a5tarman

I do want to drive to a dark sky site, but 90% of my observing will be from my backyard so I'm trying to determine what will be effective in improving my observations under light pollution. Considering the cost of filters I don't want to buy one to find out it is only useful under dark skies anyway.

Hi all, I primarily use my 10 inch dob under bortle 6/7 skies. I'm trying to understand if adding a UHC or OIII filter is worthwhile in my area. I'm hoping to add more nebulae to my observation list without driving to a dark sky site. What kind of effect could I expect. Will a filter simply make a nebula kinda sorta just barely visible with averted vision if I squint in a certain way, or can I expect more?

Thanks to everyone who gave me some input. It helped with my decision making. In the end I settled on the 24mm ES82° rather than getting the 17.5mm Morpheus. I agree that the step in magnification is too small to justify at this point in time. At this point in time I will have two decent eyepieces. The 24mm ES82° (52x) which I think is a more suitable low power for my Bortle 6/7 skies, and the 12.5mm Morpheus (100x) which can barlow down to 6.25mm (200x) or further depending on conditions. Maybe a year or so from now I will want to fill in the gaps, but hopefully this will keep me satisfied for a long time.

Would a second hand 24mm panoptic be worth it over an ES82deg 24mm?

Thinking more about it I'm starting to see I should just look at a 22mm or 24mm as the next jump. A 17.5mm should be something left for when my eyepiece collection is complete and I'm bored haha. What's a decent eyepiece in that range excluding Teleview? I'd love a Nagler but I don't feel like spending that much on one piece at this stage of my life. I'm pretty keen on 72 to 82 afov.

At this stage I'm seriously considering getting the 17.5mm to compliment the 12.5mm. My reasoning... With my 10 inch dob 1250mm focal length 12.5mm gives me 100x and 17.5mm would give me 71x. Like a previous poster pointed out, with a 2 x barlow a 17.5mm effectively gives me 8.75mm, and my 12.5mm will give me 6.25mm. I also have a 3 x barlow for nights with good conditions. I only intend on using 1.25" barlows and the 17.5mm Morpheus, is as far as I'm aware, the lowest mag eyepiece around that AFOV that I can get before hitting the 2 inch barrels which would mean I can't use my barlows. I was considering the ES82 24mm but I already have a 30mm GSO Superview, so I'm not sure I desperately need to upgrade any eyepieces in that magnification range. My dob will spend 90% of it's time under bortle 6/7 skies anyway, and as I understand it 2 inch eyepieces will just bring in too much light pollution and lose the contrast with DSO. So I figure I'll focus my money on 1.25 inch barrel sizes in the high to medium magnifications.

Sorry guys, I forgot to mention I'm using a GSO 10inch dob 1250mm focal length. 12.5mm gives me 100x and 17.5 would give me 71x. I'm curious to know if people jump between these two magnifications much. I have 1.25" TV 2x Barlow on the way, so I figure getting a 17.5mm effectively gives me 8.75mm eyepiece for only the cost of a barlow, and also 6.25mm with my 12.5mm eyepiece. Or is there a reason to skip the 17.5mm and get a dedicated 9mm eyepiece? The Morpheus 17.5mm is the only one I know of that has a 1.25" barrel which would make use of the barlow.

Hi all, I recently bought the 12.5mm Morpheus and loved what I saw in my brief test. I need more clear skies. I'm now wondering if the 17.5mm should be part of my arsenal. What do you guys think? Is 17.5mm too close to 12.5mm to be worth it? Will I appreciate the difference, or should I be stepping up to a 20mm+ lens to compliment the 12.5mm? Edit: Sorry guys, I forgot to mention I'm using a GSO 10inch dob 1250mm focal length.

What are your recommended eyepieces/magnification? I have the following eyepieces: 9mm plossl 15mm plossl 25mm plossl 30mm GSO Superview 68 deg 12.5mm Baader Morpheus 2x and 3x barlows (1.25") I'm loving the Morpheus so far. The standard plossl eyepieces that came with the scope are horrible to use, like looking through straws. I'm considering getting either the 9mm or 17.5mm Morpheus. Or a ES82 24mm or 30mm. I'm not quite sure I should get next. I'm primarily viewing under bortle 6 skies.