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Color filter that could help viewing c/2022 ?


kdahl

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I am bringing some people over to the premier viewing with my new telescope. Hoping for the best experience, what colour filter could potentially help with the viewing of the comet that is discussed these days, c/2022

Please help me make it the best experience it can be for everyone 😇

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I have used a Moon & Skyglow (Urban Skies) Neodymium filter to slightly cut light pollution to enable better seeing of comets in the past.  Lumicon made a comet filter that passed the carbon lines associated with many comets.  Since they are just to the right of OIII lines, a UHC or light pollution filter like a CLS or similar might help as well.

As far as color filters, perhaps a light green or blue filter might help.  The problem is, you want a teal or cyan filter that cuts out yellow/orange/red light.  I don't know of a commercial astro teal or cyan filter.  It would sort of be the inverse of an orange filter (which cuts violet/blue/green light, the colors of most comets).

You really won't know until you try each on a particular comet.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was out viewing comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) Sunday night before the full moon washed out my skies.  The best views with commonly available filters was with the Svbony UHC filter.  It reaches far enough right into the blue-green to pass the C2 lines associated with comets.  The Svbony CLS filter would probably give similar, but slightly more washed out views.  The UHC filter darkened the background without darkening the comet's coma, making the extent of it easier to see.

My older Zhumell OIII filter is defective and actually passes the C2 lines like the Lumicon comet filter instead of the OIII lines.  It worked really well to darken the skies and show more coma extent.  However, they've been unavailable for about a decade.

I tried a few blue and green color filters, but they just generally made matters worse, making the comet more difficult to see.  As I said above, you really need a teal/cyan blue-green filter.  Blue and green filters tend to both attenuate the C2 lines which lie between blue and green.

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49 minutes ago, Franklin said:

TheSkyLive - Your Guide to the Solar System and the Night Sky

Well it said you should be able to see it with a small set of binoculars.  I've just been out with my 10x50's and I can't see anything resembling a comet and I am sure I'm in the right place.  We are fairly clear atm. and I can find Mars in the bins easily and that is a fair handrail to jump up and slightly right from and it says the comet should be nearly upon the next star you get to.  I can't see it.  Yet I did see the lovely one with the long tail that came around a couple of years ago towards the North.

Edited by JOC
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1 minute ago, JOC said:

I can't see it.  Yet I did see the lovely one with the long tale that came around a couple of years ago towards the North.

This one is a faint fuzzy patch compared to that one. The bright Moon isn't helping but it can be seen with 10x50's, I've managed to see it with binoculars all this week. Don't expect a bright "classic comet" with a long tail though. Maybe averted vision will help pull it from the sky-glow for you. Good luck!

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1 minute ago, Franklin said:

Maybe averted vision will help pull it from the sky-glow for you. Good luck!

Ah......it's that dim that it's an averted vision fuzzy eh?  Gotcha!  I have successfully seen things like that with the telescope, but have needed to get my eyes in gear.  In that case I'll need to stick the bins on a tripod or take the telescope outside another night.  Thanks for posting as I didn't know it was a very dim object and that will account for why you can't just rush outside and see it.  Esp. with my mums' security light deciding to kick in too.  Which means a long walk up the path to get away from it.

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7 hours ago, JOC said:

Ah......it's that dim that it's an averted vision fuzzy eh?  Gotcha! 

Yes, currently around mag5.9, so on the threshold of naked eye visibility even from a dark sky with no Moon. Tripod mounting the binoculars is a good idea.

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Despite reports noting a central stellar concentration with this comet, I could not see one even at high powers last Sunday night.  Sometimes I convinced myself that there was the slightest hint of one, but it was nothing like the strong stellar concentration I've seen with some past comets.  Basically, it was brightest across a fairly uniform, but ragged, circle that then tailed off to the background sky brightness.  The extent was larger in my accidental comet filter (Zhumell OIII) because it suppressed the background brightness.  I didn't notice any obvious elongation in any direction, which is fairly typical of comets I've seen from my suburban skies.

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If you want to make the viewing experience optimal, a #21 orange or #80A light blue filter could help with the viewing of the comet c/2022. These filters will reduce glare and enhance contrast, making it easier to see the comet's features. You could also consider investing in a comet filter or a nebula filter specifically designed for astronomical viewing.

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