Olll or uhc filter?

[craigfoot]

Hi

Any advice on the best filter to get for my skywatcher 130 telescope to improve my views of nebula etc?

Looking on the flo site it suggests the uhc is better for smaller scopes and the olll for larger, both filters seem to do the same job?

The skywatcher uhc comes in at about 39 quid, and I wouldn't really want to spend much more. Would this be a worthwhile purchase?

Cheers

Craig

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[LukeSkywatcher]

Hi Craig

Your scope is 130 mm aperture. You would get more use out of a UHC filter then an OIII. I have both the Skywatcher UHC and OIII filters which both cost about 30 quid each. They work very well.

The difference between both filters is:

A UHC filter enhances the already visible nebulae (M42 etc), while an OIII filter makes visible those nebulae which are invisible to the naked eye (the Veil nebula etc).

You will get more use from a UHC then you will an OIII.

At about 30-40 quid each for the skywatcher filters................its not a bad idea to get one of each. 

[Dave In Vermont]

It really will boil down to which DSO you plan on observing at any given time. Here's an excellent article from the Prairie Astronomy Club:

http://www.prairieastronomyclub.org/resources/by-dave-knisely/filter-performance-comparisons-for-some-common-nebulae/

David Knisely is considered a leading authority on the use of filters in the pursuit of DSO's.

Enjoy,

Dave

[MarsG76]

I say get both... I have the lumicon UHC and the Celestron OIII filters... Granted I use the UHC more than the OIII for viewing but both are very useful and effective...

If you have to choose one... Go the UHC...

The difference it makes has to be seen to be believed... Using a 11mm Type6 Televue eyepiece, the carina nebula for example, barely had the Nebulosity visible when just using the eyepiece, but with the UHC.. WOW the nebula popped out, there were structures visible.. You have to see it to know, words are not effective enough. Same with the Orion Nebula....

[Knight of Clear Skies]

I believe the usual recommendation is if you go for one filter make it the UHC, as it's the most versatile.

[Dave In Vermont]

The UHC's also will dampen the effects of certain wavelengths of light-pollution. In fact they used to be advertised for this purpose.

Clear nights,

Dave

[Paul73]

+1 for the UHC. Don't expect a night & day difference, but it will help.

Paul

[MarsG76]

+1 for the UHC. Don't expect a night & day difference, but it will help.

Paul

I actually think its pertty close to day & night difference in my 8" on quite a few nebulae...

[Paul73]

I actually think its pertty close to day & night difference in my 8" on quite a few nebulae...

OK. Maybe I was underplaying the benifits a bit.

I was a little underwhelmed by M42. It showed a little more contrast and extension. However, it did show a maked improvement on targets like the Owl and Pacman really stand out.

How is your LP. I'm reasonably dark here so won't get much help from the LP reducing properties of the UHC?

Paul

[Moonshane]

Personally I differ from others in that I rarely use my UHC but often use my Oiii. This is in scopes from 80-400mm in aperture. My favourite target for Oiii is the Veil nebula which is simply invisible from home without it. Other targets like M27,M97 and M57 are all enhanced in terms of apparent brightness but don't expect photographic views unless you have very dark skies. Colour is even rarer even with dark skies and large aperture.

Are they worth it? Yes I think so but if you can try before you buy this might help you decide.

[John]

Personally I differ from others in that I rarely use my UHC but often use my Oiii. This is in scopes from 80-400mm in aperture. My favourite target for Oiii is the Veil nebula which is simply invisible from home without it. Other targets like M27,M97 and M57 are all enhanced in terms of apparent brightness but don't expect photographic views unless you have very dark skies. Colour is even rarer even with dark skies and large aperture.

Are they worth it? Yes I think so but if you can try before you buy this might help you decide.

I tend to adopt Shanes approach as well.

For a long time an O-III filter was the only one I owned and used with all my scopes from 4" to 12" in aperture. I have a UHC-type now which is seeing some use when I want more subtle effects but it's the O-III I turn to where the impact it makes is really substantial. Sometimes the difference between seeing something rather nice and seeing virtually nothing at all

[mikeDnight]

I like both but find that in smaller aperture scopes the OIII blocks out starlight, so you just see the nebulosity and may be the very brightest stars. If I were to choose just one it would be the UHC, as it is more useful on a greater number of objects. Right now the north american nebula and pelican nebula are well placed for observation, and would look great in your scope through a UHC filter, as they are large and set against the starry backdrop of the milkyway in Cygnus. Yóu could spend the whole night just studying these two amazing nebulae in your 5" scope.

