Starting Planetary filter collection

[alan potts]

It is interesting that you were blown away by M42, this was one of the first targets that I pointed the 18 inch inch at and I still can't breath properly, with even a Ethos FOV most of it gets filled with nebulosity, it just happened to be one of the best seeing nights I have had. I even saw the Flame nebula as plain as day, never even though about looking at horses though.

The reason I got the Mars A was it is a planet that I have never really taken too for some unknown reason, I think it is because it always requires a least X250 to see anything and seeing rarely lets one use this, to push to at least X300 is better. I tried Mercury last night but above X200 it was a nightmare, this of course you always have to view through a thick slice of the Earth's atmosphere, you are never going to view this at the zenith unless you are in daylight. It crossed my mind to try the filter but in view of the fact that I could bearly focus and I had a blue and red disc showing about 45% ( I think ), it was sort of difficult to see that anything would help this case.

Anyway lets come back to the table with our reports when Mars comes around, the very sad thing is it is going to be low in the UK which will not help one bit, though it will show a little better from here but will not better 32 degrees above the horizon. 

Alan

[Mak the Night]

Yeah, there are some memorable moments that are produced by just the right circumstances. Before the Delos I'd never got a good view of M42 above 70-80x. I know Mars will be low. I just hope my filter takes that into account lol.

[Mak the Night]

I've come across a little bit more blurb, I mean info, about the TV Bandmate and Mars filters.

    
BPL-0125 – Bandmate™ Planetary Filter
The new Bandmate Planetary is a 1.25” dual-band dielectric filter similar to our Mars Type-A.  It maintains the exceptional contrast of the Type-A with a more neutral color balance that particularly enhances viewing Jupiter and Saturn.  Every one is tested at high power to ensure image perfection.

Bandmate™ filters yield bright, sharp and contrasty images — even in the optically sensitive position in front of the diagonal. Optical quality ground and polished BK-7 substrate means no loss of sharpness - even when used in front of mirror diagonals.

As part of our 100% quality control, every single filter is checked optically and cosmetically to assure performance. Every filter is individually serialized. (sic) ~

http://www.eyepiecesetc.com/TELEVUE_BANDMATE_PLANETARY_FILTER_1_25_p/4500100.htm

Tele Vue offers two contrast enhancing filters specifically designed for viewing Mars, but also quite useful on Jupiter. Why two filters? Traditionally, standard colored filters have been used to bring out detail on the planet's surface. The main drawback is the artificial color imposed on all planetary features.

Bandmate Mars Type-A Filters:

We all know you can't have your cake and eat it too, but the Bandmate Mars Type-A filter lets you at least have a good taste! The Type-A is a dual band filter with different dielectric coatings on each side of the substrate. The dual band nature of the filter permits green and red through while rejecting all other visible colors. The effect is to enhance detail on the Martian surface while preserving the natural color of the polar caps and rest of the surface. Since this filter provides a most natural view, it is highly recommended for public viewing.

http://www.astroshop.eu/televue-1-25-type-a-mars-filter/p,16882#tab_bar_0_select

In 'specifications' (Astroshop.eu) it claims the Mars Type-A is also effective on Jupiter. I'm pretty convinced the Mars A & B filters were a marketing disaster, I'm confused anyway, so most people probably were as well. The new Bandmate was probably intended to dispel much of the confusion as to what these filters actually were for and what they could do. From what I can gather the Bandmate is similar to the Mars-A but more general purpose usage to include Saturn (possibly).

As ever, nothing new here with astronomical filters, with everyone either confused or having very differing subjective experiences. lol

[GavStar]

I've purchased both the Mars A and B filters recently ready for the Mars opposition. Like Alan I have struggled getting good views of Mars in the past so am hoping these will do something useful. However I did have the tv planetary filter and much preferred my Baader filter on Jupiter so sold the tv. Therefore Im not going to get too excited about the Mars filters yet.

[alan potts]

Mak the Night,

I am pleased you posted that as I almost bought a Planetary the other week that was on offer at 80 quid secondhand, now I am pleased I didn't as by their own words they are similar. If this is the case i am not that pleased with Jupiter and feel much the same a John did when he bought one. I will give it a try in the 18 inch to see if that helps at all, though views with that scope hardly need any filter as you just stand and take in the stunningly detailed picture before you.

