Skywatcher ED80 eye piece options

[mrkleinig]

Hi everyone,

LTRFTW.

I currently have a 24mm eyepiece and a 2x Barlow that I use with my Skywatcher ED80 (Black Diamond).

I've been looking at getting another eye piece and was hoping I might ask for your advice or opinions on what brand, focal length, style would be best to go for?

Most of my time is spent drooling in awe at clusters in the milky way, or showing my friends and family Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon.

My main goal with the new eyepiece is trying to get a bit more detail of the planets.

Also, I've attached a photo that I took in late February of the full moon. It's my first attempt at astrophotography and would love your critique / advice on how to improve.

Thanks in advance,
Glen

[PlanetMan]

This is the age old question of where to start with eyepieces. Firstly, there are a number of caveats to be mindful about which essentially relate to what particular scope you have, what you optimally want to look at and what is your eyesight like in terms of eyerelief you might require from an eyepiece. Additionally, from my own experience it is far better to invest in 1 or 2 high quality eyepieces which you will keep for the rest of your life (and will largely hold their value) rather than buying a whole bunch of cheapish EP's. At this exact point in time Televue eyepieces are remarkably cheap due to the Australian dollar and sales so if your budget can manage $260 then now would be the time to buy a Televue 9mm Nagler. With this eyepiece you can achieve the spacewalk feeling and with your barlow it will still be pretty good for planetary observing.

[dannat]

I'm guessing the focal length is about 600mm, in which case I would be getting one of the tmb planetaries advertised on this site, I have the 6mm and they are great value IMO. The 4 or 6mmm would suite, giving either 150 or 1oox magnification.(150x is pushing it a bit, not for planets but other objects) Also there is a 5mm radian on eBay at then moment for 150, a good price for a better planetary ep.

[cookie8]

Can't agree more with Planetman.
Just bought a TeleVue 7mm Nagler from Bintel for $263. Never thought I could afford one before. With a good 2x barlow like the Orion Shorty, my ED80 gives 170x on Saturn. Tak sharp and great contrast.

[PlanetMan]

I think few people would disagree that Televue eyepieces are pretty hard to beat in terms of optical quality. Danat is right about the 5mm Televue Radian as a good option but between a 2nd hand one up for 'auction' starting at $150 and being able to buy an absolutely brand new one with 5years warranty for $215 I know where I would be going straight away. As a beginners peice I still think the 9mm Nagler has legendary status closely followed by the 7mm (ie Cookies choice) - although I think in the 7mm range some folks seem to think the Pentx XL or XW are optically superior - I should however mention that from my own experiences the individuals who hold this view between the Pentax over the Televue 7mm focal length eps typically appear unconcerned by more common issues us mere mortals have to deal with such as price. Given the remarkable drops in prices I can't think of a better time to buy something Televue if you ever had such an inclination.

[mrkleinig]

Thanks for all your responses!

I had a look on bintel but couldn't find a 2" 9mm Nagler - will I have to get a 1.25" and use an adapter?

I'm trying to keep everything on my scope 2" :)

Cheers,
Glen

[PlanetMan]

Hi Glen,

No - the type 6 Naglers are mostly 1.25's but rest assured it is a fantastic EP to start your collection. Also, if you are after dedicated planetary pieces it seems to be the general theory to actually have EPs which don't have such a large AFOV. In this context you will find that many of the top end planetary EPs have relatively small AFOV (eg 40') and very little eyerelief - maybe 4-7mm. As a purely planetary EP and if your budget can allow for it I think right now the 3-6mm Nagler Zoom is also a real bargin. However, keep in mind all of these planetary EPs with limited FOV generally run on the assumption you are using a mount with tracking to keep the planet in the FOV of the EP.