[mura_gadi (Steve)]

Hello,

I'd try and avoid packaged EP(eyepiece) sets, you end up with a lot of stuff you never use.

Only 2 planets are really good for viewing any details with an 8", Jupiter, Saturn, Mars is not the best(visually), Venus displays phases much like the moon over detail. So, I would suggest only getting colour filters that are suitable for Jupiter, Saturn and a good moon filter.

I'd recommend just getting 3-4 eyepieces to start with:
(Your exit pupil is basically the EP FL divided by your F Ratio - So a 25mm EP on a F5 scope gets you 5mm of exit pupil - The eye relief is how finicky eye placement will be generally, more eye relief the more forgiving the EP is on eye placement.)

Generally - For a mass produced scope, work on x50 per inch of aperture and take 75% of the total. So 8" x50 = 400 mag, reduced to 75%, 300mag as a maximum, but that's far higher than most nights of seeing anyway.

Try and think of EP's as how they will frame the object over mag/exit pupil(within reason). Use astronomy tools, Stellarium etc to see how the EP will frame the object of interest in your scope.

Ep's can range from $19 plossl at Andrews communications to $1200 Televue's from Bintel, so, you get what you paid for, but there is a lot of room for finding a compromise around value for money.

High Power:
Sub 10mm EP's - Planets, Star clusters, Star Splitters etc.
TBM II are good value for money ep's and are selling for $40+ atm on aliexpress sites.

Moderate Power:
10mm-25mm EP's - Anything from nights of poor viewing, a full image of the moon, moderate sized DSO objects.

I have heard good things about the GSO Superview(?) range, but at F5 you will see edge of view issues if you go looking for them. That doesn't mean the center will have a great deal of problems or they're bad ep's. Starguider for around $70 aren't bad either, I'm sure others will offer good sub $100 ep's for consideration.

Low Power:
25mm+ - Big wide views of the milky way.
This the one you might want to spend a little more money on and worry about wider field of view aspects.


Steve
Ps. There has been some good posts recently about ep's on the site, well worth a read.

Pps. I'm not sure about a 10mm plossl, the eye relief is down to 8mm, the TBM II is priced at or below a good entry level plossl and has a lot more eye relief... 16mm or so I think across the range and has a larger top glass to view through. At 8mm eye relief, its not a comfortable ep for long periods of staring off into the distance, imo. That changes with a nice eye cup or people's own experiences/preferences of course.

Most scopes will come with a 10 and 25mm plossl anyway, hopefully you'll get a 28mm wide field ep included. Plossls of good quality are great eyepieces.

If the $2349 package is from astro pete, you only get the 28mm wide view. BUT, add +$200-$400 on the package for a zoom (8-24mm) eyepiece and you'd have a nice to very nice zoom ep and the 28mm which would see you fine for most observations.
"http://www.astroanarchy.com.au/telescopes/Package_NEQ6_Newtonian8.html"