Highburymark

I seem to remember that the Hyperion 10mm was my first upgrade eyepiece when I bought a C6. At a relatively slow focal ratio of F/10, the 10mm Hyperion was excellent. I totally agree with Steve’s recommendation for a dielectric diagonal - you could pick one up from the classifieds for not much money, and it will make a noticeable difference to views with any eyepiece. Be aware that although they come under a wide range of brands, they are all of similar quality - unsurprising as they are built in the same Chinese factories.

I worked in Farringdon Lane and then Hatton Garden for around five years during the 1990s. Working in journalism back then, it was perfectly normal for half the office to head for the pub at lunchtime for a few refreshments, but I was more attracted by Telescope House, and bought my first scope there. Thanks for posting John.

Yep - it’s remarkable how few 2” eyepieces vignette with the Baader T2 diagonals fitted with a 2” clicklock. My two low power widefields are Panoptic 27 and Nagler 22 T4, so there’s no need to buy a 2” diagonal. Interesting that the 30mm ultra flat is also fine with the T2 Baader/Zeiss prism Mike.

Excellent Paul - do report back.

At eighty quid and a long-awaited week in the Canaries around the corner, I have caved in and have a 3-8 on the way. Means I can just take three eyepieces away with me. It certainly covers an incredibly useful range for travel. Look forward to seeing how it compares to my other eyepieces in this range - a Delite, 3xTOEs, an XW, an XO, a couple of orthos and an Ethos. I’ll report back, particularly if it comes close to keeping pace with them!

Shows you don’t need a huge telescope to capture spectacular detail. Superb images Nigella.

Nice choices Steve. I tend to use the amici when I’m panning around the surface, and looking at features on a wider scale. I use binoviewer and Nagler 13s for an expansive view, and I do prefer a left-right orientation for this. Think it’s because I studied lunar maps from a young age and still find it more natural. Then for close up lunar details I more often use a right-left prism or mirror. It just involves a little thought before I set up. To be honest, everything looks so great on the Moon - including pretty much every eyepiece, telescope and diagonal I’ve ever used - that it’s not the best target for distinguishing critical performance differences. So for those who prefer correct orientation on the Moon, a quality amici is well worth considering.

Baader T2 amici prism diagonal is as good - or better - quality than most diagonals out there and shows a non-reversed image. On a bright star at high magnifications you can just perceive a tiny spike if you look for it, but it’s a non-issue. So for those who prefer a ‘normal’ view of the Moon, yet don’t want to compromise the view, the Baader comes highly recommended.

Any decent Plossls or orthos are ideal. Lots of people also use zooms with the LS50, with a useful range to move between low power (30x) up to 70x when seeing allows. A 7-21mm or 8-24mm would be ideal. Best zoom is Pentax XF 6.5-19.5, but otherwise I’m sure one of the cheaper SVBony zooms would be great. The big difference between dedicated solar scopes and the Daystar mentioned above is of course that Solar Scouts/Quarks come with a 4.2x barlow built in, so you need less powerful eyepieces with those.

To answer the original question, I’d definitely be looking at the 120mm or 125mm scopes. The leap in resolution between a 4” and 5” frac is considerable, and both the Skywatcher and (particularly) the Stellamira are svelte for their size.

I wouldn’t say the C8 Edge has refractor-like views. It’s much closer to a standard SCT than an apo refractor in my view, despite all the claims made for the Edge range by Celestron. Still a great telescope, but some way short of a top notch frac. (That is based on an experience of one C8 Edge, I should make clear. I’m sure there are better examples out there. But my 120mm triplet easily beats the C8 Edge on Mars and Jupiter, and produces much crisper stars). One question I have about Skywatcher’s current EDs: since moving away from FPL-53 in favour of ‘FPL-53 equivalent’ glass, I’ve seen very little analysis on how the new glass compares. Even if it is the same quality (FCD-100?), wouldn’t it require a redesign of the optics, and perhaps the mating glass too? I’m not suggesting that quality has diminished - I suspect that the new EDs reach the high standards of the old ones. But I’d do some research on this before buying a new Skywatcher ED today, as a secondhand FPL-53 ED120 would be a tempting proposition. For my needs, I’d also have to factor in the cost of a replacement focuser. Even the better Equinox focuser wasn’t quite up to the job of holding my binoviewers when I had an 80ED.

