ASI120MM for planetary imaging

[Orion1]

I would like to try my ASI120MM guiding camera for planetary imaging. Do I need any filters for the moon like IR-cut?

[LightBucket]

2 minutes ago, Orion1 said:

I would like to try my ASI120MM guiding camera for planetary imaging. Do I need any filters for the moon like IR-cut?

Yes you will need IR cut, but you will also need a set of RGB filters too.... and they should each have built in IR cut..

[Orion1]

4 minutes ago, LightBucket said:

Yes you will need IR cut, but you will also need a set of RGB filters too.... and they should each have built in IR cut..

For mono only IR-cut I necessary?

[LightBucket]

53 minutes ago, Orion1 said:

For mono only IR-cut I necessary?

Hmmm, not 100% sure on that one...  i would have thought so for planetary imaging, but maybe someone can clarify that one...

[vlaiv]

Depends on the scope. If you are using mirrors only system (newtonian, RC, ..) and going mono for the Moon - you don't need any filters.

If you are using refracting elements in optics (refractor, achromat or APO and maybe even SCT or MAK, but not sure about last two), then you will need UV/IR cut filter even for mono.

I might add that if you plan to shoot the moon, depending on your scope, you might want to look into getting some sort of narrow band filter. This will help with seeing. It will not be as good on planets since they have color and you might want to image them in RGB, but still you can get images of planets even with such filter in mono (a bit strange looking ). Filters to check out would be OIII, Halpha, and Baader Continuum (usually used for Solar white light), but these will be more expensive than simple IR/UV cut filter (and more versatile for other uses)