I’ve had a Celestron “Polarizer” filter in my case for many years now. I’ve broken it out on occasion to use almost exclusively on the Moon, since it reduces the light throughput but maintains the color, and I prefer that view over those greenish Moon filter views anytime. Last week when viewing Jupiter, I decided to try the “Polarizer” filter to cut down the planets glare, which often times actually gets kind of annoying in a medium aperture telescope like my Meade LS 8 ACF. Well, I’m incredibly impressed with the results. The subtle reduction of light equals a perfect balance on Jupiter. The glare is reduced perfectly, permitting finer contrast on the planet. The sky background is made darker too, contributing even more to the aesthetic appeal this filter renders at the eyepiece.
Now these single filters appear to be discontinued, but you can find a Celestron 1.25″ Polarizing filter set that has 2 of these filters plus an adapter which permits a single filter to be used separately. The other filter can thus be mated to an adapter, and then this tandem setup will permit a higher degree of variability, blocking as much as 95% of the light. I highly recommend adding this to your visual arsenal, for Jupiter, it has made a fantastic difference. In addition to making improvements to planetary views, it’s capabilities may assist double-star observers in reducing glare from bright primaries and of course give comfortable, true color views of the Moon at any phase. Why I’ve never broken this filter out before for Jupiter I’ll never know, but it will be at the eyepiece of this backyard stargazer from now on any time Jupiter is in the eyepiece.
P.S. Let us know the next time your At the Eyepiece of your telescope and you get a chance to try out a Polarizing filter on Jupiter for yourself, I would love to know your thoughts on the use of this visual aid.
At The Eyepiece 