Everything You Always Wanted to Know

About Narrowband Filters, But Were

Afraid to Ask
Don Goldman
Astrodon Imaging
Advanced Imaging Conference
October, 2007
Steve Mandel (what it looks like)

Re-decorating Steves and Sandy If that doesnt work, drastic action

Barnes SRO Observatory (we may be needed. Keith Quatrocchi,
use it a lot!) M.D. helping Mike Mayda.
 Narrowband Filter (NB)Topics
Benefits
Terminology
Definition
Bandwidth
Contrast, light pollution, moon, angular velocity, NII/H-
Manufacturing variability
FWHM myth
Spectral (angular) blue shift
Faster optics
One filter works for all?
Practical implications
 Benefits of NB Imaging

Enhance contrast

Use in light polluted Extend Imaging Time

areas when the moon is up

Emphasize different
structures H-a, OIII, SII..
 Contrast Improvement
Crescent Nebula, Wolf-Rayet
Bubble in Cygnus, NGC 6888

Wide Red Narrow Red H- 9 nm H- 6 nm H- 4 nm

(Orange)

3x5min exposures, RCOS 12.5 Ritchey-Crtien, SBIG

STL11000XM CCD, Bisque Paramount ME
Enhanced Structure at Hi-Res
Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, NGC 6888

Conventional RRGB Red = H-

(courtesy Rob Gendler) Blue=Green=OIII
(Don Goldman)
 Narrowband Terminology
Wavelength
Transmission Plot
OD, or Blocking Plot
S/N or IB, Integrated Blocking
 Filters and Wavelength
Photometric Red
Imaging Red
OIII H-alpha SII

Photometric Red Imaging Red H-alpha

H-alpha
(UVBRI) (RGB)
Narrowband Terminology
Photometric Red
Imaging Red
OIII H-alpha SII

H-a Filter Transmission Plot

100
Out-of-Band In-Band Out-of-Band
90
% Transmittance (I/Io)

80
70 Peak Transmittance, Tpk
60
50
FWHM = Full Width at
40 Half Maximum
30 CWL, 0 Center Transmittance
Wavelength
20 (aka BW = Bandwidth)
10
0
640 645 650 655 660 665 670
Wavelength, nm
 Out-of-Band Blocking
O.D. = Optical Density = Absorbance
OD = -log(Transmittance) = -log (%T/100)
Larger OD means less out-of band light leakage

OD Transmittance %T
0.3 0.50 50
1.0 0.10 10
2.0 0.01 1
3.0 0.001 0.1
4.0 0.0001 0.01
5.0 0.00001 0.001

An OD 4 filter blocks 99.99% of the light outside the bandpass

Must use OD scan, not %T scan
 Blocking Scan
H-a Filter Blocking
8
7

O.D 6
5
4
3
QE KAF16803E
2
1
0
350 450 550 650 750 850 950 1050
Wavelength, nm

Blocking covers the sensitivity range of the CCD

Light leakage outside of the bandpass will be detected
Comparing significant light coming through the narrow
bandpass to little light coming in over a huge wavelength
range outside the bandpass
This filter could be specified as > OD4 (good)
Quantified by S/N or IB (Integrated Blocking)
What is a Narrowband Filter?
Bessell Approximation to UVBRI Use photometric filters as a
120
100
U B V R I guide
%Transmittance

80
60 Johnson-Cousins (Bessell)
40
UVBRI as broadband
20
0
200 400 600 800 1000 Stromgren* uvby as
Wavelength, nm intermediate filters

Stromgren Passbands
120
u v b y
100
%Transmittance

80
60
40
20
0
300 350 400 450 500 550 600
Wavelength, nm

* Originally designed for fast surface gravity and

metallicity studies of stars
 What is a Narrowband Filter
Filter Bandwidth Terminology
http://spiff.rit.edu/classes/phys440/lectures/filters/filters.html (M. Richmond)
120
Kitt Peak H- #1468 FWHM 8.5 nm
100
NARROWBAND
80
%Transmittance

Stromgren b FWHM ~20 nm

INTERMEDIATE BAND
60
Bessell V FWHM 85 nm
40 BROADBAND

20

0
550 50 nm600 650 700 750 800 850
100 nm
Wavelength, nm

Melles Griot Glossary Michael Bessell

http://www.mellesgriot.com/glossary/w http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~bessell/araapaper
ordlist/glossarydetails.asp?wID=100 .pdf (Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys, 2005, 43)
Broadband FWHM >60 nm Broadband FWHM < ~100 nm
Intermediate FWHM 20-60 nm Intermediate FWHM ~7 40 nm
Narrowband FWHM <20 nm Narrowband FWHM < ~7 nm
Proposed Narrowband Definition

