RE: re: Filter Question

Firstoff, Sorry for the delay in responding back, had to help finish our
kitchen remodel. (SO glad to have a kitchen back lol)

I wanted to Thank everyone for an exc. conversation about something I find
not intuitive. I learned a lot. I've got a good idea of possibilities now
(OIII, Ultrablock, Hbeta or DMG). That Horsehead Nebula btw is one of my
favorite pics to look at, the design is so intricate. I'm looking forward
to seeing the nebula personally one day, so I'm leaning towards that
Ultrablock or the OIII.

Btw, are there differences in results based upon brand name?...Orion,
Lumicon, Custom Scientific, Baader and others? I know coatings and glass do
make a difference in photography, but it's subtle and dependent upon quality
of equipment. Thinking the same for astronomy, if not even harder to tell
the difference?

Well Jamie..."We're all on the same bus"...Humm??? I think This bus, this
TAC list, is about three lanes over and passing me up fast hehe
Nevertheless, Thanks and I was glad it wasn't a waste of bandwidth. ;)

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: sf-bay-tac-bounces@No-Spam [mailto:sf-bay-tac-bounces@No-Spam]On
Behalf Of Jamie Dillon
Sent: Tuesday, October 11, 2005 3:48 PM
To: sf-bay-tac@No-Spam
Subject: [TAC] re: Filter Question

Chris, if this might still help, for observing there are two types of
what we call nebula filters that are highly useful. An OIII is good
for emission nebulae, and for bringing out details in planetaries. We
also use OIII's for "blinking" small planetaries, going back and
forth to see if one of the stellar objects pops out with the filter.
An OIII can make for killer views of big and small emission nebulae
like M42, the Swan, lots of 'em.

There's a filter that combines OIII bandpass plus H-beta called
either an Ultrablock (by Orion) or a UHC (ultra-high contrast).
Excellent also for emission nebulae, depending on the object and the
conditions. My Ultrablock gives a great view of the Flame Nebula in
Orion, for instance, better than that in the OIII. An Ultrablock and
an OIII can complement each other. I had only an OIII for years,
finally asked for the Ultrablock for Christmas two years ago, and
they both get used. Jim Everitt consistently gets the best views of
the Horsehead in his 15" with an Ultrablock.

If you really want to put on the dog, you can get an H-beta filter,
100 bucks or so for a filter that's good for pretty much two of our
visual objects, the Horsehead and the California Nebula.

Hope this is useful. Don't be embarrassed, ask away. We're all on the same
bus.

DDK

--
Jamie Dillon <*> speech pathologist
jamie_dillon@No-Spam
"_____"  -- Harpo Marx