Ageing eyes and ER in eyepieces

[MattT]

At the tender age of 50 I have no problems using eyepieces with 6mm or less in eye relief, plossls and the like. Does this change as you get older? or does it stay much the same. I don't wear glasses except to read, which has only happened in the last 12 months. Wondering what the next 10 or so years will bring in the ER stakes.
Matt

[Poita (Peter)]

No idea, but I'm guessing if glasses become required then eye relief will start to be a problem.
Either that or switch to a mallincam

[Larryp (Laurie)]

I wear glasses, but find them a pain to observe with. I have them on a neck strap and wear them to see what I am generally doing, then take them off to look through an eyepiece.

[Wavytone]

Hi Matt,


What does change is your ability to focus, but any telescope focusser will take care of that, easily. But you have already lost this in your 40's.

Whatever you find comfortable with regard to eye relief doesn't change with age, unless you want to wear specs to observe - I take mine off some of the time.

Main reason I keep mine on when observing at a star party is to ensure the focus is suitable for others with more normal sight.

[MattT]

Thanks all...well thats a relief...boom boom. Just sold a few LER eyepieces that I didn't really like and replaced them with the ES ones below, all with 15mm more or less in ER department, so good to hear not a lot will change. This glasses for reading thing is APITA ...can't get used to it yet.
Matt

[Barrykgerdes]

I have worn glasses for 56 years first for myopia and now for reading as well as my focal range has reduced markedly.

I also have loss of sensitivity to light change such that my night vision can take more than an hour to reach maximum and even then is not as good as it was once with the slow formation of cataracts.

However I have never been comfortable wearing glasses to use the telescope. Always removing them for observation, even using eyepieces with long eye relief. Small adjustment of focus adapts the telescope to my vision.

Barry

[doppler (Rick)]

Check this web site out it has a lot of info about the human eye and stargazing

http://starizona.com/acb/basics/observing_theory.aspx