Tried stacking with and without a light pollution filter from my backyard in Phoenix

Last week I shot the Orion Nebula with my 8-inch scope. I took 30 lights without a filter, then another 30 with a cheap CLS clip-in filter. The unfiltered stack was a washed-out orange mess. The filtered one actually showed some dark dust lanes and the core color. The difference was night and day, literally. Anyone have a favorite filter for heavy city glow?

3 comments

3 Comments

maxb462mo ago

Which specific CLS filter did you use for that result?

campbell.robin2mo ago

Wasn't a filter, @maxb46, that's just the raw data!

david_henderson61mo agoMost Upvoted

Jumping in to back you up on this one. The data is exactly what comes out of the camera, no trickery involved. People get so used to seeing processed stuff they forget raw images can look perfectly fine. It's a clean shot with good light, the raw file just shows what the sensor actually captured. Not everything needs a filter or heavy editing to look good.