John

When I'm trying to observe the faintest targets (eg: the Horsehead Nebula) I don't want any light at all near me for a good hour or so before attempting to see my target. When I've been at a very dark site even the illuminated face of a watch seems glaring when the eyes are really dark adapted. Coversely, when planetary observing, some exposure to light can actually improve the ability to pick out subtle detail. I've read that experienced planetary observers actually stare at an illuminated white surface for a few moments before putting their eye to the eyepiece.

This is useful guidance on optical aberrations, both from the scope optics and from the eyepiece: http://umich.edu/~lowbrows/reflections/2007/dscobel.27.html

I occasionally use a 40mm 70 degree eyepiece with my F/5.3 dob, but only very occasionally. It's just not as effective under my skies as the 31mm Nagler or, even better, the 21mm Ethos. I've not worked that out mathematically but found out by trying it out under the stars. But with my slower refractors, the 40mm / 70 is much more useful

My experience / understanding about Hyperions is the same as yours. Not the first eyepiece range I'd consider for a F/5.9 scope.

The 40mm would give you a 10mm exit pupil in your 20 inch dob. Might not be that effective ?

Only if the circumference of your mount at the point you have marked it is 36cm. If it is different the rotation will be different. 36cm was just an example that @Waldemar was using. I agree with Cosmic Geoff - get on and use the mount.

I don't honestly know Stu. It used to be said that the XWs in the 1.25 inch fittied were originally designed for spotting scopes but I'm not sure about that. I doubt that you would use the 2 inch XWs in a spotting scope. The XWs replaced the XL range so the origins of the XLs are relevant as well. Interesting piece here on these ranges: https://astromart.com/reviews-and-articles/reviews/eyepieces/other/show/understanding-pentax-xl-and-xw-eyepieces @jetstream / Gerry - I find the 1.25 inch XW's have pretty low levels of light scatter given their optical complexity so I think there is a good chance that the 2 inch ones will score well in this department too. The 5mm and 7mm XW are now my "goto" eyepieces for splitting Sirius and for that you want as little scatter as possible.

I think I have medium coloured eyes and I don't find that I need to use a lunar filter. Who believes polls anyway ?

I've no problem observing the Moon with my 12 inch dob and no filter. I do have a suitable ND filter but I keep it for outreach observing in case anyone else feels that they need it.

The XWs vary quite a bit in their optical design across the range of focal lengths. This chart includes the old 30mm and 40mm XWs but I think the optical design there is the same as the new release of those focal lengths: Their optical characteristics show some variation across the range as well - some show negative field curvature and some positive:

4x the price usually equates to a few % difference in performance once you get above mid priced / mid market eyepieces I reckon. A lot of folks still go for those last few % though. Fussy lot, we are Personally I'd be interested to know how the 40mm XW-R compares with my Aero ED 40mm which cost me £50 used.

Where is that bag of popcorn icon ? - ah, there it is 🍿

I've used both eyepiece types and agree with Robins assessment. At low to medium magnifications the BST Starguiders are pretty good. I think you did the right thing in investing in a Vixen SLV 5mm for higher powers though.

I have a 24mm Panoptic and some shorter focal length XW's. The 2 degree difference in AFoV is not really noticable to be honest with you. I have used a Pnetax XW 30mm and compared it with a Nagler 31mm and the UWAN/Nirvana 28mm. The Pentax was a really comfortable eyepiece to use and not as heavy as the others. Here is the report I compiled back then: 31nagler30xw28nirvana11-09.pdf

The Pentax XW range seems to now include a 30mm and 40mm focal length in the 2 inch fitting again: http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/products/binoculars/scope/xw/index.html In the US prices listed are $370 for the 30mm and $400 for the 40mm.

Here is a link to them: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/ovl-eyepieces/aero-ed-swa-2-eyepieces.html

The SWAN's are OK but do suffer from some distortions in the outer field of view when used in scopes faster than around F/8. At 40mm I use an Aero ED 40mm and that works really well in my F/6.5 102mm and F/7.5 120mm refractors. Stars are sharp pretty much right across the field of view plus the Aero ED 40mm is quite light for a 2 inch multi element wide angle eyepiece. There are other options within your budget such as the Explore Scientific 68 degree 40mm if you are prepared to buy secondhand.

Thats true - it does get much more interesting when at a gibbous, half or crescent phase.

The Powerseeker 114 has a focal length of 900mm so the 20mm eyepiece will be giving 45x magnification and should show nice views of the whole lunar disk. You need to ensure that you adjust the focus to get the clearest and sharpest view. Add a 3x barlow and you have 135x magnification which should still be nice if the seeing conditions are steady. You will need to adjust the focus again to get a sharp view. The 4mm eyepiece though gives 225x which is probably too much magnification for a clear view - you should see some portion of the lunar surface but it might not be steady or clear. The 3x barlow and the 4mm eyepiece gives 675x which is far, far too much magnification to get a clear or sharp image with the 114mm scope, or most other scopes for that matter. If you are not seeing any detail even with just the 20mm eyepiece in the scope then I suspect that you need to adjust the focus until you see a view a bit like this:

A barlow lens actually increases the eye relief. This can be a blessing or a curse depending on your preferences.

I think a flashing light means flat batteries ? The RA starts to track as soon as the hand set is switched on - no lights show. The lights only show when a directional button is pressed. You won't notice the RA tracking movement and it's very quiet.

I think these are the same eyepieces optically but £40 less expensive and in less flashy bodies: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BFWFVNP/ref=sspa_dk_detail_5?psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFZN0xVOTZHTDcxTTUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTA3MDIzOTYxNTVFVU1ONklUSU4wJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTEwNDE2MjYxVjE3WDYwV1c5V0M3JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsMiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU= They have been marketed under a lot of different brandings over the years including Skywatcher. In your 8 inch F/5.9 dob they work quite well. The 9mm is the best one. Dont expect the stars at the field edges to be sharp though. I've owned and used a set quite happily but that was quite a few years back and my scope then was an F/10 5 inch schmidt cassegrain.

Good information Stu (and Geoff just now) I'd forgotten that a transit could be observed in a single session (daft because I've done it myself ) but also didn't link that to the time it takes for a moon to pass behind the planet. I hope the other info in my post is correct

Here is quite a bit of information about the comet and it's current location and brightness: https://theskylive.com/c2019q4-info According to that it is magnitude 16 which would need a very large aperture scope to see.

You see reappearances or disappearences of a moon but not both on the same moon in the same session - passing behind Jupiter takes quite a few hours. One interesting effect is that the reappearence of a moon does not always happen exactly as predicted because the moon can remain in the shadow of Jupiter even when it's clear of the planets limb in a line of sight sense. Seeing a moon suddenly pop into view some distance away from the limb can give you a little surprise. Very occasionally two moons do this during a session: https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2011/12/29/jupiters-moons-reappear-out-of-thin-air-tonight/ Observing for some time though mainly helps in discerning more subtle planetary features. Initially the view of Jupiter, for example, might just show the two main equatorial belts but over time your eye adjusts and begins to tease out further belts and also festoons, eddies and the red spot (if it is on our side of the planet). If conditions are decent you are usually able to see quite a bit more detail after an hour at the eyepiece than you saw when you first started to observe.