Eye Piece Filters

What do you use the filters in the Celestron eye piece kit for?? (silly question probably)


I tried the red one last night (no 21 I think) with the Orion Neb and the viewing was worse.

I've notice a lot of reference to OHII (i think) filters and am wondering what's the difference between all of them

The colour filters in the EP kit are mainly for planetary observing. Different colours enhance details on different planets. The moon filter in the kit is to take down the brightness of the moon and also to enhance features.

The yellow filter works really well when observing Saturn. The red one works with Mars. These two are the only ones i have used with noticable results YET.

The Orion nebula almost vanished when i viewed with the red filter. You need a special type of filter to use when observing nebulae.

I've notice a lot of reference to OHII (i think) filters and am wondering what's the difference between all of them

You mean O3 and h-beta and UHC filters, these are very specialized filters for nebulae while the colour filters you get in the meade and celestron kits are for the planets and the moon,

What do you use the filters in the Celestron eye piece kit for?? (silly question probably)
I tried the red one last night (no 21 I think) with the Orion Neb and the viewing was worse.
I've notice a lot of reference to OHII (i think) filters and am wondering what's the difference between all of them

Hi Joanna...the coloured filters are for planetary viewing, not for deep sky. The filter sets contain a leaflet saying what each filter is meant to do although I'm not sure if the eyepiece/filter kit does. AI I'm sure could photostat a leaflet and send to you..if not I can send you one. To be honest, you probably won't use them very much with perhaps a few exceptions. The 21 Orange does work on Mars bringing out the redder surface highlights such as plains (a 23A Red does the same for larger aperture but I find the orange better even then). I occasionally use 11 yellow-green or 80A light blue on Jupiter for accentuating cloud bands and purple belts respectively but that's about it. I never use the green moon filter - if the Moon is too bright, a neutral density filter is better or simply switch on an outside light.

The other filter you mention is an OIII (Oxygen 3), a useful filter for planetary nebulae but it does tend to darken stars considerably (which is why it's great for blinking tiny planetaries), but for general nebulae viewing, a UHC (Ultra High Contrast) would be a better overall purchase if you are just getting one filter. Most emission nebulae and planetary nebulae respond well to UHC but don't use a filter at all on reflection nebulae, star clusters or galaxies. The OIII is a line filter while the UHC is a Narrowband filter. Broadband light pollution filters are generally regarded as probably not worth buying although I have used the Celestron LPR at times.

Another line filter is the Hydrogen Beta, designed most notably for the Horsehead and California Nebulae.

Hope this helps.

One last point...you can get OIII and UHC filters in both 1.25" and 2" but the latter are quite expensive. The Baader ones enjoy a good reputation...read about them here:
www.company7.com/baader/options/uhc-s.html