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480X power is very high.
Assuming your collimation is okay, several issues can stop you getting sharp images.
a. The atmosphere - are stars twinkling overhead and near where the planet is? If so, forget about getting anything sharp.
b. Are you viewing over your own house or neighbour's houses, where they are giving off heat from heaters or airconditioners? That'll muck up the image.
c. Has your telescope cooled down enough? If it hasn't, don't expect much.
I used to live in the middle of suburbia surrounded by neighbours, and being aware of the latter points could regularly view at 300X, and a few times a year at 400X.
I moved to a bigger property, with few neighbours close by, but nearer our bay and next to a gully. Now I struggle getting a decent image at 300X. So that where one lives has something to do with it.
The idea with magnification is to work your way up - start at 200X, if the image is good, go to 250X or higher, if the image is still good, go higher. And so on till you get a lousy image, and then go back to the previous lower magnification.
Some people think colour filters are a waste of time, some love them. I certainly like using a red filter on Mars all the time, and sometimes use a yellow filter on Jupiter and Saturn to enhance cloud contrast on the discs. Though I've never found any use for blue filters.
Not sure about your flare problem. At low power, everything flares in my images because I have astigmatism in my eyes. But it mostly disappears at high power. Flaring can occur from poor collimation.
Regards,
Renato
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