Filters?

[bcfcciderhead]

Been reading up on here about filters, like i said before, all this is new to me and from what i can make out filters are quite a big part of your kit.

Do i need some for a good view of the moon and other planets or can you see it well enough without? from what i can tell filters let you see different detail and the moon is very bright so will help see that better, if so what colours would i need?, as a full moon is due within a few weeks i want to get some ready....at least i can find the moon:icon_confused:

[riklaunim]

Variable polarizing filter is the main work horse. Dims the moon, dims the planet as needed so it's easier to see things on them. For planetary colors filters can also help.

[ollypenrice]

A moon filter just makes the moon dimmer in order for it to be comfortably bright.

Certain planets benefit from being observed with particular coloured filters to bring out specific detail but these are not needed to get started.

There are filters for reducing light pollution and UHC (ultra high contrast) filters for enhancing some nebulae. Again you don't need these yet.

When you look at the imaging section you will see that many of the colour photos are made by placing red, green then blue filters in front of a monochrome camera in turn and then the red, green and blue pictures are combined into a full colour final result.

Narrowband filters are used by some imagers to pick out very specific wavelengths of light, those in which nebulae shine brightly. The most common one is H alpha because hydrogen nebulae glow strongly in this specific band of deep red.

Olly

[gedmac]

think rik is talking about these Visual - Variable Polarizing Moon Filter

hope it helps