An eyepiece that is good for planets

[johncbradley1]

Hello folks,

Can someone please recommend an eyepiece that will give me good views of planets?

I have the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ (5 inch reflector) with the two standard 20mm & 10mm EP's. The views I get of Jupiter seem decent but I get a terrible glare over the image. Is this because my telescope isn't collimated? Or is it the eyepieces?

Also, I would like to view DSOs once I'm a bit more experienced. What are the best eyepiece's for those?

Thanks in advance

[newman]

I'd look into Baader Genuine Orthos for planetary work. As for DSO's, there isn't one best eyepiece for everything. Some are cheap and bad, others are cheap and decent, there's your mid range entries, and there's your premium ones that cost a lot but offer exquisite views. Some people like wide fields, others don't, some need a lot of eye relief, others don't.. there's a lot of factors to consider and an eyepiece that's perfect for one user can be totally inadequate for someone else.

I would recommend looking here for a few threads that popped up in the last few days that asked pretty much the same thing - you should find your answers there.

[jkwhinfrey]

Good collimation does make quite a difference to the detail you're able to see. I use a 130 (Skywatcher) f5 scope too, and it was pretty well collimated when I unpacked it, and they're very robust optically

The two eye pieces you've got should show some banding on the planet, and the moons would be clearly visible as points of light. You can certainly buy better quality and higher contrast eye pieces (orthoscopics maybe).

Unfortunately to see a great deal more detail, such as the Great Red Spot, as 130 users we're at the mercy of resolution and contrast I suspect, and a larger or different design of scope is needed

On the positive side, I've managed some great view of Jupiter this year, in fact the flare you're seeing might be that it's just too bright at the moment. I've ended up using a neutral density filter I bought for Lunar observation on occasion - these are designed specifically to block light, perverse isn't it.

Is the image too bright to see properly due to glare from the whole disc?

[Mark in Macc]

I would recommend a TMB Planetary II 6 mm as a reasonable priced EP. I got mine from Sky's the Limit on Ebay for £39. Make sure you buy the genuine Planetary II rather than the designed, I seem to remember reading a mixed report about the latter. The glare you are seeing may well be related to Jupiter being too bright at the moment. Either use a moon/polarising filter or just take out the small cap from the tube cap, if there is one on that scope.

[Capricorn]

As Mark says the image may be a bit small for the amount of light gathered, so it is possibly too bright. Check the collimation in any case.

The 6mm TMB will give about 108x (assuming 650mm FL) which should be good for Jupiter. TMB's come in smaller focal lengths if that works well and you wish to go higher.

As to DSO's a wider field of view to locate the thing and also the smaller image makes the DSO a little brighter visually. Suppose a 25mm or 30/32mm is an option.

[Ags]

Personally I would find 108x too small to see anything of interest. I guess I have weak eyes and need my planets in large print. I would go for a 4mm TMB clone - but your eyes may be different to mine.

[spaceboy]

I've recently picked up a 130P. If you get a 6mm x108 EP and a x2 barlow x216 this will offer the maximum potential from the scope on nights of good seeing.

EDIT: Or 8mm with a 2.5 Barlow

[Mark in Macc]

Personally I wouldn't go any smaller than a 6 mm EP with this scope, use it with a 2x Barlow instead (3 mm equivalent), when conditions are good as Spaceboy has suggested. I owned a 130P and I could only use the 6 mm with 2x Barlow on very limited ocassions due to the seeing conditions. I could, however, use the 6 mm regularly. If you buy a 4 mm, I suspect you won't be able to use it much. If you are looking to observe significant planetary detail on Jupiter, you should consider buying a scope with a longer focal length such as a Mak.

[damnut]

Hi Johncbradley1,

The BST explorers have a good reputation at medium cost the 8mm is a particularly good ep. These are c£40 new.

[Damo636]

Unfortunately to see a great deal more detail, such as the Great Red Spot, as 130 users we're at the mercy of resolution and contrast I suspect, and a larger or different design of scope is needed

I can see the GRS with my 4'' refractor so i would have thought it would be even easier with a 5'' reflector

[jkwhinfrey]

So would I, but I think the problem's a lack of contrast. I can get a nice large and bright image by barlowing my 9mm EP, but it's quite fuzzy.

Refractors of roughly comparable size tend to have better contrast, due to the lack of a central obstruction.

Following this thread has been interesting as I've been considering a 6mm BGO or Williams Optics SPL as a possible remedy for this problem. I guess I'll just have to buy one and find out