Color Filter Wheels

More Information  · Images of Some Features Price $349.95 Warranty 1 year

The filters use high quality multi-layer ion-deposited dichroic interference coatings on optical glass substrates. All have an additional infrared (IR) coating (not just the luminance filter, as is more commonly done) to reduce the bloated appearance of stars that radiate strongly in the IR region. The infrared region is beyond the normal range of the human eye when the stars are observed visually through binoculars or a telescope, but the sensitive imaging chips of many CCDs and webcams can be overloaded by the stars’ IR output and bloat in CCD images. The IR coating reduces this effect, so that CCD images record the stars essentially as they appear to the human eye.

In addition, the infrared blocking function sharpens surface details in planetary images. It is particularly effective at improving the contrast of Martian features. While the eye can’t see the IR radiation of sun-illuminated planetary surfaces, the sensitive imaging chips of many CCDs and webcams can be overloaded by the planet’s IR glow, blurring surface and cloud detail. This filter sharpens planetary detail by blocking the invisible IR portion of the spectrum before it can overload the imaging chip.

Each filter also has an ultraviolet (UV) coating that has the same anti-bloating effect as the IR coating, but this time on the images of those stars that radiate strongly in the ultraviolet region. The result is again CCD images that record the stars essentially as they appear to the human eye.

The filters are mounted in standard 2" threaded cells and will fit any CCD camera or filter wheel that accepts 2" filters. They are an economical choice for tri-color imaging with all CCD cameras, not just those from Orion, and will do an excellent job with even multi-thousand dollar cameras. The filters come in a hard plastic protective case.