Broadband > 60 nm (FWHM)

Intermediate Band 11 60 nm
Narrowband 10 nm
Ultra-narrowband < 4 nm (split H-a, NII)
 How NB Filters Are Made
%T

BandPass Layer

Substrate
%T

Blocking Layer

%T
Result
 Close Up of Narrowband Filter
H Ta2O5 tantalum pentoxide

L SiO2 silicon dioxide

H Ta2O5

L SiO2

H Ta2O5
Micrograph ref. ThermoCorion
0.2 microns
0.0002 mm
Human hair 50 mic.

H = High refractive index layer (e.g. 2.3)

L = Low refractive index layer (e.g. 1.45)
Ne = effective index of layer = sqrt ( H * L) = 1.8 (affects blue shift)
 Are Astronomy NB Filters Special?
Off-the-Shelf

Company Part CWL FWHM OD Tpk (%) 25mm 50mm

Thermo Corion S10-656- 656 2 11 2 4 50 $106 $256
Edmund Optics M43-138 656 2 10 2 3 50 $79.50 $153.70
Melles Griot 03FIR06 656.3 +2/-0 10 2 4 45 $111 -

Astronomy NB CCD Filters

Smaller FWHM - typically 4.5 7 nm

Higher Tpk - 70-95%
OD - often not specified (important?)
Need better than 2 nm CWL for 6 nm FWHM
Lets see what effect 1 nm CWL has
Manufacturing - 1 nm CWL 6 nm H-

6nm FWHM H-a Filter Transmission Plot +/- 1 nm CWL

100
90
% Transmittance (I/Io)

80
70 +1
-1 nm
nm
60
50 No practical change in %T
40
30
20 H-
H-
H-
10 656.3
656.3
656.3nm
nm
nm
0
648 650 652 654 656 658 660 662 664 666 668
Wavelength, nm
Manufacturing 1 nm CWL 3 nm OIII
3 nm FWHM OIII Filters Transmission Plot +/-1 nm
100
90
80 -1 nm 94%T
%Transmittance to +1 nm
70
72%T
60
50
40
30
20
10
OIII OIII
OIII
500.7
nm nm
500.7 500.7 nm
0
490 492 494 496 498 500 502 504 506 508 510

Wavelength, nm

No change for -1 nm shift (~94%T)

94% to 72% for +1 nm shift at OIII
If Tpk at 0 is 80%, +1 nm shift
<62%T at OIII
 Tpk and FWHM Myth
6 and 3 nm FWHM H-a Filter
110 Idealized case same Tpk,
100
90
different FWHM
% Transmittance (I/Io)

80
Goal
70 Can compare effect of just
60
50 FWHM on S/N
40
30
20 Very difficult to CONSISTENTLY
10
0
keep Tpk large with narrower
645 647 649 651 653 655 657 659 661 663 665 667 669
filters
Wavelength, nm

6 and 3 nm FWHM H-a Filter Lower graph is typical

100
90 Causes confusion (two
S
% Transmittance (I/Io)

80
70
parameters are changing)
60
50
Smaller FWHM lowers N in S/N
40 N (moon, light poll)
30
20 Smaller T lowers S in S/N
10
0
645 647 649 651 653 655 657 659 661 663 665 667 669
~Cancels the S/N
Wavelength, nm perceived advantage of
narrower filter
OIII FWHM Image Comparison
6 nm, Tpk = 90% 3 nm, Tpk = 93%

Apogee U16M (KAF16803) at

-25C (gain = 1.2)
Takahashi FSQ106N at f/5
3 x 10 min mean combined
with darks and flats
City backyard (18.3
mag/sqarcsec, no moon)
S = (Sig-Bkg)g
N = SQRT(S g + BKG STD2)
Compare regions with no
stars

Sig = 325 ADU Sig = 187 ADU

Bkg = 257 ADU Bkg = 118 ADU
Bkg STD = 16.84 Bkg STD = 13.04
S = 81.6 S = 82.8
N = 19.1 N = 15.9 S/N improvement of
S/N = 4.27 S/N = 5.21 22% with similar Tpk
but half the FWHM
 OIII Test Implications
Halving the FWHM halved the bkg ADU
Signals are comparable due to similar Tpk
OIII is more sensitive to moonlight and
light pollution
May mix narrower OIII filter with wider H-
and SII filters
Need Tpk to be similar to achieve
advantage
H- - FWHM vs. Background
H-a Background 12.5 RCOS RC

