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Looking for 2 good quality eyepieces for C11

  • Neil40
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2 years 9 months ago #111003 by Neil40
Hi guys its newbie Neil again. I was thinking of adding 2 new good quality eyepieces to my slowly expanding collection. I have the 13mm.Hyperion which is quite good. Is there much of a difference between the Hyperion and the Morpheus models? Besides price? Would Explore Scientific be a better eyepiece? I have also read that  pentax and  takahashi are good for higher mag.? Are the celestron x-cel good?   I was thinking of a 6mm for planetary (the cheap celestron 4mm just shows objects as a blur so i'd be afraid to go lower than 6mm even though i'd like very high mag for planets). The second eyepiece would be for deep sky and I am not really sure what mm to get. I have a focal reducer which would help for deep sky. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you for reading my long message! 

Neil

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2 years 9 months ago #111010 by Paul-Byrne
Replied by Paul-Byrne on topic Looking for 2 good quality eyepieces for C11
Hi Neil

What's your budget?
I have used Explore Scientific 82 degree eyepieces in the past and I found them very capable performers.
I would not recommend a 6mm eyepiece, with a telescope focal length of 2800mm, a 6mm with give a magnification of 467, that is way too high, even on the planets, the viewing conditions will rarely be good enough for such a magnification, focussing would have to be spot on.  An 8mm will give a magnification of 350 and that should be more than enough.
Pentax and Takahashi are top of the line eyepieces, I believe that Aubrey has some Pentax eyepieces and can give better advice than me.
If money is not an obstacle, lucky you, then consider the Televue range of eyepieces too, they are famous for their quality and views, you will not be disappointed.  You can try the second hand markets in the UK and US for eyepieces, I have bought from the US and if you ask nicely, a seller is generally willing to put no value on the item to avoid import tax, just don't tell the taxman, you're not a taxman by any chance?   
Don't get hung up on magnification, you will find you are using low to medium magnifications eyepieces far more than a high power unit.

Hope this helps.

Paul

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2 years 9 months ago - 2 years 9 months ago #111011 by stevie
Hi Neil
It is generally reckoned that a maximun of 200x is the most that can be used in typical Irish skies. Ocassionally you can magnify a bit more, but not often. Since your 13mm Hyperion gives you approx 215x (without the focal reducer), then you are over that limit already.

Therefore, it would be better to buy a couple of eyepieces which give a lower magnification. I would be looking for something to give you a mag in the region of 120x and something for around 80x. Most deep sky viewing will be at around these magnifications. You can consider the focal length amendment given by your focal reducer in your calculations, depending on whether you will be using it all the time.

As for brands, the Explore Scientific 82 degree series is very good. Another equivalent brand would be Meade 5000 Ultrawide and a couple of others, including Baader Morpheus (I have the 6.5mm, but have had no real chance to use it yet)

The Celestron X-Cel are maybe a step lower, whereas Takahashi would be a step higher. Another possibility in the medium price bracket is Speers Waler, either Mk2 or Mk3 (I can hear all my mates groaning here, but I think they are superb)

As Paul mentioned, Televue are the best overall, along with maybe Pentax, but you will pay premium prices for most of the ranges for both

It really depends on your budget, but it is difficult to buy a really bad eyepiece these days, most are of a high quality. Since you like the 13mm Hyperion, I would stick with those eyepieces with a wider field of view. Also, there is a general shortage of astronomy equipment at the moment, and some I have mentioned may not be available (The Meade 5000's for example). Another thing to consider is your diagonal. Most lower power eyepieces are 2".

Good luck
Last edit: 2 years 9 months ago by stevie.

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  • Neil40
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2 years 9 months ago #111012 by Neil40
Thanks guys. My budget is 400 to 500 for the 2. And I am only willing to spend that much because I know I will have them for quite some time. The televue and pentax are just simply too expensive. I think I will take your advice and get a couple of eyepieces that have lower magnification. As suggested by Stevie something around 120x and 80x. I think I will be using my focal reducer quite a lot going forward so ill factor that in. As Paul suggested I might look into explore scientific and see what is on offer. And also look into the second hand market. For other brands I think ill stick with Hyperion. But I am quite curious about the Morpheus range so I might pay the extra few quid and go for them.. I really want to focus on deep sky so lower mag/wider field of view makes sense. Carl sagan once said "Astronomy is a humbling and character building experience". He forgot to mention it is also a bank account draining experience. 
Thanks the advice it really helped. I've completely changed my mind about what size eyepieces to get. Ill let you guys know what get. Time to start shopping! 

Thanks guys

Neil

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2 years 9 months ago #111013 by Paul-Byrne
Replied by Paul-Byrne on topic Looking for 2 good quality eyepieces for C11
A slow scope like the C11 is more forgiving with eyepieces than a fast reflector or refractor.
Stephen at Ktech has the Baader Aspheric 31mm & 36mm eyepieces for sale, either one will make an excellent lower power finder eyepiece, great price too.
You might consider the Omegon Panorama eyepieces, there is a review here:
www.skyatnightmagazine.com/reviews/eyepi...norama-ii-eyepieces/
They are sold by Astroshop.eu.

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2 years 9 months ago - 2 years 9 months ago #111014 by stevie
The Baader Aspheric 31mm would be an excellent choice, great for galaxy hunting.
The Baader Morpheus 17.5mm would also be an excellent choice for medium magnifications (100x approx with the focal reducer). Rother Valley may have stock, which is more than can be said for ebay and Amazon. In fact, Rother Valley is the only place that seems to have anything at the moment
Last edit: 2 years 9 months ago by stevie.

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