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Old 13-05-2017, 08:46 PM
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anthony.tony
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Best eyepieces for planetary work and Lunar

Hello what are the best eyepieces for Lunar and Planetary Observing. Tony
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Old 13-05-2017, 10:09 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Originally Posted by anthony.tony View Post
Hello what are the best eyepieces for Lunar and Planetary Observing. Tony
How long is a piece of string?

It depends on your scope. For longer F ratios above F6, I suggest a ortho or plossl, especially if the mount has a drive.

I also like the Delites and the old Radians when viewing the Moon at higher magnifications. They give a good image to the edge of the field.
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Old 15-05-2017, 01:49 PM
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My piece of string comes in the shape of 18mm Ortho's. Combined with the 1.6 OCS that WO's come with and add a 2x and 3x ES Focal Extenders is all I have ever needed....18 Ortho's are easy on the eyes.

Matt
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Old 15-05-2017, 02:24 PM
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Greenswale (Wren)
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Following assistance from Matthew a while back, I have gone orthoscopic. My eyepieces are Fujiyama in 4,5,6,12.5,18 and 25mm.

Positives are excellent light transmission; brilliant sharpness, colour and contrast;price;light weight (Helps keeping the scope balanced); and in my set, very nearly par focal.

Negative is reducing eye relief with decrease in focal length. I have adapted to the short eye relief, even though I am over 70.

Arguable points are the narrow field of view at around 45 degrees, and some softness towards the edge in the longer focal lengths. These issues are of little concern to me.

My telescope is a 120mm Skywatcher Apo at f7.5.

I do have a couple of 2" University Optics for wide field, he, he!

PS. My previous eyepieces were Pentax XW. With my current scope and observing regime, the orthos provide me with better views.

Last edited by Greenswale; 17-05-2017 at 08:03 PM. Reason: PS added.
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Old 16-05-2017, 07:47 PM
Wavytone
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I have vixen SLVs and one SSW (14mm). Despite its number of elements the SSW14 has distinctly better contrast than the SLV12 and if I was buying another I'd buy an SSW and sell a couple of the SLVs. The extra field of view of the SSW is a bonus.

Only snag at the moment is the SSW range is very limited.
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Old 17-05-2017, 12:44 PM
AEAJR (Ed)
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My Primary scope is an 8" 1200 mm FL Dobsonian Newtonian.

For Moon and planets I have moved from Plossls, 9.7, 6.4mm and a Mead HD60 4.5

to

Explore Scientific 82 and Meade UWA 82 degree 8.8, 6.7, 5.5 with a rare 2X barlow


Now I am using


Baader Hyperion 8-24 Zoom with a GSO 2X barlow I like this best of all.
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Old 18-05-2017, 09:05 PM
vaztr (Andrew)
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A 28mm RKE in an f5 12" dob
Full moon fits perfectly, snap to focus, huge eye relief and barlows well

Vaz
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Old 18-05-2017, 09:53 PM
Saturnine (Jeff)
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My most used for eyepieces for lunar & planetary observing the past few years are a pair of 12.5 mm BGOs' , Williams Optics Binoveiwer, 1.6 X nosepiece on an 127 x 1200 Surplus Shed optics, refractor. The approx. 150 X magnification the set up provides is an ideal mag. when the seeing is less than very good ( > 7/ 10 ).
The BGOs', ( Baader Genuine Orthoscopics ) are an excellent eyepiece, sharp to the edge of the field, good light transmission and eye relief of 10 / 12 mm and are similar to the Fujiyama orthos. Also have sets of 18 & 9 mm volcano top orthos when different mag. is required and they are nearly as good in quality of view.
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Old 19-05-2017, 03:37 PM
Tropo-Bob (Bob)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vaztr View Post
A 28mm RKE in an f5 12" dob
Full moon fits perfectly, snap to focus, huge eye relief and barlows well

Vaz
I have heard it stated that 50x is the perfect magnification to view the Moon, so your favoured setup is close.
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Old 20-05-2017, 06:21 AM
SimonLowther (Simon)
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Huygens 12 ;-)

Just kidding; the best is TV Nagler Type 6. Alternates are Delite for budget minded and Delos for better ER with nearly the FOV. Some ES 82's are good but not the 14mm, most 68's would fit the bill but neither are the 'best'.

Can not argue with the clarity of the Ortho's but I rarely take mine out of the box because of tight ER plus limited FOV.
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  #11  
Old 20-05-2017, 07:43 AM
croweater (Richard)
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+1 for Nagler T6. Also Baader zoom Cheers Richard
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Old 23-05-2017, 12:20 PM
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My piece of string is in the length of a full set of TV Radians , they work especially well in both my iStar and C9.25 .

They do impart a slight yellowing ? to the image but for Luna/Planetary viewing I think it makes the image a lot more natural looking especially Jupiter and Saturn and at stupid high powers of 500x plus ( on good nights ) dont show any problems to my eyes .

Before that I used Orthoscopics , very good in the C9.25 but a little to much edge distortion in the iStar , still very good tho as Bob says in above f6-8 scopes and the best for above f10-15 as that's what they were designed to work with .

You only really use the centre of field when viewing planets but the moon is a different story so that's why I went Radian's ( the 20mm eye relif don't hurt also ) and I am mostly Lunar/Planetary like you .

But TV Radians are where its at for me , these are also avaliable used for good prices now as many have upgraded to the Delite's and Delos range . .

Brian.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tropo-Bob View Post
How long is a piece of string?

It depends on your scope. For longer F ratios above F6, I suggest a ortho or plossl, especially if the mount has a drive.

I also like the Delites and the old Radians when viewing the Moon at higher magnifications. They give a good image to the edge of the field.
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  #13  
Old 23-05-2017, 06:19 PM
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Many Thanks for the Input - Tony.
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