30 Apogee U16M at -20 C

y = 3.6393x + 5.2
25 R 2 = 0.9944 3 x 10 min unbinned exp.
20 Darks, flats, bias
Mean ADU

calibrated
15
Mean combined
10
Taken in same region w/o
5
stars in CCDStack
0
Tpk ~ 92-95%T
2 3 4 5 6 7
FWHM

Regular relationship
Lower FWHM leads to lower background
Need to keep high Tpk for good S/N
 Moonlight & Light Pollution
Photometric Red
Imaging Red
OIII H-alpha SII

5750 Blackbody
1.20 Incandescent, Sodium Street Lamp
OIII
Outdoor Flood
_

1.00
H- Lamp
SII
Normalized Units

0.80
Fluorescent, Hg
0.60
H- SII
0.40

0.20 OIII

0.00
400 500 600 700 800

Wavelength, nm
 Blue Shift With Faster Optics
Simple tilts in collimated light will cause 0 to
shift toward shorter (blue) wavelengths
= 0 (ne2 Sin2 ) / ne

ne effective index of the coating (~1.8)

is the shifted wavelength
Faster optics may shift the passband off of the
emission line
 Angular Measurement 6 nm OIII

501nm Filter, 6nm BW, from 0 to 10 AOI A-6nm-10 %T
f/3
100
A-6nm-9 %T
90 0 f/3.5
80
10 A-6nm-8 %T

f/4
70 A-6nm-7 %T

60
A-6nm-6 %T
_

50
f/5
%T

A-6nm-5 %T
40
OIII Emission
A-6nm-4 %T f/7
30
Line
20
A-6nm-3 %T
f/10
10
A-6nm-2 %T
0
490 492 494 496 498 500 502 504 506 508 510
A-6nm-1 %T
Wavelength (nm)

Not much effect at 6 nm FWHM

Because emission line at low wavelength side
If at high side, will see lower T at OIII
 Angular Measurement 3 nm OIII
OIII Filter 3 nm FWHM (from 0 to 8)
100
0
90 8 Decrease
80 1

70 2

60
0 f/10
3
%T

50
4 f/7
40
OIII Emission 5
30
Line 6
f/5
20
7
f/4
10
8
f/3.5
0
490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510
Wavelength (nm )
 Compare Theory & Experiment
OIII Spectral Shift at 500.7 nm 3 nm FWHM
f/10 f/9 f/7 f/5 f/4 f/3
100
90
80
70
%Transmittance

60
Meas.
50
Theory
40
30
20
10
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Degrees Off Norm al

Measurements show less shift than theory

3 nm filter is reasonable to f/3.5
Not significant effect for >4 nm FWHM
Not the whole story
Telescope optics
3 nm FWHM OIII on f/5 530 mm Refractor
%T at 500.7 nm 3 nm FWHM OIII Filter
f/10 f/9 f/7 f/5 f/4 f/3 Peak distribution at f/5 ~ 5.7
100

80 Many other angles striking

%Transmittance

60
f/5 5.7
the CCD
40
Multiply the frequency of the
20

0
angle (lower graph) * %T at
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 500.7 nm in the upper graph
Degrees Off Normal
Effective %T for 3 nm FWHM
Half-Angle Distribution f/5 Refractor OIII is 92%
100 mm Aperture 88mm Field
1
0.9 Not much loss from 94%
0.8
0.7 Slower telescopes, including
Distributionn

0.6
0.5
0.4
RCs, SCTs will not be
0.3
0.2
affected.
0.1
0 Wider NB filters will not be
0 2 4 6 8 10
Angle Off Norm al affected
Ray trace results courtesy of Mike Jones, Optical
Designer, Lockheed Martin
 3 nm FWHM OIII on 10 f/3.5 mm Astrograph
%T at 500.7 nm 3 nm FWHM OIII Filter
f/10 f/9 f/7 f/5 f/4 f/3
100
20% obstruction (area)
80
50 mm square detector area
%Transmittance

60

40 Peak distribution at f/3.5 ~ 8

f/5 5.7
20 Many other angles striking
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
the CCD
Degrees Off Normal Multiply the frequency of the
angle (lower graph) * %T at
Half-Angle Distribution 500.7 nm in the upper graph
10" f/3.5 Astrograph 20% Central Obstruction
50x50mm Detector Area Effective %T for 3 nm FWHM
1.2

1
OIII is 80%
0.8 Still useable at f/3.5?
Distribution

0.6

0.4
Slower telescopes, including
0.2 RCs, SCTs will not be
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
affected.
Angle Off Norm al Wider NB filters will not be
affected
Ray trace results courtesy of Mike Jones, Optical
Designer, Lockheed Martin
H-a Comparison on E-180 at f/3
5nm FWHM >92%T 3nm FWHM > 92%T

