Skyglow?

[wibblefish]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask….

I finally got to mess around with the telescope and tried out a uhc and oiii filter which were great.

One of the most noticeable parts I felt was that it darkened my normally bluish bright sky and made the stars stand out more. I live in Bortle 5 but it is very bright in the middle of the town and I have street lights and security lights ina few directions.
 

It got me thinking is it worth investing in some sort of filter to sit in the diagonal to decrease the skyglow? What might be best? UHC-S(I think that might be the one Ive heard about), standard broad light pollution filter, Baader Neodymium?  Would a 105mm refractor lose to much light to fuss over?

Any advice appreciated

[RT65CB-SWL]

I think the Baader Neodymium would work. That said, I have not tried both the UHC & Neodymium, (i.e. one in the diagonal and one in the eyepiece), combined for a long time and the Neodymium is my most used filter. My sky is between Bortle 6 & 5.

[wibblefish]

52 minutes ago, Philip R said:

I think the Baader Neodymium would work. That said, I have not tried both the UHC & Neodymium, (i.e. one in the diagonal and one in the eyepiece), combined for a long time and the Neodymium is my most used filter. My sky is between Bortle 6 & 5.

Yeah I keep reading reviews of them and wondering. I used to have a semi-apo in the filter of my old achromat 90mm and that did alot for both the scope and skyglow so maybe the baader may work out.

[Franklin]

Baader semi-apo is a Neodymium filter with an added minus violet element, both are great filters.

[wibblefish]

Just now, Franklin said:

Baader semi-apo is a Neodymium filter with an added minus violet element, both are great filters.

Ah that’s interesting I sold it with the achro as I now have an ED which shouldn’t need the fringe killing

[Franklin]

Yes, I did the same when I got an ED, but mine is an FPL51 so there is still a bit of CA at high powers on bright stuff. So I got another semi-apo filter which I use for skyglow as well as any residual CA. It's a good all purpose filter in my book, good for planetary contrast as well, better than all those coloured filters anyway.

[wibblefish]

5 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Yes, I did the same when I got an ED, but mine is an FPL51 so there is still a bit of CA at high powers on bright stuff. So I got another semi-apo filter which I use for skyglow as well as any residual CA. It's a good all purpose filter in my book, good for planetary contrast as well, better than all those coloured filters anyway.

Aye mine is a FPL51, I haven’t noticed any CA yet but with only one night under my belt with it I haven’t maybe tried it at high mag on brighter targets

Oh well I will see what to do as I continue to play with it! 

[Franklin]

Yes, it's only slight, like on the Moons limb and Jupiter and Venus. I think it would only be a concern if you were to image with the scope.

Certainly nothing like a fast achro, the ED FPL51s are a major improvement.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Franklin