Mike

[ronl]

I too find the UHC gets the most use, buy the UHC first, then you will see 

if the O-III is needed at a later date, both filters are very useful though.

[craigfoot]

Thanks for all the advice. . Quite a few nebula mentioned that I've never heard of too. . Are they all "m" objects or is there somewhere else I can find out about these?

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[Stu]

They are mainly NGC rather than Messier.

The Owl is M97

The Pacman is NGC281

The North America Nebula (NAN) is NGC7000

Finally the Veil has a number of different classifications because it is very big. The main ones are NGC6960, 6995 and 6979.

[swamp thing]

OK. Maybe I was underplaying the benifits a bit.

How is your LP. I'm reasonably dark here so won't get much help from the LP reducing properties of the UHC?

Paul

Not sure I completely agree with this.

Even from very dark skies in mid Wales filters make a BIG difference TBH and I for one never observe nebulae without them.

Moisture and pollutants in the atmosphere can scatter light from anything including the brighter stars, filters help remove this and thus improve contrast.

They kind of make fantastic views into super fantastic ones. 

[craigfoot]

They are mainly NGC rather than Messier.

The Owl is M97

The Pacman is NGC281

The North America Nebula (NAN) is NGC7000

Finally the Veil has a number of different classifications because it is very big. The main ones are NGC6960, 6995 and 6979.

Ah great thanks. . What's the best way to locate these as I've always used turn left at Orion, but without looking does this not only have the messier objects?

I guess stellarium would be a good start.

But can I find a list of interesting nebula somewhere?

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[John]

The Caldwell Catalogue is a good place to start:

http://astropixels.com/caldwell/caldwellcat.html

I've found the Sky & Telescope Pocket Star Atlas an excellent resource for finding these objects. A Telrad / Rigel finder combined with an optical finder (right angled for me) help the finding process immensely as well and I see you alreadey have those

[craigfoot]

Yes and sky and telescope pocket atlas arrived yesterday. Though no initial glance it looks very daunting and confusing!

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[John]

Yes and sky and telescope pocket atlas arrived yesterday. Though no initial glance it looks very daunting and confusing!

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The thing I found useful was to pick a constellation that is well placed and use the atlas to explore whats in that area. Stellarium is good for having a general idea of whats up at a particular place and time but the Pocket Sky Atlas has the detail needed to pinpoint something.

Try and give yourself some easy wins to build your confidence. Some of the objects in the atlas are very faint and diffuse so don't get down it you can't find something. Just pick something else in that area.

[Stu]

Stellarium is good, I prefer SkySafari on a mobile though, more detail.

EDIT

John's point is very valid though. Looking at some of the objects in S&T Pocket Atlas, they may seem large and as if they are easy to see. The bizarre thing is that the larger an object is, the fainter you will normally find it to be. Many of the larger nebulae are bright, but the light from them is spread out over a large area so they have low surface brightness and are hard to pick out from the light pollution.

Some of the easier to see objects are things like the globular clusters or the brighter planetary nebulae which are small, but their light is more concentrated so they stand out from the sky background better.

[craigfoot]

Good points. Bigger not always easier is one to remember. And like the idea of just looking round a particular constellation using the atlas to locate things.

Really want a filter now to start exploring more!

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[Dave In Vermont]

Here's a link to a download page for some wonderful - FREE - software-programs to help you find Caldwell objects, and more. It's the one marked TCOL. And there's also one for Messier objects called TUMOL:

http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/software.html

And here's the front door:

http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/

All kinds of great, free software-programs are lurking on the web. If you know where to look.

Have fun!

Dave

[Dom1961]

I've recently got an Astronomik OIII, so far I've used it to look at the veil (which was amazing), enhance the ring nebula (the ring shape was more defined) and look at the owl (which I could hardly make out the eyes, it looked like a ball). So far I think it is great, however I find it hard to focus when I have the filter in, also the stars don't look as clean as without the filter (something that Astronomik advertised as one of the benefits that stars will look the same) but overall I think it's good.

[craigfoot]

Here's a link to a download page for some wonderful - FREE - software-programs to help you find Caldwell objects, and more. It's the one marked TCOL. And there's also one for Messier objects called TUMOL:

http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/software.html

And here's the front door:

http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/

All kinds of great, free software-programs are lurking on the web. If you know where to look.

Have fun!

Dave

I take it this is pc software?

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