First Light: Baader Hyperion 24mm

[M4lcs67]

Well, I have had the thing nearly a week and last night there was a gap in the clouds so a perfect opportunity to try out my new ep for the first time.

I must say that I am mightly impressed with it's build quality and it is nice and chunky. Firstly trained it on the Plieades and the first thing that struck me was how much actual sky you can see through it (well they say it is 68% through it) so I guess you should be able to see more physical sky than the stock 25mm that came with the scope.

Nice big lens to look through and a little rubber shroud to keep any stray light at bay which I thought was a nice touch.

Moved over to the Orion Nebular and that was clearly defined and due to the wide angled nature of the eyepiece you could capture more in your fov (a very helpful thing when you are slewing with a goto). I do find it very good in this regard as having more sky to aim at means it is easier to see things that you may miss in a normal 24/25mm ep.

I did try it in my Ultima 2x barlow but have come to the conclusion that if you want more power then you would be well advised to get a higher power ep rather than a low power one with a barlow. Especially if you are using a wide field ep such as this. I am no expert in optics, just a budding astronomer who has reasonable eyesight. I tell things how I see them and cannot give any real technical insight into whether one ep is better than another. If it looks good through my eyes i'll say so, just as much as if I think it is rubbish I will also say so.

However I did find a minor irritant, but it isn't the fault of the ep but that of the star diagonal that came with the scope.

The two little chrome eyepiece tightning screws that are on the star diagonal are too close to the edge of the star diagonal. As the ep is big and chunky and is fatter than the SD itself, the ep won't sit flush in the star diagonal as the two chrome tightning screws are in the way, so I have had to lift the ep out a little so it clears these two screws. I assume by doing this I am increasing the focal length by a few millimetres. I guess this doesn't matter and I couldn't detect any problems while observing.

As I said it is mearly a minor irritant that is no fault of the ep. Just thought I would mention it.

I anticipate many hours of great viewing with this ep and I think I will be investing in the 8mm Hyperion when funds allow.

[rwilkey]

Hi Malc, great report, the 24mm is amazing, bit of a pain about the star diagonal methinks, but well done for getting a lovely eyepiece.

[Charon]

Great report Malc. My Baader 36mm Aspheric is my most used eyepiece.

[Dunkster]

Nice to see your first light Malcspring, I know the weather has been poor, at least down here....

[M4lcs67]

Thanks alot fellas. Yeah I am glad I took the window of opportunity last night as the fog has decended now, so I don't know when I will be able to get out again. Even had my 4 year old grandaughter outside looking at Jupiter and the Orion Nebular last night. Maybe a budding astronomer in the making?