Optolong Planetary Filter Kit

*** Special early bird price until 30th May 2022   ***

Optolong Planetary Filters Kit

Optolong Planetary filters kit including UV/IR Cut, R, G, B and IR685 filter, 5pcs filters in total. These five filters are boundled by "Solar System Seal".

What filters are used for Planetary photography?

Photography of planets and deepsky imaging, both are fine to use the combination of monocrom camera and filters. But slightly different, planets photography will not use what deepsky image use like Ha, SII, OIII filter. Planetary photography using filters often are IR, UV,filters, etc.

The main aim is to capture the specific spectrum, such as rich carbon dioxide. One of the most commoon filter we use is IR filter- infrared filter.

In nature, the longer the wavelength of light, the smaller affected by atmospheric seeing. Relatively, receiving the influence of red light, or infrared light is far less than the other bands.

Thus when we image the planet, we usually use an IR filter, transmits only infrared, or near-infrared ligth, in order to reduce the negative influence of seeing.

In visible light, photographers use the classical RGB filters. For Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Neptune, IR685 comes fist, and for Saturn, Jupiter, UV/IR Cut, R, G, B are good. However, the portfolio of IRRGB is popular.

IR685 Introduction

Optolong IR Pass685 filter is designed to block the most visible lights and can be used in IR-LRGB imaging to produce a sharper luminance image for the best planetary contrast as atmospheric seeing and distortion is much reduced at longer IR wavelengths. The advantage of the IR685 filter is to reduce the effects of atmospheric jitter.

The sensor of CCD or CMOS cameras i capable of detecting light in the 350nm -1100nm range including infrared wavelengths. Optolong IR685 cuts off the visible part of the spectrum and allows near infrared light to pass so that cause the most sensitive to bad seeing is rejected. It will highly improves images on visibility, contrast and details of planets and the moon. Besides, IR685 is usually used as a key factor of protfolio IRRGB.

Imaging Target:

IR685 is for imaging of bright planets, stars, and comet, like Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Moon, et.

IR685 Spectrum for Reference

How to read the chart?

The horizontal axis is the Wavelength in Nanometers(nm).

The vertical axis is Transmission in %.

IR685 characteristic:

Tave: T>95%

Transmission area: 700-1100nm

Blocking are: 300-600nm

Blocking depth: bloked>99%

Surface quality: 60/40(Refer to MIL-O-13830)

Surface accuracy: λ/4

Parallelism: 30'

UV/IR Cut, R, G, B Filters Introduction

Optolong UV/IR Cut filter is designed for ultraviolet and infrared wavelength blocking to improve sharepmess of the image as most of the optics are designed for the visible spectrum, because it's very difficult to creat a lens with the same focal point for the visible and IR spectrum.

It is used on a digital camera and teh video, which do not have an IR protection filter toward an image sensor or were remodeled. This is important because unfilterted CCD and CMOS sensors are extremely susceptible to UV and IR rays just outside the visible spectrum that can have a very negative impact on image quality.

Optolong RGB set divides the spectrum into its components red, gree and blue.

RGB, parfocal: 1:1:1

Creat images in their true original colors showing a wealth of natural detail;

Steep bandpass filters to eliminate UV and IR interference;

UV/IR Cut, Red, Green, and Blue filters to reproduce the star's color;

Main use

In visible light, photograhers are absolutely using the classical RGB fiters. If you have Optolong LRGB filters, just try R filter for moon photography, which will be a good promotion. if you want more clear details fo the Moon, then consider Optolong IR685 filter seriously.

Suitable for color CMOS and CCD cameras and modified DSLRs;

Available to assist in focusing;

Act as an outstanding dust shield, which prevents the possibility of dust settling on the lens when long time exposure.

UV/IR Cut, R, G, B Filters Spectrum for Reference

How to reach the chart?

The horizontal axis is the Wavelength in Nanometers(nm).

The vertical axis is Transmission in %.

The WHITE line shows the transmission of the UV/IR Cut filter. R filters line is shown in RED. G filter line is shown in GREEN. And the B filter line is showen in BLUE.

Packaging Style as a kit by using "Solar System Seal"

Outer Box: silve box

Plastic Box: PP material

Lining: imported high pressure white EVA material

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

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