Dropped $80 on a moon filter and honestly it was a waste

I bought one of those variable polarizing moon filters for my telescope thinking it would make crater details pop more. But on a bright full moon last week, it just made everything look dim and muddy instead of sharpening the view. Has anyone had better luck with a different type of lunar filter?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa39421d agoMost Upvoted

The 25mm eyepiece trick is the real deal honestly. Ditching filters completely changed my lunar viewing. I was in the same boat spending money on a cheap variable polarizer and got that same washed out muddy look. Turns out a simple sheet of cardboard with a hole cut in it works better than any filter I've tried. Just let the light in and let your eye adapt to the brightness naturally. Filters just add more glass between you and the moon, and more glass means more distortion.

skyler_mitchell21d ago

Back in April I spent $120 on a Baader infrared pass filter thinking it'd give me that crisp lunar contrast everyone raves about. Used it once during a quarter moon and the whole thing just looked like a weird gray blob with zero detail. Sold it on Cloudy Nights for half what I paid and went back to just using a regular 25mm eyepiece with no filter at all.