planetary filters

[Speed]

Hi just wondering what planetary filters are being used visually by members 

[Nightspore]

 

Depends which planet. All the above are for Mars.

 

 

I like the Baader Colour filters, I have a set of 1.25". There isn't a Wratten #11 (yellow-green) equivalent though which I often like for Saturn.

[Speed]

Hi   Just the main ones really   mainly Jupiter  Saturn  and the moon   heard some good reports about the Baader neodymium filter 

 

regards Speed 

[+Bino-viewer]

11 'Mars' filters.....!!

Love it 😀

 

Which one is best.....??

 

Mars opposition in 10 months (December)

But only 17" as opposed to 22.4" in October 2020

But its in Taurus rather than Pisces so a much better declination for us. 

Should be a good imaging opportunity if its near the Pleiades / Hyades etc...... 

Jupiter & Saturn will be improving as well.

[Nightspore]

23 hours ago, Speed said:

Hi   Just the main ones really   mainly Jupiter  Saturn  and the moon   heard some good reports about the Baader neodymium filter 

 

regards Speed 

 

Yellow or yellow-green filters are good for Saturn. Blue and light blue work well for Jupiter. The Baader Neodymium is a good all-rounder and can help define features on Mars and Jupiter. I find a single polariser works well for cutting glare on the Moon. Light blue or yellow can be good for lunar contrast. IMHO a Lumicon 82A is as good as a neodymium on the Moon.

[Nightspore]

23 hours ago, Bino-viewer said:

11 'Mars' filters.....!!

Love it 😀

 

Which one is best.....??

 

Mars opposition in 10 months (December)

But only 17" as opposed to 22.4" in October 2020

But its in Taurus rather than Pisces so a much better declination for us. 

Should be a good imaging opportunity if its near the Pleiades / Hyades etc...... 

Jupiter & Saturn will be improving as well.

 

Yeah, I should have tried for a round dozen lol. Mars definitely requires some sort of filter. The Baader Contrast Booster is often held up as the best Mars filter. In 2020 I think I tried all of those in the top picture. 

 

 

My personal favourite for Mars is probably the now discontinued Tele Vue Bandmate Planetary. It's a traditional Mars magenta hue and very well made glass. I think at one stage it was one of the two original TV A and B Mars filters, before it was rebranded and then finally discontinued.  The magenta Orion and Celestron Mars filters were pretty good though. The Baader Orange 570nm longpass is also very good for Martian albedo features. The Baader Contrast Booster, the Bandmate and the Baader Orange were probably the most used for the 2020 Mars oppo'.

 

 

The discontinued Sirius Optics CE-1 is a bit of an oddity in the fact that it is a yellow contrast enhancing filter and a diffraction filter at the same time. It wasn't bad on Mars, especially if the seeing wasn't brilliant.

 

 

The blue filters are helpful if the polar caps aren't easily visible, although in 2020 you couldn't miss them mostly. Red filters act a bit like the orange filters, good for dark albedo features depending on conditions.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Nightspore

[Speed]

thanks for the detailed reply 👍

[BAZ]

1 hour ago, Nightspore said:

Blue and light blue work well for Jupiter.

I agree, Ibbo lent me his light blue and it didn't half bring out the equatorial bands and at that time some features called barges were floating around it and we watched one go nearly all the way round.

I get on well with a Neodymium and UHC filter as well, they increase the contrast without too much light loss. Filters are quite subjective and what might do well for me may not float your boat quite so much.

I don't know if you have seen this in the beginners and tutorials section, maybe worth a squint.  Let us know how you get on if you try some filters. 👍

 

 

[Nightspore]

57 minutes ago, BAZ said:

I agree, Ibbo lent me his light blue and it didn't half bring out the equatorial bands and at that time some features called barges were floating around it and we watched one go nearly all the way round.

I get on well with a Neodymium and UHC filter as well, they increase the contrast without too much light loss. Filters are quite subjective and what might do well for me may not float your boat quite so much.

I don't know if you have seen this in the beginners and tutorials section, maybe worth a squint.  Let us know how you get on if you try some filters. 👍

 

 

 

Light blue is really good for viewing Jupiter in twilight, although I'm not sure why. I suppose taking out the yellow end of the spectrum has a lot to with it. 

 

 

These Wratten #8, #12, #15 and #21 are also very useful for lunar viewing in twilight conditions.

 

 

I don't know how well UHC filters work for planetary. Although I agree with David Knisely that you can use narrowband filters on smaller apertures as long as you have a wide enough exit pupil. I think if I had to narrow it down to three Wratten coloured filters I'd recommend an #8 light yellow, an #11 yellow-green and an 82A light blue. 

[Caldwell 14]

I don't really use any anymore, but I always found the Baader neodymium filter to be the most useful. I am a big fan of most things Baader it has to be said. 

[Speed]

Hi  Thanks for the reply    that`s the next filter on the list