EP for , Mid magnification for short refractor?

[Mostly Harmless]

Hi all,

Well after the helpful advice on the forum I now have the following eyepieces (in addition to the 9mm and 25mm supplied by Celestron) for my 102mm SLT refractor (Fl 660mm, f6):

5mm TMB Planetary II - Pushing it with this scope I know, but I having been happy with lunar views so far, loving the eye relief

8mm Vixen NPL - was a bargain buy, seems like a well built EP and nice views at 82.5x (but I would perhaps like a wider field of view ...)

25mm BST explorer - loving the low magnification wide views through the EP

... Where I am clearly lacking is a nice medium power eyepiece ... I am thinking of:

1. Replacing the 8mm NPL with a TMB II 9mm or BST Explorer 8mm (for the wider FOV)

2. A BST Explorer 12 or 15mm

I am thinking that for a relatively short FL telescope I should be looking for an eyepiece giving me, for 'general/medium magnification' use of 50-60x magnification? Which encourages me to think that a 12mm BST might be the way to go?

Grateful for any thought on my choice of eyepieces and whether I out to be looking at 12mm or slightly higher or lower FL EP with my scope for medium magnifications?

Many thanks

Carl

[Capricorn]

The 12mm BST sounds about right, gives 55x, also just over 1 degree view.

If you are thinking of clusters then maybe the 18mm for 37x and one and a half degree view. Just a bit more view to frame them in.

I would go for the 12mm myself.

[Qualia]

Just a thought. I've been enjoying the views and crisp quality of Celestron's X-Cel LX series and would highly recommend them for Lunar, planetary and cluster observations: Celestron X-Cel LX Series