Celestron SE 8 Eyepieces

[Thomas333]

I am new to this and thinking of moving from a Celestron SE5 to an 8. What eypieces would anyone recommend for the planets and the moon in particular ? Saturn, Jupiter, Mars in particular... thank you !!!

[Dave882]

Hi Thomas
In my experience an 8” sct scope is great for viewing planets and even deep sky targets. Might not have as good optics as more premium scopes but at its price point quite good quality, portable and versatile. An 8se is a good visual or eaa scope but wouldn’t be the first pick for astrophotography.

Look for eyepieces for planets that give about 150x (poor seeing) - 200x (average seeing) - 250-300x (very good seeing) magnification. So if using it at its native f10 that would equate to eyepieces about 13mm , 10mm , 6mm. About 60degree field of view is about all you need for planets so don’t need to speed big bucks. If you want to see the full disc of the moon you will need lower power eyepiece probably about 24-30mm.

[astro744]

You could get a Celestron (or other brand) 8-24mm zoom to see what magnifications you prefer and get other eyepieces later. Consider Celestron X-Cel LX in fixed focal lengths if you prefer Celestron brand. (Don’t bother with the 2.3mm and 5mm with the latter only useable on rare nights of exceptional seeing (400x), i.e. not very often. and the former hardly ever unless you have a short refractor. In fact I wouldn’t go under 7mm on a 2032mm SCT but Mars can take more and often needs it if the atmosphere permits. Note planets will be small even at the higher powers but you’ll get used to looking at small discs.

See https://www.amazon.com.au/Celestron-93230-24mm-1-25-Eyepiece/dp/B0007UQNV8


What Dave882 suggested is a good spread. As to make, model, eye relief, apparent field, number of elements, correction; that is a personal choice and budget does come into it.