SBIG STL11000XM, -25C, 1 10 min unbinned exposure, calibrated (dark, flat, bias), equalize screen stretch in MaximDL, same S/N
 3 nm FWHM OIII Spatial Sensitivity
f/5 100mm System, 88 mm Field Angle Histograms in Each Strip

Effective %T

88.0% 90.1% 91.7% 92.7% 93.1%

KAI11000

KAF16803, 9000

40 30 20 10 0
mm Ray trace results courtesy of Mike Jones, Optical
Designer, Lockheed Martin
 FWHM, H- and Nitrogen
6 and 3 nm FWHM H-a Filter with NII Lines
110
100 H- 656.3 nm NII 658.4 nm
90
% Transmittance (I/Io) 80
70
60
50
40
30 NII 653.8 nm
20
10
0
645 647 649 651 653 655 657 659 661 663 665 667 669
Wavelength, nm

NII doublet occurs close to H- on either side

NII can be 20% to >100% of H- in PN and some galaxies
Most H- filters will include H- AND NII
Need 3 nm FWHM to exclude most NII in H-
Imagers want narrower filter to exclude light pollution & moonlight
Imagers want highest signal, even if it comes from NII + H-
3 nm H- may not have S/N of 4.5 7 nm H- on some objects (e.g.
planetary nebula, WR bubbles, etc.) due to minimizing NII signal
M76 H-a S/N Comparison
3 nm, 94% Tpk 6 nm, 92% Tpk

Apogee U16M
at -20C
Gain 1.2
RCOS 12.5 RC
5 x 10 min 1x1
Dark, Flat, Bias
calibrated in
CCDStack
S = (Sig-Bkg)*g
N = SQRT (S *
g + BKG
STD^2)
Compare
regions with no
stars

Sig = 208 ADU Sig = 257 ADU

Bkg = 16.1 ADU Bkg = 30.4 ADU
Unlike OIII, narrower
Bkg STD = 1.68 Bkg STD = 1.61
S = 230 S = 271 H- may not improve
N = 15.3 N = 16.6 S/N perhaps due to
S/N = 15.1 S/N = 16.4
loss of NII
 FWHM & Radial Velocities
6 and 3 nm FWHM H-a Filter with NII Lines
110
100 H- 656.3 nm
90
% Transmittance (I/Io) 80
70
60
50
40
30 -400 km/s +600 km/s
20
10
0
645 647 649 651 653 655 657 659 661 663 665 667 669
Wavelength, nm

AAO/UKST H- survey of the galactic plane

Q.A. Parker and J. Bland-Hawthorn, Technical Aspects of the New AAO/UKST H Interference Filter,
Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust. 1998, 15, 33-7

-400km/s to +600 km/s

-0.9 nm to +1.3 nm
655.4 nm to 657.6 nm
No significant effect for most H- filters
 Red Continuum Filter
Subtract stars from H-a, SII data
 Conclusions
Narrowband Filters
FWHM 10 nm
Tuned to specific emission lines
Increase contrast by eliminating continuum
Show different structures (OIII, SII, NII, etc.)
Extend imaging time with moonlight
Allow us to image in light pollution
Astronomical NB filters are special
 Conclusions (2)
Narrower Filters
Want lowest FWHM with highest Tpk
More difficult to make CONSISTENTLY
More expensive
Cannot achieve S/N advantage unless high Tpk is
maintained.
Wavelength blue shift is not as significant as
previously thought
Off-the-shelf appropriate for f/3.5
Specially shifted filter for <f/3.5?
May not achieve large advantage for H- due to loss
of NII in PN and galaxies
Thank You!!

Clear Skies
 How Do the Pros Do It AAO/UKST
Technical Aspects of the New AAO/UKST H Interference Filter, Pub.
Astron. Soc. Aust, 1998, V15, pp 33-37
Consortium for H survey of the Galactic plane
Cover radial velocities of galaxies of -400 to +600 km/s (shifts of -0.9 nm
and +1.2 nm from 656.3 nm)
Placed in the f/2.48 convergent beam
Coated 305 mm H diameter (~10) on a 356 x 356 mm plate (12)
7 nm FWHM
CWL 659 nm 2.5 nm to account for blue shift at f/2.48
Blocking 4 OD from 200 to 699 nm
Tpk >85%
wave transmitted wavefront
0.004 nm/C blue shift with temperature.
Narrow enough for use under a bright moon