The magic filter

[RobertI]

How do you turn a budget Heritage 130P into a light bucket? Get an OIII filter! Last night was wonderfully transparent but with so little time I decided to take out my quickest setup - the H130P on a mini-giro. I thought it would be good conditions to try some nebulae so started with the Veil at 30x. Meh. Disappointing, I could barely make it out, so popped in the OIII filter and the transformation was remarkable, with the Eastern Veil popping out extremely brightly, the pointed Western Veil easily visible and also Pickering's Triangle. Always a delight the Veil, there's something special about it, and it was like the filter was revealing a celestial secret, only visible to those with the magic filter! 

Next was the the Dumbell, without the OIII I could see the apple core shape, but with the OIII the wings became visible against the darkened sky. I kept comparing the views with and without the filter, and it's remarkable how the nebula seems to get brighter with the filter - I know it's an illusion of contrast, but it really does seem to get brighter.

Finally I thought I would try my Nemesis - the Crescent Nebula. I have struggled with this over the years, and I did finally manage to see the brighter portion very faintly last year (cannot remember what instrument I used) but it was not satisfying. But this time I could easily make out the full extent of the nebula - yes it was an ill defined blob, no crescent shape, but definitely the full nebula as I am now well acquainted with the field stars around the nebula! I think a bigger scope would have revealed something special, but alas, I had run out of time, and time for bed. 

[CraigT82]

Nice session by the sounds of it. Absolutely love my H130p, maybe I should get an Oiii filter 🤔

[badhex]

10 hours ago, RobertI said:

How do you turn a budget Heritage 130P into a light bucket? Get an OIII filter! Last night was wonderfully transparent but with so little time I decided to take out my quickest setup - the H130P on a mini-giro. I thought it would be good conditions to try some nebulae so started with the Veil at 30x. Meh. Disappointing, I could barely make it out, so popped in the OIII filter and the transformation was remarkable, with the Eastern Veil popping out extremely brightly, the pointed Western Veil easily visible and also Pickering's Triangle. Always a delight the Veil, there's something special about it, and it was like the filter was revealing a celestial secret, only visible to those with the magic filter! 

Next was the the Dumbell, without the OIII I could see the apple core shape, but with the OIII the wings became visible against the darkened sky. I kept comparing the views with and without the filter, and it's remarkable how the nebula seems to get brighter with the filter - I know it's an illusion of contrast, but it really does seem to get brighter.

Finally I thought I would try my Nemesis - the Crescent Nebula. I have struggled with this over the years, and I did finally manage to see the brighter portion very faintly last year (cannot remember what instrument I used) but it was not satisfying. But this time I could easily make out the full extent of the nebula - yes it was an ill defined blob, no crescent shape, but definitely the full nebula as I am now well acquainted with the field stars around the nebula! I think a bigger scope would have revealed something special, but alas, I had run out of time, and time for bed. 

Ah, our old friend Cygnus with its many barely-discernable objects! I have tried and failed many times with various objects in that neck of the woods. Glad you managed to defeat a nemesis, sounds like a good session! 

[Zermelo]

Nice report. Yes, the veil is one that really benefits from a filter.

[RobertI]

10 hours ago, CraigT82 said:

Nice session by the sounds of it. Absolutely love my H130p, maybe I should get an Oiii filter 🤔

If you can, I would thoroughly recommend one, it’s worth it for the Veil alone!

[bosun21]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

If you can, I would thoroughly recommend one, it’s worth it for the Veil alone!

Which make of OIII filter were you using?

[Epick Crom]

Nice report Robert! A OIII filter is on my "to buy" Astro list, glad it's working out so well for you. Can't wait to buy mine😊. 

[RobertI]

8 hours ago, bosun21 said:

Which make of OIII filter were you using?

I have an Astronomik OIII - if you read the blurb it will say it's best used with scopes of 6" and above, but the general consensus on SGL is that this is not true in practice, and you can use with much smaller scopes. 

[PeterC65]

Good to hear. I bought the Astronomik OIII just before the summer for use with my sub 6" scopes but haven't had the chance to try it yet. I've not yet seem the Veil but hopefully the OIII will allow me a good view.

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, Epick Crom said:

Nice report Robert! A OIII filter is on my "to buy" Astro list, glad it's working out so well for you. Can't wait to buy mine😊. 

let us know how you get on. 🙂

[RobertI]

4 minutes ago, PeterC65 said:

Good to hear. I bought the Astronomik OIII just before the summer for use with my sub 6" scopes but haven't had the chance to try it yet. I've not yet seem the Veil but hopefully the OIII will allow me a good view.

The Veil is really tricky if you don't have dark skies, but the OIII should hopefully make it pop into view - good luck!

[badhex]

I also have an Astronomik Oiii, used in 72mm and 102mm fracs. I found it to actually be better than the UHC for Orion when it was around - it looked great! I did also use it with the 73mm to try and catch the Veil last year from a darker site (Bortle 3 but annoyingly with an almost full moon) and I just managed to get the Western Veil. I suspect the smaller aperture, inexperience with nebula filters and the moon played a part in it being tricky, and I imagine a larger scope and no moon would make all the difference! 

 

[RT65CB-SWL]

Not in the order that I use them, but I find the Baader neodymium, ES OIII and ES UHC are good performers. 

[niallk]

Excellent!  Yep, an O-III is a revelation 😉

[Captain Scarlet]

Superb! Your first paragraph almost exactly describes my first view of the Veil a couple of years ago. My brother in law asked me to baby-sit his Heritage 130p while his house was being done up, and I’d just then got myself the same filter, an Astronomik Oiii. I had the same experience. Your labeling it as a window to a secret view of the sky is spot on.

Cheers, Magnus

[wookie1965]

Who said size matters just shows a scope with the right tools can achieve amazing results. 

[Stu]

Great report @RobertI 👍

The Veil is one of my favourites, and an OIII really is the key to getting the best out of it, as is a dark sky of course. Probably my best views were down on the Pembrokeshire coast with a 14” Sumerian and Lumicon OIII and mag 21+ skies, great combination. So much nebulosity outside the main East and West Veil.

To an extent, the aperture matters less. I would say a relatively fast scope helps as it allows you to get to a larger exit pupil, and that’s what really helps especially in a small scope.

Actually the choice of aperture affects the focal length, and thus the field of view, so in a small scope below about 650mm focal length you can get the whole complex in, and a large one you get lovely close up views with plenty of detail. The Heritage 130p is actually a very good option although not being able to use 2” eyepieces will limit the field of view available. My favourite widefield scope is definitely the Genesis, which has a 500mm focal length and a very flat, 5 degree field when used with a 31mm Nagler. It easily fits the whole lot in with room to spare, really nice.

There is some description in this post which may be of interest.

Finally (thank goodness you say 🤪🤣) to reiterate, I think the key to using an OIII in a small scope is dark adaptation and keeping the exit pupil large. If you try close up views then they will be too dim. Use the smaller scope for what it’s best at, nice wide, bright views of the whole object. Pick up the NAN while you are there too! 👍👍👵🤣