are planetary filters useful ,i plan to buy an 8" reflector telescope?

Answer 1

I have an 8" reflector telescope.

There are a few things to consider, if all you want to do is planetary viewing:
1. A longer focal length (mine is F8) will give a richer field of view for planets.
2. It is more important to have quality eyepieces, and a decent selection of them. Don't skimp on eyepieces. I spent almost as much on my eyepieces as I did for the rest of my optical assembly (the "telescope" itself). If you get a 2" focuser, spend the money to get a super-wide (50mm +) eyepiece -- you won't regret it.
3. Yes, filters do make a difference in viewing planets, and different planets 'respond' to different filters, so a good selection of filters is a reasonable thing to buy. You can even pick out different details in the moon with different filters. Compared with everything else, filters are relatively cheap.

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Answer 2

You can get some good kit for that money; this is the golden age of armature astronomy; instruments that would have been out of peoples budgets a few years back are now available readily. I have a Meade Refractor and a Celetsron Newtonian reflector; both are good. The question is what sort of astronomy are you going to be doing? Do you have good seeing conditions where you live, or does the scope have to be portable? The best option in terms of optical power per buck is a big Dobsonian - Simple and powerful, but no good for astrophotography and rather cumbersome. Go-To scopes are good for beginners, because they can find objects for you (My meade has autostar) but they take some setting up. I would suggest you go to sky at night's web site, or buy the magazine because they do good reviews of popular equipment. Better still, see if you can join a local club.

Answer 3

I don't know persoanly, but the following link is from an .edu domain, not from someone selling filters, and it suggests they can be very useful. http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/marstuff/articles/FILTERS1.HTM