Hi Astro744,
Quote:
Originally Posted by astro744
The OP said he used a 9.7mm Meade Plossl. This is not a bad eyepiece and gives 123x and 0.42 deg. true field at 1200mm focal length. (Apparent field = 52 deg). I would think the Meade eyepiece is better than the 10mm Plossl supplied with most telescopes nowadays the latter eyepiece having poor contrast. The Meade would be no where as good in terms of contrast as the 10mm 72 deg eyepiece which you mention and I take to being the Pentax XW.
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Thanks, I now see in his second post that he mentioned the eyepiece used. And thank you for clarification with the 52 deg fov.
I agree Omega Centauri is a bright object & can take high magnification well but from my own experience, I really do believe the small fov of a plossl at high magnification kills it as you're looking pretty much into the guts of it & is fuzzy. I didn't mention that I use XWs because I observe this object in my 4" dob with a 15mm Orion Expanse 62 deg. eyepiece and it's still a nice object despite the low power & cheaper eyepiece.
Luke, as Astro 744 mentioned, try using the 12mm on it.
Even a 15mm will give really nice views.
And think about grabbing 10mm wideview eyepiece. It doesn't have to be a premium eyepiece (but they will give you better views). It'll also help with finding things at high magnification because you have a larger field of view. Also, it'll come in handy for our other showpiece glob, 47Tuc. (NGC 104). On my 6" & 10" dobs (1200 F/L) my 10mm widefield eyepiece is the hardest working one.
Also, if you haven't already observed The Sombrero Galaxy (M 104), hurry up & take a look before it leaves our skies for this season. It's a showstopper and takes high magnification well, so use your 10mm. If the views disappoint, try on different nights as poor sky conditions can have a big impact in killing off pleasing views. I pick some very faint object than can just be made out with the naked eye, to gauge how the sky is. If I can't see it well enough, I know not to expect too much.