Stunning Steve - the first 115 I’ve seen with a Feathertouch focuser. Congratulations.

I agree that most aren’t suitable for astronomy, but the Baader/Zeiss amici prism really is as good as the horizontally reversed diagonals - just a very faint spike on the brightest stars.

If anyone going tomorrow could check out the Solarscope stand, and maybe post a couple of pics, I’d be interested to see them. Their product line-up hasn’t really changed for several decades, so there’s unlikely to be anything new, but who knows….?

Brilliant Mike - best gif ever

30 years ago when I was a journalist I was lucky enough to go on a trip to Yemen in southern Arabia. One night we drove for several hours into the desert to the east - an area which has the fitting name: the Empty Quarter. Definitely the darkest skies I’ve experienced, though sadly without a telescope. The best skies I’ve seen in Europe were off the southern coast of Crete. But at home in north London, the number of Messiers I can see from my garden can be counted on one hand.

Oops - don’t know why I assumed you had the APM, and checking other websites, you’re right about the 31mm clear aperture. This is why I insert ‘I stand to be corrected’ on everything I write these days……..

It was one of iPeace’s prisms I bought Stu. I was lucky to benefit from his experimentation. Certainly mine is 99% as sharp and detailed on the Moon as the standard Zeiss prism.

From my inexpert calculations, Paul, the XWA 20mm will vignette slightly with the Baader T2 amici prism, but not by much. The prism has an aperture of 32/33mm and the APM 20mm has a field stop of 34.8mm (according to Don Pensack) despite an advertised 37mm, which should mean you’ll barely notice the difference. I stand to be corrected on this - but it’s amazing how few eyepieces vignette with the Baader T2 diagonals (I also have the standard Zeiss prism and BBHS mirror). However, it does mean you’ll need a 2”/T2 clicklock ep holder for 2” eyepieces to attach to the prism.

I have this one Paul - it’s superb. Only a tiny, almost imperceptible diffraction spike on very bright stars. Because they are difficult to make, there may be variations between different units, but I think the T2 Baader is the way to go if you want top quality without forking out for the very expensive 2”.

SCTs appear to be very variable in terms of sharpness. I had a decent C8 Edge but a very average C6. Most SCTs will deliver good views of the Moon but almost any telescope or eyepiece will perform well on lunar up to 200x. It’s the planets where differences are clearer, and my TSA-120 is simply in a different league on Jupiter and Mars, even compared with my old C8 Edge. The 9.25 is supposed to be the best SCT, and I’m sure the best C9.25s are excellent. But I’d want to test any SCT before buying.

It’s a military image intensifier - used with a telescope the resulting image has been likened to a doubling or tripling your aperture. If you Google night vision astronomy, you can find lots of information. The catch? It’s not cheap, unfortunately. And combined with a ridiculously large finder and Starsense system (not shown in pic), it certainly attracts the attention of passers-by.

I’d have to go small too. Despite having a beautiful 120mm triplet with 3” Feathertouch focuser, I’d keep my TV85. It’s my main solar Ha, daytime spotting and travel scope, and is a nifty night vision instrument too. First thing I’d grab if the house were on fire.

Four for me. Takahashi TSA-120 is my main, does everything scope; Tak Epsilon 130d is my night vision scope (and testing how badly eyepieces perform at F/3.3): TV85 is for solar Ha, travel, and daytime use. And the little Tecnoski 60ED is for light travel and daytime use.

I’ve really enjoyed the same book. It’s by far the best of the Springer observing guides that I’ve read. Full of useful information and pretty well written - a bonus for those of us who enjoy reading astronomy books!