Light Pollution Filters

[patryklau]

Hi all, I'm new to astronomy and I've recently purchased a Nexstar 5se (rather impulsively). Managed to get decent planetary views so far but would like to start hunting for deep sky objects such as Nebulae soon. Will a light pollution filter help greatly in this or should I get a better EP first?

This is more of a question on gear rather than the practical part of deep sky object hunting (but any advice given is appreciated).

Cheers!

[Hardwarezone]

The actual effect is less than what the name suggest.


The more suitable accessory is the F/6.3 reducer for SCT
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009XVHZ/
Currently USD 113 , you can either pay $6 more in shipping cost to singapore or find other small items (toothpaste) to fulfill minimum US $125 in cart (sold by amazon.com not some 3rd party BESTDEALS company) for free shipping to singapore
Select payment by US dollars not auto convert to Singapore dollars
USD 113 at exchange rate 1.37 +3% spread by CC issuing bank = $160 singapore dollars overall for the F/6.3

[antares2063]

For visual observing purposes, go for a UHC by Lumicon, its a narrowband filter and works for majority of the emission nebs, (light pollution of your observing site also affects)

Hope this helps
Regards,
Junwei

[Mariner]

Copied and pasted from my post in another thread:

For astronomical filters (excluding colour filters), the common ones are broadband, narrowband and line filters.

Broadband filters filter off some of the skyglow caused by street lights. Examples are Lumicon Deepsky, Orion Skyglow filter and Celestron UHC/LPR filter.

Narrowband filters are more aggressive and only allow a specific set of the light spectrum through. The best examples are the Lumicon UHC, Orion Ultrablock and DGM NPB.

There are 2 examples of line filters , namely Oxygen-III and Hydrogen-Beta. These only allow specific line of the light spectrum through and are specialist filters.

Some filters work best on some DSOs and not others. Here's a good article from the Cloudy Nights' resident filter guru on the efficacy of these visual filters on DSOs:

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1520

As a guide, the first filter I would recommend you to get is a narrowband filter as it is the most useful of the lot.

However, as a word of caution, do not expect them to work miracles. They can only enhance the contrast by darkening the sky background, they DO NOT MAKE DSOs BRIGHTER. And although they help in light polluted skies, these filters tend to work best under dark skies.

As a further word of warning, avoid the Celestron UHC/LPR filter. It is an overpriced broadband filter.

[antares2063]

Opt for Lumicon, pay abit more for a quailty visual filter. And journey to darker skies or join in mersing trips.. haha

[MooEy]

I would probably go for a good nebula filter like the orion ultrablock first, then followed by a few good eyepieces and a nice diagonal. Being a purist, I would skip the focal reducer and instead pay for slightly more pricey wide angle eyepieces.

Do take a good look at the baader hyperions, cheap and good eyepieces. You may also want to consider a 2" visual back when upgrading the diagonal.

~MooEy~

[patryklau]

Thanks for all the advice. I managed to get a good deal for a Lumicon from another forumer. Have yet to put it through its paces and practice hunting for DSOs. Next step for me is to hone my skills and probably go for a good wide angle EP in future.

And yes, am considering the June trip to Mersing - who should I look for to sign up?

[Great Red Spot]

And yes, am considering the June trip to Mersing - who should I look for to sign up?

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