancott]

Hi all I got my scope out for about 3 hours and was happily observing  M42 through my SW 200p (first time viewing orion) and well it appeared a grey. Now I know through scopes like this and pretty much all you cannot get views like Hubble where M42 appears a nice blue/ purple, so I didn't know if you used a larger lens with filters would this colour come through, not necessarily just for m42 but..

Well yes basicly, can you see more detail + colour with filters I suppose the general question is!

Cheers,

Steve

[davefrance]

There is a difference in what the eye can see and what the camera sensor can record. Our eyes are not so sensitive to coloured light in the dark so we tend to see things more monochrome. Camera sensors can pick out the colour more readily and the experienced guys on here know how to bring out the detail and colour to further enhance the picture. Filters may give some overall colour to your viewing and may enhance certain aspects of a planet for instance, but will also reduce the available light so you may end up seeing less detail.

[Charic]

Steve.........my first attempt at M42 over the weekend, and likewise the same results, grey swirls of galactic cloud, Just brilliant. However, as davefrance points out, our eyes are just not adaptable to the colour spectrum's from deep space. taking 200-300 photographs and submitting that to stacking software will bring out the colours. I believe if you put on a green filter you`ll see a green cloud, and blue filter, a blue cloud and so on. CCD sensors, webcams and the like will get you what you desire, but on a Dobsonian like mine, that's a difficult task for timed exposures without blurring the image, due to the push-to nature of the telescope. You haven't said your type of SW200P Skyliner or Explorer. If its an explorer, that your halfway there, as you`ll be able to track.

The book by Steve Richards, making Every Photon Count, is a great source of reference for astro-photography.

Just had to double check Steve's name, as that Star is extremely close to the 'v' spelling Steye on my book.

[LukeSkywatcher]

In a nutshell, the answer is NO. All DSO's will appear as shades of grey (i dare say 50 shades of grey). It really doesnt matter about filters. They are so far away and the light from them is so faint (even with scopes), that they will always appear grey. The human eye just cant detect colour at these vast distances.

Planets on the other hand are a hell of a lot closer and we can see colour in them (even with the naked eye). Some people say certain coloured filters increase/enhance colour and detail,contrast with the planets.............but i cant see any difference.

For observing Nebulae, there are a couple of filters that work to enhance detail etc.

1/UHC filter: enhances the available light on certain nebulae such as the M42 (the ones you can see in a scope without any filter)

2/ Oiii filter: Allows you to see nebulae that you would not normally see such as The Rosette,Veil ( in a scope without any filter)

Some people claim to say that they can see a bit of colour in the likes of M42. I dont doubt this. Its mostly women who say this and i believe that women have more of the right type of cones or rods in their eyes (not sure which), that allows them to detect colour more then men do/can.

[Steve Swancott]

i just realised that I sounded unimpressed, which is completely wrong, I loved it

Thanks you for all replies, really helps

[AndyWB]

This might be useful: http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/ 

Personally, I do see M42 as a shade of green, which I'm worried about now...

I do find that some filters help with detail on Jupiter - they just enhance the contrast, and it's not like brightness is a problem...