Planetary, Neutral Density and Polarizing Filters

Planetary (Color) filters help highlight dark and light features on planets and the moon. For example to bring out the polar ice cap of Mars you may want to use a blue filter.

Color and Neutral Density filters are intended to produce maximum contrast in planetary and lunar images. The System used to specify the color is the Wratten System (the same as in photography). The following lists the results of some recommendations from our friends at Lumicon International:

#8 Light Yellow
Moon: Feature Contrast
Mars: Maria
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Orange-Red Zonal
Uranus: Dusky Detail
Neptune: Dusky Detail

#11 Yellow-Green
Mars: Maria
Jupiter: Clouds
Jupiter: Red/Blue Contrast
Saturn: Clouds
Saturn: Cassini Division
Saturn: Red/Blue Contrast

#12 Yellow
Moon: Feature Contrast
Mars: Blue-Green Areas
Jupiter: Red-Orange Features
Saturn: Clouds
Saturn: Red-Orange Features

#15 Dark Yellow
Moon: Feature Contrast
Mars: Clouds
Mars: Polar Caps
Jupiter: Belts
Saturn: Belts
Uranus: Dusky Detail
Neptune: Dusky

Detail #21 Orange
Mars: Maria
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Polar Regions
Saturn: Belts
Saturn: Polar Regions

#23A Light Red
Mercury: Planet/Sky Contrast
Mars: Maria
Mars: Blue-Green Areas
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Polar Regions
Saturn: Belts
Saturn: Polar Regions

#25 Red
Mercury: Features
Venus: Planet/Sky Contrast
Venus: Terminator
Mars: Maria
Mars: Polar Caps
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Galilean Moon Transits
Saturn: Clouds

#29 Dark Red
Mercury: Features
Venus: Planet/Sky Contrast
Venus: Terminator
Mars: Maria
Mars: Polar Caps
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Galilean Moon Transits
Saturn: Clouds

#38A Dark Blue
Venus: Clouds
Mars: Dust Storms
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Great Red Spot
Jupiter: Disc
Saturn: Belts

#47 Violet
Venus: Clouds
Mars: Polar Caps
Saturn: Rings

#56 Light Green
Moon: Detail
Mars: Dust Storms
Mars: Polar Caps
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Atmosphere
Jupiter: Red/Blue/Light Contrast

#58 Green
Venus: Clouds
Mars: Polar Caps
Jupiter: Red/Blue/Light Contrast
Saturn: Belts
Saturn: Polar Regions

#80A Blue
Moon: Feature Contrast
Jupiter: Belts
Jupiter: Rilles
Jupiter: Festoons
Jupiter: Great Red Spot
Saturn: Belts
Saturn: Polar Regions

#82A Light Blue
Moon: Low-Contrast Features
Mars: Low-Contrast Features
Jupiter: Low-Contrast Features
Saturn: Low-Contrast Features

ND13 Neutral Density
13% Transmission
Moon: Glare Reduction
Double Stars: Bright Primary

ND25 Neutral Density
25% Transmission

ND50 Neutral Density
50% Transmission

Single Polarizing Filter

Rotating Polarizing Filter
Moon: Glare Reduction or Variable Transmission

Select High Quality Filters in Lumicon