Vaonis Cosmic Filter Bundle for Vespera

Unlocking Deep-Sky Imaging for Vespera

This bundle provides a complete solution for capturing deep-sky objects with your Vespera, whether you're under urban, suburban, or dark skies. By including both a selective narrowband filter (Dual Band) and a versatile broadband filter (CLS), you have the right tool for galaxies, star clusters and nebulae. Each filter is engineered to integrate seamlessly with the Vespera's optical arm, enhancing contrast and revealing faint details that would otherwise be lost to light pollution.

Dual Band Filter: Isolating H-alpha and O-III with a 12nm Bandwidth

The Dual Band is a narrowband interference filter designed for maximum contrast on nebulae. It captures light from ionized hydrogen (H-alpha at 656.3nm) and doubly ionized oxygen (O-III at 500.7nm) within a 12nm window for each. This makes the sky background darker, allowing faint structures within nebulae to stand out with striking clarity.

• Ideal Targets: It excels on emission nebulae like the Orion Nebula (M42) and Heart Nebula (IC 1805), planetary nebulae such as the Dumbbell Nebula (M27), and supernova remnants like the Veil Nebula.
• Star Clusters: While not its primary purpose, the filter's selectivity can produce sharper, tighter stars when imaging globular clusters like the Hercules Cluster (M13).
• Trade-off: This filter is not recommended for broadband targets like galaxies, as it blocks most of the light they emit.

CLS Filter: Suppressing Sodium and Mercury Streetlights

The City Light Suppression (CLS) filter is your go-to tool for imaging from light-polluted environments. As a broadband filter, it selectively blocks the most common wavelengths of artificial lighting—specifically the spectral lines from sodium (Na) and mercury (Hg) vapor lamps. It also reduces natural skyglow from atmospheric oxygen, darkening the background while letting the main wavelengths from celestial objects pass.

• Broadband Versatility: Unlike the Dual Band filter, the CLS is effective on all deep-sky objects, including galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.
• Peak Performance: It is especially effective on emission nebulae, boosting contrast on targets like the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), Lagoon Nebula (M8), and Trifid Nebula (M20) from suburban skies.

Filter Selection: CLS for Galaxies vs. Dual Band for Nebulae

Choosing the right filter is key to a successful image. Your decision depends on both your target and your sky conditions. Use this as a guide for your Vespera imaging sessions.

Select the CLS Filter when imaging broadband targets that emit light across the entire visible spectrum. This includes galaxies and star clusters. It's also the best general-purpose choice from the city or suburbs, providing a noticeable contrast boost on all objects.

Select the Dual Band Filter when imaging emission, planetary, or dark nebulae. Its selectivity gives higher contrast on these H-alpha and O-III rich objects, making it the better choice for them even under dark skies. For globular clusters, it can also be used to achieve sharper stars.

Vespera Integration: Automatic Filter Recognition and Installation

Both filters are designed specifically for the Vespera. Each filter's lens ring contains an electronic micro-card that allows the Vespera to automatically detect which filter is installed. Vespera then adapts its observation and image processing parameters to that filter, with no manual configuration required from you.

Swapping filters is a simple, four-step process. Only one filter can be installed in the optical arm at a time.

1. Press the button to unclip the installed filter.
2. Carefully remove the filter.
3. Carefully place the new filter into the slot.
4. Press the button to securely clip the new filter in place.