Flagge DeutschDeutsch
Flagge EnglishEnglish

Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter

Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 1,25" (M28.5)

Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 1,25" (M28.5)
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 2" (E48)
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 31mm, unmounted
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 36mm, unmounted
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 38mm, unmounted
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter 50mm, unmounted
Astronomik CLS EOS Clip-Filter
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter SC Rear Cell (2" / 24TPI)
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter T-Mount (M42x0,75)
Astronomik H-alpha 12nm Filter Transmission Curve

Click the image for full resolution

The Astronomik H-alpha filter is a narrow band filter for CCD photography. The filter lets the H-alpha light of emission nebulae pass and blocks nearly the whole remainder of the spectrum where the CCD is sensitive.

The full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 12nm is optimized for the use with common CCD cameras and allows the use of very fast optics. It should be noted that the filter has a transmission of up to 99%.Another advantage of the 12nm filters is the availability of guiding stars for cameras with a built-in-autoguider (SBIG). If you use a very strong filter like our 6nm filter you often won’t find a usable guidestar.The range of application extends from 1:2.8 to 1:15. Transmission losses and chromatic distortions, which arise with other filters, only occur with Astronomik filters when extremely bright aperture ratios of 1:2 and more come into play.

Main use

The Astronomik H-alpha-CCD (12nm version) increases the contrast between objects, in this case between the H-alpha emission line and the skyglow background. Our Astronomik H-alpha-CCD (12nm version) completely suppresses the emission lines of artificial lighting (mercury (Hg) and sodium (Na)) and skyglow.

Other uses

  • When using the OIII CCD and the SII-CCD filters you can obtain three-color images of emission line objects (gas nebulae) from locations with very strong light pollution. To do so, you would take an image in three different wavelengths, select each one as a color-channel in Photoshop and paste them together as a color image.
  • The Astronomik H-Alpha filters may NOT be used for solar observation.
  • If you plan to create color images from emission line data, our CLS-CCD filter is a great choice for the Luminance channel.

more information about the photographic Astronomik filters

Transmission curve
Transmission curve
How to read the chart
  • The horizontal axis is the Wavelength in Nanometers (nm). 400nm is deep blue, at 520nm the human eye senses green and at 600nm red. At 656nm is the famous "H-Alpha" emission line of hydrogen.
  • The transmission in % is plotted on the vertical axis.
  • The red line shows the transmission of the filter.
  • Visual filters: The grey line in the background shows the relative sensitivity of the human eye at night. The maximum is at ~510nm and drops to longer and shorter wavelengths. You can easily see, that you can´t see anything of the H-alpha line at night (even if you can during daylight!) The sensitivity at 656nm is 0% at night!
  • Photographic filters: The grey line in the background shows the sensitivity of a typical CCD sensor.
  • The most important artifical emission lines are shown in orange. The artifical light pollution is dominated by see mercury (Hg) and sodium (Na), which are used in nearly all streetlights.
  • The most important emission lines from nebulas are shown in green. The most important lines are from ionized Hydrogen (H-alpha and H-beta) and double ionized oyxgen (OIII).

The major emission lines of artifical light pollution:
| Hg 435,8nm | Hg 546,1nm | Hg 577,0nm | Hg 578,1nm |
| Na 589,0nm | Na 589,6nm | Na 615,4nm | Na 616,1nm |
The major emission lines of nebulas:
H-β 486,1nm | OIII 495,9nm | OIII 500,7nm | H-α 656,3nm

Suitability

  • Visual observation (dark skies): Unsuitable
  • Visual observation (urban skies): Unsuitable
  • Film photography: Reasonable, but very long exposure times
  • CCD photography: Very good, huge contrast enhancement at H II-emission nebulas
  • DSLR photography (original): Good, reduced sensitivity in the H-alpha band
  • DSLR photography (astro modified): Very good, huge contrast enhancement at H II-emission nebulas
  • DSLR photography (MC modified): Very good, huge contrast enhancement at H II-emission nebulas
  • Webcam / Video (Planets): Unsuitable
  • Webcam / Video (Deep Sky): Good, good contrast enhancement with bright objects

Technical Data

  • typ. transmission of more then 95% at the H-alpha line (656nm)
  • Complete blocking from all disturbing wavelengths in the infrared
  • Parfocal with other Astronomik filters
  • Glass thickness: 1mm
  • Completely resistant against high humidity, scratches and aging effects
  • Diffraction limited, the filter will not reduce the optical performance of your telescope!
  • Astronomik filters are delivered in a high-quality, long lasting, filter box
  • Since 2008 we do ship filters with a completely new design. Any kind of halo or strange reflection is a matter of past

The filter is available in the following sizes

H-alpha 12nm CCD-Filter

10 Item(s)

per page

Grid  List 

Set Descending Direction

more News