Filter question

Now that the gas giants are returning for another superb placing I wondered what views everyone had on filters. I'm talking specifically coloured filters. I have always intended to buy coloured filters but somehow have never gotten round to it. It would appear that most coloured filters help in some way with contrast whether they be red or blue. What do the experienced planetary guys swear by? What manufacturers do you use, or are coloured filters less 'optically dependant'.

Cheers, Eddie.

Hi Eddie,
At my aperture, I found color filters to block too much light to be useful. I use and would suggest the Baader Moon and Skyglow Filter, it works great. They were reviewed in Cloudy Nights and is available in the States www.astro-physics.com/
in both 2" and 1.25 or APM in Germany.
Good Luck,
Owen

I've seen some writings that filters are useless and a waste of money. Yet when I'm lying down at the beach looking up at clouds through various filters (aka sunglasses) I get clear improvement in visibility of many cloud features. Why the clouds on other planets should not be similarly affected, I don't understand.

That said, I mainly use a red filter on Mars to see the ice caps well, Neutral Density filters on Jupiter and Saturn, and yellow filters when using a non-APO refractor.

Most filters do degrade high power views. This may not be obvious when you only use one filter. But stack it with another filter, and the deterioration is impossible to miss. Hence, don't bother with stacked polarising filters for varying brightness.
Renato