end of year observing

Being of a certain age (saddo) I had no party to go to last night - nor had I any inclination to go to one or the pub...but I did stand out in the yard at one point during the evening and noticed a rare and precious sight. Yes you guessed it, the sky was clear.

I brought out the 10" Dob to have a look at Jupiter and anything else of interest. I had no plan or expectations. There was some occasional high milky cloud but for the most part it remained clear until nearly midnight. But what surprised me was the detial I could see in Jupiter using my Hyperion 8mm eyepiece while barlowed (x2)
Now, I never rated this eyepiece because whether by fault of design or an inherent fault in my example, it never performed well. On this occasion I removed the lower lense of the eyepiece (I presume its own integral Barlow?) and used the eyepiece in the 2" barlow - of better quality - in my eyepiece box: it transformed the yoke :woohoo:
Now I am wondering what othher combinations I need to explore to get the best out of the kit I already have, does anyone else rate Hyperion eyepieces??

and happy new year to you all

Declan Molloy

I have both a 17mm and 8mm Hyperion, and I think they are great eyepieces, especially the 17mm. I would use it more than any other eyepiece in my kit, even my 27mm Panoptic.
Several of the guys in NIAAS also have them, and we are all big fans.

I have an 8mm and get good views. However I think I'll try your trick to see what, if any improvements can be made.
Also have a 21mm Hyperion but haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Can't help you there, Declan. But considering you had some high cloud, you did rather well. Jupiter was quite good alright last night. I had the privilege to observe Europa coming off the disc at 20.34 UT and its shadow still on the disc in the South Temperate Zone. The shadow was tiny at 112X and 140X, but at 167X it was plain to see. That eyepiece is a 6.7mm is a Meade UWA 70 degree -an eyepiece which never lets me down and is quite reasonable in price to purchase.
My 8mm is a TMB Planetary model. The field of view is small but it does give a good performance. Happy New Year!

Aubrey.

Hi Declan,
On of the guys here in the club has a set of Hyperions and he rates them very well, he used them on the clubs 12" F5 dob so that wasn't an easy test.

@Aubrey, that's an interesting mix of eyepieces, can I ask do you see much difference between the TMB and Meade UWA when looking at Jupiter interms of image quality?

Hi Dave. I can offer a bit more extra information regarding both eyepieces. I bought the TMB 8mm eyepiece for a mere 60 dollars from Astonomics in 2009. It gives me 140X and only 58 degrees apparent field of view -which gives me just 25 minutes true field of view. On average nights of seeing, I have been happy with its performance when viewing Jupiter. I have observed the North Temperate Belt most times with it.
The 6.7mm Meade UWA Valerie bought me for my birthday in May 2011 and I am simply honoured to have it. It offers me 82 degrees apparent field of view and gives me not just more magnification -167X, but also a bit more field of view with 29 minutes true field of view and I see much the same features, but so much more easier -less strain on the eye. The Great Red Spot is much easier to see. I have seen festoons and barges on the planet with the Meade 6.7mm. Europa's shadow was very distinctive at this magnification on New Year's Eve. It does have 7 lenses!
Of course above 200X, Jupiter can become blurred on nights of bad seeing; so often my 5mm Nagler is kept firmly in its box. My only sighting of the North North Temperate Belt was visible in the 5mm Nagler in January 2012 at 225X. I was thrilled to see it then.

Aubrey.