At least I am sort of looking forward to Mars, I think for the very first time, you never know I might even look for the B type filter

[John]

I'll probably need a TL filter to see Mars at all at this coming opposition. TL = tall ladder

[Mak the Night]

3 hours ago, alan potts said:

Mak the Night,

I am pleased you posted that as I almost bought a Planetary the other week that was on offer at 80 quid secondhand, now I am pleased I didn't as by their own words they are similar. If this is the case i am not that pleased with Jupiter and feel much the same a John did when he bought one. I will give it a try in the 18 inch to see if that helps at all, though views with that scope hardly need any filter as you just stand and take in the stunningly detailed picture before you.

At least I am sort of looking forward to Mars, I think for the very first time, you never know I might even look for the B type filter

I was curious after reading a lot of posts about the TV filters on other forums. So, with the help of K-Meleon's Multisearch capability, I seriously googleficated a lot about them. So I came upon those pages. I think the Mars B was the least successful filter commercially, and I've also read that the early Mars A filters were less aggressive than later ones. I don't really know if this is true or not though.

From what I can gather, TeleVue released these Mars filters, either before, after or concomitantly with the standard Bandmate Planetary, and they were not the success that they had hoped for. I actually remember when the Mars A & B were displayed on the TeleVue site. It seems the Mars A was slightly more popular, possibly due to it having an inherent flexibility for viewing more than just Mars. In the end they ceased distributing or manufacturing the Mars B at some point. Closely followed by the Mars A, although this is conjecture on my part based on the fact the Mars A seemed to have a slightly greater longevity from what I've read. Either way, TV decided to cut their losses and stick with a non-specific Planetary Bandmate, with its similarities to the Mars A, but greater flexibility and so possibly better marketability.  

I think we both had to decide to pull the trigger at some point with our respective filters, particularly with the Opposition looming. I did think about the possible efficacy of these filters a long time before I made the decision to buy the Bandmate. At least we're both going to have filters for Mars at Opposition! That's something. lol

[N3ptune]

Hello I just want to say I bought the Baader Moon&Skyglow at last and it's amazing a great choice. Many good reviews for it.

I tried it on Jupiter yesterday and I could see new things, especially the blue festoons. Seeing the blue features of Jupiter was one of my goal which has been accomplished (: Also, on the moon the filter helps my eyes to see more details on the various objects, another big improvement. Unfortunately seeing was bad and I can't wait for a better night to try the filter again!

--> This is a sketch I did of jupiter last night. The darker parts, the festoons are the new things I could see with this filter. (: inside the great red spot and inside the north equatorial belt.

A few pictures of the filter.. just for informations:

This one is against my Oiii filter.. Moon&skyglow is to the left.

[John]

Good result and a nice report with illustrations !

Festoons also traverse the pale equatorial zone, usually eminating from the NEB - did you see any of those ?

 

[N3ptune]

John

Hemm I know what you mean, but no, it was impossible to see any festoons or any details inside the pale equatorial zone, I never saw anything inside that zone yet. The filter improve the details I already see and I was thinking, maybe, the aperture of my instrument is not large enough to get the details from these pales regions.. 

on the other hand I still can see a lot of interesting things on Jupiter.

(:

[N3ptune]

I

On 2016-04-16 at 16:56, John said:

Good result and a nice report with illustrations !

Festoons also traverse the pale equatorial zone, usually eminating from the NEB - did you see any of those ?

 

Hello John,

yesterday I have discovered that my weaker eye, the left one, was capable of a more steadier, stable focus on Jupiter then the right one.. ?! it's confusing but nevertheless I had a strong deep view of the planet and I saw some dark bluish parts coming out from the north equatorial band and spreading right into the pale equatorial region, like you said to me,

--> What was interesting is that I was NOT able to see those with my right eye which is supposed to be stronger, it was not able to remain stable long enough to catch these faint details.

