My $60 solar filter completely changed my Orion Nebula shots, and I almost didn't buy it
Three months ago I could barely make out the Trapezium cluster in my 8 inch dob from my driveway in Reno, now I'm pulling in dust lanes I thought needed a dark site. The difference was just slapping on a decent UHC filter after a guy at the star party let me borrow his for 20 minutes. Anyone else been shocked by how much a cheap filter beats driving two hours for darker skies?
A $60 filter doing the same job as a two hour drive to a dark site sounds like a stretch. I've used a UHC on my 10 inch from my backyard in Sparks and sure, the nebula pops a bit more, but it doesn't magically erase light pollution. The Trapezium was never really the hard part anyway, that's four bright stars you can catch in binoculars. Dust lanes from a driveway in Reno? Maybe on a really good night with no moon and the neighbor's porch light off. I'd want to see the same shot with and without the filter before I sell my gas money.