Quote:
Originally Posted by AG Hybrid
When I observe the moon in any of my scopes I don't use a moon filter. I noted it eliminates a lot of fine detail from the image. From 120ED all the way up to 300mm Dob.
Here are my two tips and how to make a bright moon image manageable.
1. Make it the last thing you observe for the night - this is due to tip 2.
2. Observe with lights on or quickly flash your eyes with a torch. You do this to disable/reduce your eyes low light adaptation. Essentially make your pupils smaller like in the day time.
It's that simple. I haven't used my 2 ND filters for 12 years.
Freely admit though, attempting to look at the moon in my 12" with low light adapted pupils feels like sitting in front of a car and looking at its high beams.
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this +1000... lol
Yes, looking at the moon with dark adapted eyes is extremely bright but, your eyes adjust very quickly...
I too prefer no filter, in fact, I don't like using filters on planet either (coloured variety) as I don't like the artificial colour they induce albeit, they do bring out features on planets...
I make a conscious decision to do lunar viewing either early or late in the sesssion... I will focus on that & only after I'm done will I wait for my eyes to dark adapt again before I go chasing other targets...
I find not using a moon filter means I get better detail at the eyepiece but, that's my experience..
Since ND filters are fairly inexpensive, buy one, try it out, see what suits you best, it's a personal thing I feel...
Cheers