moon filter

[Marcel]

Hi there, Please let me know what type and brand i need for observing the moon?

thankxxxx

[rockystar]

You don't need a filter for observing the moon, you can't do yourself any harm.  And many will say they don't use one at all. 

Personally I find it a bit bright and so use a variable polarising filter. 

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/moon-ne

 

[celestron8g8]

Some people use a variable moon filter , that's one you can rotate to adjust the darkness or lightness of your view . 

Others like me use a standard Neutral Density 13% filter . 

Depending the size of your eye-piece you have determines the size of the filter you get , 2" or 1.25" . Price is determined which one and which size you need . 

[jabeoo1]

14 minutes ago, Marcel said:

Hi there, Please let me know what type and brand i need for observing the moon?

thankxxxx

I found the Baader Neutral density filter (0.9 Standard) was really nice for giving great contrast and not leaving me night blind by the glare. 

[Ruud]

No need at all. The Moon is about as bright as asphalt in direct sunlight.

There's also that the higher the magnification you use, the darker the Moon's surface will look.

[celestron8g8]

Those that don't need a filter let me ask you this . After you observe the full moon without a filter for more than a couple minutes at a time , when you look away from the scope how long before that big black spot disappears from your night vision ? With my C8 SCT using a 32mm Plossi without a moon filter blinds me for a short period of time , with a filter I have no problems . Sure you can look at the moon when observing without a filter but it's when you look away that effects you . When i'm at a dark place I don't need a blinding eye so I can see where i'm going and not step on something like a snake when waking around . I will not look at the moon in my scope without a filter . However if the OP wishes to do either way it's their choice but becareful when looking away from the EP !!

[Ruud]

6 minutes ago, celestron8g8 said:

Those that don't need a filter let me ask you this . After you observe the full moon without a filter for more than a couple minutes at a time , when you look away from the scope how long before that big black spot disappears from your night vision ? With my C8 SCT using a 32mm Plossi without a moon filter blinds me for a short period of time , with a filter I have no problems . Sure you can look at the moon when observing without a filter but it's when you look away that effects you . When i'm at a dark place I don't need a blinding eye so I can see where i'm going and not step on something like a snake when waking around . I will not look at the moon in my scope without a filter . However if the OP wishes to do either way it's their choice but becareful when looking away from the EP !!

It really isn't much of an issue for me. At high magnifications there is no blinding, at low magnifications there is some, but it disappears pretty fast and it affects  only one eye anyway. 

For me the Moon is comfortable t observe as it is. The OP could perform an inexpensive experiment: try if the image improves when viewed through sunglasses. Also try at which magnification the image becomes to dark for viewing through sunglasses.

[John]

I don't find the need for filters when observing the moon either. My scopes range from 70mm to 300mm in aperture. I don't find myself blinded or get dark spots. I don't tend to go searching for faint deep sky objects immediately after observing the moon of course. I do have a couple of filters just in case I need them when doing outreach but I rarely get asked to be honest.

I tend to observe the lunar surface at higher magnifications which keeps the brightness of the image in check.

If the moon is in the sky when a planet is also around it can be useful to observe the moon and then switch to the planet. I find that the undilated pupil helps to pick out colour tints and subtle contrast features better

These are just my findings during the 35+ years I've been observing. "Your mileage may vary" as they say

[RT65CB-SWL]

I use this type of variable polarising/Moon/lunar filter ---> 

I usually screw one of the filters into my star-diagonal and leave the other screwed to the eyepiece holder. Saves time when swapping my Plossl & Ortho + Nagler 3-6mm zoom e/p's and no cross-threads.

[Marcel]

23 hours ago, Marcel said:

So, interesting discussion here. In my opinion i need a filter because it affect my view. Thankxxx for the comments!

 

[niallk]

Fwiw, I don't use any filter when I observe the Moon with my 15" dob - and I haven't gone blind yet 

However, if I'm out to look at DSOs, I'll completely avoid it - and anything else bright.

[swamp thing]

48 minutes ago, niallk said:

 

if I'm out to look at DSOs, I'll completely avoid it - and anything else bright.

For some strange reason that is my approach too

 

[Louis D]

I've found a binoviewer gets rid of the over stimulation better than a moon filter because

1. It cuts the light 50% to each eye, and
2. Each eye sees the same bright image rather than one seeing the dark backside of your eyelid.

I also find I can easily pick out find detail on the face of the full moon with binoviewers where I can't pick out much of anything in monovision.  You also get a really cool ball hanging in space 3D effect after a while.

[N3ptune]

At higher power like 143x 166x and 212x on the moon, I observe with 2 strong LED flash lights one pointing the tube and the other one pointing the back of my car (or even better the light of the house). Using a color filters can do a good job at dimming the light too, some colors are very nice to use with a bright moon.

I have a Orion variable polarizing filter but I hardly use it now because it's cutting too much overall resolution at higher power, it's a double filter but with a low power eyepiece like 40x, 50x it's quite good. Problem is, I seldom look at the moon using low power. ?

My variable polarizing is always in my filter case.. I feel safe owning one. If you think the moon is too bright for your taste, just get moon filter.

[Paz]

You don't have to have a filter for moon observing so don't fee like you are missing out if you don't have one.

Most of the time I observe the moon without a filter, and that's with scopes from 80mm to 350mm.

That said, here's what I do with filters when I do use them...At low magnifications sometimes I use a ND0.9 filter to reduce the brightness, and if viewing in daylight sometimes I use a single polarising filter. Other than that sometimes colour filters help to highlight different features to my eyes but they don't help to show any more detail, in fact I find they show less fine detail, but sometimes I'll notice a feature with a colour filter that I had not noticed before and then I'll go back to no filter to see the most detail.