Happy with my UHC filter

[Doogs38]

I recently purchased an Astronomik UHC filter but hadn't had an opportunity to use it. While we had good-ish seeing last Fri in SEQLD I stayed up late (woohoooo :thumbsup:) to view some nebulae that I'd not properly observed before: the Swan and Eagle Nebulae; and, the Lagoon & Trifid Nebulae. Without the UHC filter the Lagoon & Swan Nebulae were reasonably easy to find and observe, but the other two were comparatively more difficult due to the LP from Ipswich & Brisbane. However with the UHC filter installed all four nebulae readily 'popped' into view, especially the Swan & Triffid Nebulae. The Swan showed excellent detail with the filter (was quite speccy), and the Trifid clearly showed its dark nebula and major parts (which was like trying to find a shade of black on black without the filter :-). It also *really* brought the Carina Nebula to life too! I'm definitely not an expert on filters - my eyes are the judge - and with this filter I could observe things that I'd have struggled to see without it. The filter is a keeper :D

[Renato1]

Good to see that you are pleased with your UHC filter. They are certainly useful for getting extra features out of nebula, and indispensible when you turn your attention to the tiny planetary nebulas.

I tend to use my Ultrablock UHC more than my other filters, but I'm also still quite fond of the various broadband filters like the Lumicon Deep Sky and Orion Skyglow, especially with very low power eyepieces. The O111 only gets pulled out when the UHC occasionally can't get a planetary nebula to show up.

There is one other use for your filter which you may not have thought about. If it's 1.25" you may be able to fit it inside a binocular with a big eyecup and long eyerelief, and hold it it with a bit of Blutak. If it's a 2" filter, you may be able to tape to the plastic/rubber/metal in front of one of the objective lenses.

After lots of experimentation, I found I much preferred to have one filter in binoculars and to superimpose the filtered and unfiltered images, than having two filters, with one over each tube. It's fun seeing Eta Carina with extra pop in your binoculars.
Regards,
Renato