Quote:
Originally Posted by Starkler
The eyepiece was so well corrected I didn't consider it worth the effort to bother putting the paracorr in  |
Spot on Geoff!
I have just finished my first session in the backyard with the Ethos, and I found that the Paracorr was not required. There is a small deterioration towards the edges, but it is so minor that it is only noticable if you are looking for it.
With passing heavy clouds and lots of light cloud smeared across much of the celestial canopy, I was very restricted as to where I could observe, but I was able to get some time in Orion, Canis Major, Carina and the LMC. The rising moon, glaring its gaze across the veneer of cloud rendered any further observing after 10.45pm futile.
M42 was stupendous and highlights the benefit of the 100 degree FOV. The area of sky covered by the Ethos (13mm) is roughly the same as the area covered by my 22 Panoptic, but the views were substantially different. Greater contrast gave sharper views, with the Trap's six main stars spread over a larger area, and plainly visible through light cloud passing through the FOV. The larger magnification does wash out the colours in M42 observable at lower power, so the Pan will still have a role until I have placed my order for the 31 Nagler.
Scanning the LMC was a treat, with one object spilling out onto the next, and many areas of nebulosity far clearer and sharper than in the 22 Pan. The star cluster at the heart of the Tarantula was well resolved.
I enjoyed some close doubles in and around Orion and Canis Major. The conditions were not conducive to splitting Sirius/ the Pup, but many other doubles resolved well. Star colour rendition was slightly more neutral than the Panoptic.
Not many well known open clusters were well placed, but I spent some time admiring NGC 2516, with razor sharp stars across 85% of the FOV, with exquisite colour variation.
NGC 2808 was a little too low to resolve with any clarity, but 47 Tuc snapped into sharp focus. It was a similar object as in the Panoptic, but the image scale was so much bigger that I am sure under better conditions the detail that would be observed would be remarkable.
In terms of its focus point, I found this to be a little further in than the Panoptic. As I use a 2 inch extender to observe with the Panoptic (if not using the Paracorr) this was no great deal, and the focus point was simply towards the innner most point with the extender.
I have read some people poo-pooing the idea of 100 degree FOV on the basis that you cannot possibly take in all of the view at once, making the extra 50% FOV unnecessary and/or pointless. I guess this is a personal preference issue. For me, the wider FOV made ny first Ethos observing session extremely pleasurable. At one point I actually lost balance on the ladder because my sense of direction was a bit lost with the huge FOV. This is what some on Cloudy Nights have referred to as "space falling" (an increase on the "space walk" feeling of the Nagler). It certainly takes observing out of the "looking from afar" feeling which some narrow FOV eyepieces can give.
This EP will probably stay in my focuser for the majority of all future sessions. Its use will only be curtailed in either exceptionally poor seeing or exceptionally good seeing, in which lower and higher powers respectively will come more to the fore. My first session with this beauty tells me that it is a purchase I will never regret, and it is an eyepiece that I will keep forever.
Now for some dark skies....
