First Light 27mm Pano

[Tamtarn]

The weather in Melbourne has been absolutely shocking these past few weeks

So we were thrilled when my birthday present arrived yesterday and then we were blessed with a near perfect night to try it out .....YES....

( We've already experienced the dreaded "New Equipment Curse " before )

The first thing we noticed about this EP was the contrast and brightness. A very dark background and the stars resolved very clearly pinpoint almost to the edge of FOV. Couldn't believe the clarity and the different colour in the stars at this low magnification.

Eta Carina was magnificent amazed at the clarity of dark lanes and nebuosity without a nebula filter ..... ( Oh Oh now we have to spend more money on a 2" UHC filter will it ever end ? ).... We know the answer NO !!

Omega Centauri...We have a 30mm Superview and a 26mm Meade Plossl and in comparison the Meade does a reasonable job with a fuzzy core centre and the Superview...Well not worth commenting really.

With the Panoptic we could see the centre core stars more clearly than we ever imagined in a 27mm EP the dark background contrast enabling us to see more and more different coloured stars crystal clear......What a sight !!

After spending some time looking at other favourites we decided just to pan around different areas. As well as the easy to find large open and global clusters we came across many small dense clusters and galaxies which we're sure we would not have found with our Superview they get lost in the seagulls. We have no idea what they were as we were in areas we haven't been before. So now we have to get back to them and identify them.

Also wherever we browsed the contrast and brightness was wonderful and as we browsed the Milky Way we couldn't believe the dark lanes and nebousity which we had never seen before at this magnification.

We have to say that our 27mm Pano is everything the guys from IIS said it would be. It serves the purpose of making the job of tracking down DSO'S much easier for me and the added benefit of some even more amazing sights of old friends that we had not observed previously and the discovery of many many new objects.

This is one .......SPECTACULAR .......eyepiece !!


Stayed out in the freeeeeezing cold for six hours .. David chickened out about half way through the session but rejoined later on.

WHAT A GREAT NIGHT

Barb & David

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

Great review, thanks Guys

[Dujon]

Note to Admin:

Can you ban these people from lauding stuff I can't afford to buy - please?

I've just blown my next ten year budget on my Newt and this sort of thing keeps turning up - it's enough to make one cry.

No, not really, Barb. It's fantastic that something has turned out as well as expected for someone who can utilise its capabilites.

You can tell David that he's a big sook (mind you, knowing only too well what the weather can do to you 'southerners' I suspect I would have joined him should I have been there).

I'm assuming you used the 12" for the experiment?

[mickoking]

I had a feeling you might like the Pan Thanx for the review

[Lester]

Thanks for the info, will lock this one away in my memory banks, when I purchase a top quality eyepiece.

[Tamtarn]

Yes John we did use the 12"

I lasted about 2 hours and then came inside to talk to you guys in the warm and have a glass of port and coffee.


David

[dugnsuz (Doug)]

God bless you Barb and Dave...
A couple with interests on the exact same page!
I dearly love my better half, but astronomy gear purchases are where our paths diverge.
"Honey, I think we could really do with a 31mm nagler..."
Now that's not something I could say and ecape unhurt.

Great to hear you're enjoying the Pano.
It sounds amazing.

"Mmmm Pano!" - homer s'
Cheers
Doug

[GrahamL]

sounds a fine eyepiece

How does the weight balance out on the dob mount?


take care ns

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Hi,

I own a 27mm Panoptic and it isn't a heavy eyepiece compared to some out there. It causes no balance issues in my 10" dob. In fact I have used it barlowed on many occasions in my 2" 1.6X Antares barlow, also combined with a 2" filter without balance issues.

CS-John B

[Tamtarn]

It's a great EP NS there is no weight problem at all. Considering the Stratus 30mm is 27oz the Pano at approx 14 oz is a breeze . Although it seems a great deal to pay we're glad we made the decision to take the advise of the guys here on IIS and we now have an EP in that range that we know we never have to replace EVER

Barb & David