do i need a eyepiece filter for saturn

[iwols]

hi all using a c8 edge 2.25 barlow and a 13mm eyepiece ,saw saturn for the first time  last night ,although focused well there was little detail ,just a bright circle and bright ring ,do i need some kind of filter to bring out some detail cheers 

[Knighty2112]

I use a blue filter or a green filter sometimes to tease out some details better. I think they work OK when the seeing is good, but others here don't, so it may end up been personal choice, but the filters work well as long as the sky conditions are good. 

[Stu]

51 minutes ago, iwols said:

hi all using a c8 edge 2.25 barlow and a 13mm eyepiece ,saw saturn for the first time  last night ,although focused well there was little detail ,just a bright circle and bright ring ,do i need some kind of filter to bring out some detail cheers 

I've never found that Saturn responds well to filtering. A neodymium filter works well on Jupiter and Mars, but not Saturn for some reason.

With your scope, an unfiltered view on a good night should show you the planet itself with some banding on the surface, the rings, with a clear separation between rings and the surface and then  possibly the Cassini Divison and some other more subtle variations between the rings themselves.

Saturn is low at the moment, so the views are not what they were some years ago, but you can help yourself in a number of ways.

Planetary detail is very susceptible to poor collimation, especially on SCTs so make sure it is as good as you can get. Cooling is another very important factor, so again, ensure your scope is properly cooled. Spend time at the eye piece to pick up the moments of good seeing when the detail really pops into view. It is not uncommon to spend and hour or two looking at each planet to get to see the detail on show.

[iwols]

checked the collimation and that was good,only spent 25 mins or so ,but it was like looking at the sun with a bright band round it,if that makes sense,may have just been a bad night or my tired eyes,although it did look very clear in the sky does anyone know whats the max eye piece i could use with a 2.25 barlow and my c8 ,

[Stu]

I would be looking for around x200 if the seeing is good. That's around  10mm eyepiece, or roughly a 22mm with your Barlow.

Depending upon conditions, a bit lower or higher may be better so try between say x150 and x250 ish

[LukeSkywatcher]

Coloured filters to drag out detail on planets really are a personal choice. If they work or not is up to conditions in the atmosphere. I have a set (my 2nd set) and never use them. They are not something you absolutely need. 

Really the choice to buy them is entirely up to you. Some people swear by them........others dont.

[Dave In Vermont]

Sorry for the late response - so regard this as an addendum:

People's sense of colour is the last major sense to evolve, and still is evolving. It's a work-in-progress. As an example, I know people who don't see the colour red as 'red' - but more 'orange.' So your usage of colour-filters - or any filter for that matter - is highly subjective. Due to this, no "One size fits all" is applicable here.

So I suggest that anyone wishing to try filters for eliciting details out of 'anything' up there be done more as an experiment than as a science with cold, hard facts. As a result of my knowledge in the field, when someone asks me a "What colour-filter works best on such & such?" - the above missive is my caveat and my response rolled-up in one.

Hope this helps -

Dave

 

[Timebandit]

Hello. Personally I don't like using filters but this is a very personal thing. Everyone's eye's are different and what one person likes another one may not. I prefer as natural as view as possible without adding extras so to speak. If you have some friends who have some filters maybe borrow them and see if you like the change in image or not? This way you do not rush and buy filters you may not like or use.                                                                     Also check and double check collimation as this can make all the difference with the quality of image you seee especially when getting detail at higher magnification                   Also the eyepieces you use can make a lot of difference especially at high magnification were detail is being teased out. Stock eyepieces which come with the scope never seem to be of the highest quality. Therefore maybe some better quality eyepieces will help a lot ,if you are still using the stock eyepieces.

 I hope this helps☺

[Mak the Night]

I normally get good views of Saturn up to 250x. However, a Wratten No.11 Yellow Green filter is very good for making the Cassini Division more apparent and genuinely helps with revealing cloud detail. The #11 Yellow Green also helps define the maria on Mars and seems as capable as a neodymium filter for observing Mars in general.

If the Blue 80A and 82A filters are often designated 'Jupiter' filters the #11 could be classified as a 'Saturn' filter in my experience.

Various yellow and orange colours are often good contrast filters and green and blue filters can help reveal detail on Saturn as well as the Martian polar caps.

These TS Optics (Guan Sheng Optical) filters (below) were not particularly expensive but yield good results.

Eastman Kodak Company ~ Transmission of Wratten Filters.pdf

SAS-The-Use-of-Astronomical-Filters1.pdf

[rockystar]

To follow on from Dave's post; I've recently been reading about people who don't have a word for the colour blue, and they find it very difficult to pick out a blue square from a bunch of green ones. However, they have a very well defined scale of green, and can easily pick out squares with different shades of green - whereas others couldn't see a difference.

I think the moral of this tale is just to re-iterate that peoples sense of colour varies and the only thing you can do is try it for yourself.

[Charic]

I don't filter, but have read that a Watten type #80A blue may be of some use on Jupiter ( not seeing other planets st present) I'm also contemplating a Binoviewer, as two eyes can perceive details better than one,  also,  I would like to experience the Moons 3D effect,  often talked about?

We just need perfect conditions, because  if the image is blurry due to conditions,  no additional  equipment can really help the situation.

 From my early years in photography, filtering was about effects and contrast, not correcting  focus.

[Jimtheslim]

Don't rush to spend money on filters. I imagine it is the seeing that is dictating your views. I can look at Saturn as it first comes over the hedge and it looks terrible as I am looking through so much atmospheric turbulence. It gets a lot better as it reaches it highest point. This is still very low but the views are massively improved. Let your scope cool, look at it at it's highest point when seeing conditions are good and trust me you'll not want to start cutting down the amount of light with filters.

[Mak the Night]

This freeware Android app called Planetarium will tell you Saturn's Transit times

[valleyman]

Like already said, don't rush to buy filters.

13mm EP on a 2.25 Barlow is going to bring it down to 5.5mm which I would imagine would be stretching the magnification power on the scope to the limit.

Considering the seeing here in the UK and Saturn being low try looking at Saturn just with the 13mm with no Barlow.  Hopefully you might see a bit more detail.

Pat