Optolong L-eNhance 1.25" Filter

Optolong L-eNhance 1.25" Filter

Optolong L-eNhance Filter

The Optolong L-eNhance filter was designed for color cameras, such as a DSLR camera or a one-shot-color astronomy camera. The camera used for all of the example images in this post is a ZWO ASI294MC Pro, a 10.7 MP 4/3? sensor camera with cooling. 

If you take a good look at the transmission graph, you’ll notice that the first band pass line includes both the OIII, and H-beta wavelengths. Essentially, this means that the filter should collect an even more “natural” looking image than one that isolates Ha and OIII exclusively.

The H-beta (486.1nm) emission line is nowhere near as impactful as the hydrogen-alpha line (656nm) when photographing an emission nebula target, but I like the idea of including this subtle wavelength for a more well-rounded image.
 Transmission Lines

•   H-beta: 486.1nm
•   OIII: 501nm
•   H-alpha: 656nmAs you’ll see in the images shared in the post, this transmission combination leads to some surprising “natural” looking images when used with a color camera.
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• Optolong L-eNhance Filter Specifications

Here are the technical specifications of this filter, coming straight from the company. I have to admit, I don’t know what most of these terms mean, but in the spirit of creating the most useful resource possible, I’ve included them for those that do. 

• ➤  Blocking Range: 300nm – 1000nm
• ➤  Blocking Depth: >99% light pollution line
• ➤  TPeak: T>90%
• ➤  Substrate: B270
• ➤  Thickness: 1.85mm
• ➤  Surface Quality: 60/40
• ➤  Transmitted Wavefront RMS: ? /4
• ➤  Parallelism (arcsec): 30s