Coloured filter for looking at Mars

[Taff]

Hi' what colour filter do you use for looking at Mars Thanks.Mark

[Jupiter Martin]

Mark I'm sure theres a primer in the begineers section on what to use for each planet

[Taff]

Thanks Martin' i'll take a look.Mark

[brianb]

Personally I prefer the unfiltered view. Some people find a orange or light red filter helps accentuate the markings. A neutral "moon" filter might be helpful if you're getting glare; a green one will not be at all helpful on Mars, tending to hide whatever detail might be visible (apart from the polar ice cap).

[russ]

This site has a good run down of what each filter will do, along with some other tips.

Planet Mars - Observing

[Taff]

Hi' Thanks for your reply.Mark

[Darren B]

Last time I really viewed Mars was in 2003. I was using a ST102 at 100x mag. with a blue filter. that brought the dark features and the polar ice cap. It was the best allround performer in that telescope.

[Ibbo!]

I've used red and blue in the past

thanks for reminding me to find out the coloured filters

Steve

[Talitha]

I may not be an avid planet observer, but through the years i've learned a trick or three from some of the best, and filters is one of them. With my limited experience with Mars, certain color filters made the difference between seeing features or missing them.

Blue and violet seemed to bring out the polar hoods and water vapor clouds.. without the filter, they weren't visible at all. Same thing with the way a green filter highlights fog on the surface. Red and orange positively identify dust storms because of the way they brighten them up.