Eyepeices, Barlows, powermates, superviews

[1kmodem (Will)]

All these eyepeices and accessories confuse me!
From reading some recommend Barlows others powermate then others eyepeices.

I have a Solid bintel dob 8" with 25mm maybe superview? 15mm plossl and a 9mm plossl.
I like the 25m because it has a bigger fov? and I wear eyeglasses. Had a look through the 15mm and I am pretty sure it was Saturn (last night) but it was pretty much a bright dot

I'll try again with the 9mm tonight again with Saturn, what can get me some pretty decent or amazing views or Saturn and planets? without stressing out my eyes in these super small ep's and comfort with eye glasses?

thanks

[raymo]

With a 15mm EP you should be able to make out Saturn, although it will be very small. Saturn has a steady creamy colour, and of course there is
no trace of scintillation [twinkling]. Barlows are good for spectacle
wearers as they increase the eye relief, allowing you to view from a
greater distance from the EP. Powermates are great, but more expensive
than a moderate quality barlow.
raymo

[Marios (Marios)]

The standard EP that comes with your scope generally has poor eye relief. For people who wear glasses a minimum of 15mm or ideally 20mm eye relief is preferred. You can get entry level EP's with good eye relief at higher magnification at just over the $100 range. I use and recommend Baader Hyperion EP and with the correct attachment ring you can connect your DSLR to the EP.

[dannat (Daniel)]

which focal length do you have ? f4 ,f5 f6
f4 needs either -plossl or expensive wide fields
f6 is more forgiving & cheaper wide fields can be purchased

saturn should be more than a bright dot in a 15mm, could you see the rings?

[1kmodem (Will)]

sorry I have a F6 at 1200
I could sort of make out the rings at one view then I lost it.
I was using Skyeye, so I am pretty sure it was Saturn. maybe I should try the 9mm for Saturn?

[Nab (Darren)]

I was viewing Saturn last night. The seeing wasn't great but it did present a nice view in a 13mm EP and in moments of good seeing clearly banded with the cassini division in a 7mm. A 20 or there about should show it as a ringed world. If you are not seeing this then something else is amiss.
Darren.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

In your scope a 15mm ep will give 80x (1200/15). As Saturn is currently about 16.3" is actual size, at that power it's apparent size should be about 21'. So in your scope it should appear about 2/3 the size that moon would to the naked eye (the moon is about 30' in diameter)
And that is just the planet not the rings. Given this it may not have been Saturn, my suggestion is you were looking at Mars, which is in the same area of sky and would appear distinctly reddish.

With your eyepieces, the 25mm is most likely a plossl rather than a superview as GSO (and hence Bintel) do not make a 25mm Supervue. For most objects except planets the 25mm plossl is your best friend, nice wide field, good eye relief and it costs nothing extra! My advice to beginners is use the eps you have before spending cash on more exotic ones as in many cases they are perfectly adequate. And the same goes for barlows.

Cheers

Malcolm

[1kmodem (Will)]

After downloading Stellarium onto my laptop and having a look though it, it seems you guys were right, I was looking at Mars HAHA
Hopefully its clear skies tonight for a proper view of Saturn

[dannat (Daniel)]

don't worry there are in similar spots & easy mistake to make
Mars is only ever good when at opposition (close to earth away from sun)

[1kmodem (Will)]

I can tick off the moon and Saturn after a good clear viewing tonight. Awesome stuff!

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Originally Posted by 1kmodem

After downloading Stellarium onto my laptop and having a look though it, it seems you guys were right, I was looking at Mars HAHA
Hopefully its clear skies tonight for a proper view of Saturn

...and Mars of course ..

[Renato1 (Renato)]

If you have eye-relief problems with that 9mm eyepiece, you can do three things.

1. Buy longer eye-relief eyepieces. I use TMB ones which can be found for around $70 on Ebay from the UK,
or

2. Get an 18mm eyepiece and use it with a 2X barlow, or find a 2.7X barlow (they do exist) and use it with your 25mm eyepiece - this way you get the equivalent to a 9mm eyepiece but with longer eye-relief,

or
3. Take off your eyeglasses when using the 9mm. With high powered eyepieces you get small exit pupils, which generally aren't affected as much by vision defects. Sometimes with the very small eyerelief eyepieces, you have to take their rubber eye-guard off to be able to see the entire field. The problem then becomes how long one's eyelashes are - either everything is fine, or you find yourself often having to clean smudges on the eyepiece lens.

Certainly, if you read equipment books like "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide" by Dickenson &Dwyer, they tend to favour using Barlows and Powermates for high power views. But I personally have never been that fond of them, despite using Televue Barlows and a Powermate.
Regards,
Renato