This is a fast sketch I did using 212x with the Neodymium filter, with my left eye, illustrating the presumed new festoons I saw. (;

(An upside down Newtonian image)

[Special K]

In my opinion given the low cost for a set of color filters it's nice to have them around. I like to experiment and lately found my #12 yellow super useful to detect a moon transit against Jupiter.  I plan to use #21 on Mars out of interest. 

Best planet filter I've used on Venus is a uhc which is SHOCKINGLY good

[Mak the Night]

3 hours ago, Special K said:

In my opinion given the low cost for a set of color filters it's nice to have them around. I like to experiment and lately found my #12 yellow super useful to detect a moon transit against Jupiter.  I plan to use #21 on Mars out of interest. 

Best planet filter I've used on Venus is a uhc which is SHOCKINGLY good

I've read of others using a UHC on Venus and getting good results. I'm guessing you're using an aperture of around 150mm or above though.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, Mak the Night said:

I've read of others using a UHC on Venus and getting good results. I'm guessing you're using an aperture of around 150mm or above though.

A UHC can be useful on smaller scopes, and particularly on Venus which is very bright.

[Mak the Night]

22 minutes ago, Stu said:

A UHC can be useful on smaller scopes, and particularly on Venus which is very bright.

OK thanks. It's an interesting idea. In twilight conditions I'm convinced I've seen different colourations on Venus's surface, which is mostly gaseous I believe. This was with a 130mm scope though. I don't ever recall seeing anything similar with a 102mm scope.

[Special K]

Hi Mak, aperture won't matter as Venus is glaringly bright. The UHC tones it down very nicely and views in the ED80 are superb.  I've not had a shot at Venus in the Kettle Drum 152 yet  

I've yet to see any detail so good on you if detecting colours.  I just get a thrill out of seeing a phase!

 

[Mak the Night]

2 hours ago, Special K said:

Hi Mak, aperture won't matter as Venus is glaringly bright. The UHC tones it down very nicely and views in the ED80 are superb.  I've not had a shot at Venus in the Kettle Drum 152 yet  

I've yet to see any detail so good on you if detecting colours.  I just get a thrill out of seeing a phase!

 

OK thanks. I've only ever seen detail with my 130mm scope. I was observing Venus setting in twilight. I live on the edge of the greenbelt and there isn't much light pollution to the south and the west of me, so that may have been a factor. I'm pretty sure I could discern darker & lighter green patches on the surface of Venus. I thought I was imagining it at first but others have seen the same thing. The seeing was well above average though as Jupiter was pretty good at around the same time.

[cs1cjc]

On 26/04/2016 at 11:07, Mak the Night said:

OK thanks. I've only ever seen detail with my 130mm scope. I was observing Venus setting in twilight. I live on the edge of the greenbelt and there isn't much light pollution to the south and the west of me, so that may have been a factor. I'm pretty sure I could discern darker & lighter green patches on the surface of Venus. I thought I was imagining it at first but others have seen the same thing. The seeing was well above average though as Jupiter was pretty good at around the same time.

Light pollution is not normally an issue when viewing planets, which are bright and so will outshine any gllow due to ;ight polution.  Indeed the best views are obtained with the eye unadapted to the dark, because the visual ocuity of colour vision via cone recptors is is higher than that of monochrome vision via rels. Quality of seeing, and particularly image stability are important because planetary viewing is done at high power, magnifying any distortion.

[Mak the Night]

1 hour ago, cs1cjc said:

Light pollution is not normally an issue when viewing planets, which are bright and so will outshine any gllow due to ;ight polution.  Indeed the best views are obtained with the eye unadapted to the dark, because the visual ocuity of colour vision via cone recptors is is higher than that of monochrome vision via rels. Quality of seeing, and particularly image stability are important because planetary viewing is done at high power, magnifying any distortion.

That's an interesting point, because I was observing during twilight anyway, so LP was probably not a factor really. In fact, IIRC, when I first got Venus (and then Jupiter) in frame the background sky was blue! Jupiter is notoriously difficult to see detail on sometimes during night time and I've often speculated on that being partly because of its high albedo contrasted or compared to its surrounding background. It must be similar with Venus, which is even brighter, although with less detail. I'm going to have to experiment more with filters now I think lol.