Works especially well with smaller
aperture telescopes up to 4.5 inch.
Optical glass color filters improve visual contrast and resolution when viewing the Moon and planets.
Meade Photo-Visual Color Filters are manufactured of the high quality optical glass; the clear aperture of each
filter is 26mm.
Meade filters are mounted in machined cells which thread into the barrels of virtually every eyepiece with a 1.25" outside barrel diameter (O.D.) available, including all Meade 1.25" 0.D eyepieces.
The most important purpose of color filters in astronomical applications is the enhancement of visual detail and an increase in observable contrast of the Moon and planets. In this application, filters often provide fine detail not available without them.
Provided below is each filter's most common applications.
- Light Yellow: Useful in observing red and orange- colored phenomena in the belts of Jupiter, and in enhancing the level of observable detail of small orange-red zonal features within the belts of the planet. A popular filter for the enhancement of lunar features
- Light Red: Reduces or blocks transmission of blue-green wavelengths, increases contrast, and enhances marginal blue-green surface detail. Use on Jupiter and Saturn to enhance detaii in the belts and polar regions. Increases contrast between Mercury and bright blue sky during daylight or twilight observations.
- Light Blue: Useful for observing the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, this subtle pale blue filter enhances areas of low contrast, while avoiding significant reduction of overall image brightness.
- Neutral Density: This filter transmits uniformly across the entire visible spectrum. Commonly referred to as a "Moon Filter," it reduces the glare and irradiation that can plague lunar observations. It may also be employed to split close double stars, in cases where one of the binary pair significantly exceeds the other in brightness.