What filters do I use?
Type | Ideal Targets | Best paired with |
Multi-Broadband | Galaxies Star Clusters Reflection Nebulae Dark Nebulae | Any color camera, including stock DSLRs |
Multi-Narrowband | Emission Nebulae Planetary Nebulae Supernova Remnants | Modified DSLRs & Dedicated Astronomy Cameras |
Some examples of multi-broadband filters are the IDAS LPS, Optolong L-Pro, Baader Moon & Skyglow,
Examples of a narrowband filter are the Ha, Hb, SII and OIII standalone filters from many manufacturers. Then you have multi-narrowband filters like the Optolong L-eXtreme, Optolong L-eNhance, Radian Triad, ZWO Duo Band, IDAS NB1,
Then you have your "luminance" filters for mono cameras, which consists of luminance, red, green and blue filters (known as LRGB). These are used frequently with galaxies and planetary captures that the narrow band filters will not work with for, usually any target that is light emitting. You will NOT typically need these type of filters for a OSC (one shot color) camera unless you want to enhance certain colors.
One major issue I had, since i have a mono camera, is I thought I had to use EVERY filter EVERY time on each object... which is not correct. Choose your filter based upon your capture target. If you are capturing a nebulae that is mainly in the Ha/OIII range (called a gaseous nebula), trying to use LRGB isn't going to do much other than maybe for the background stars, and is the reason that sometimes I will still use LRGB depending on what else in the target area I want to capture. LRGB are used for reflective DSO's, like galaxies, reflective nebula and star clusters.
In addition to the above filters, you have a wide range of filters that are targeted at planetary captures.
Most of these filters will deal with IR and UV light.
The IR filters are typically used when seeing is bad as they help filter out some of the interference.
The UV filters are especially useful when capturing Venus, as it allows the amateur astronomer to capture cloud structures on the planet.