3x and 5x barlows

[rpmiller78]

i plan on purchasing my first telescope within the next couple of weeks. i have been looking at different eyepieces and such for future purchase. i am buying an orion 8" dobsonian and an eye piece set consisting of a 2x barlow, a 20mm and 7.5mm eyepieces and some planetary filters. i am now seeing a 3x and a 5x barlow for sale at www.telescope.com. how much extra would i really be able to see with either of these on a dob? would one of them be a worth while purchase? i await your knowledge.

[John]

I'd stick with the standard eyepieces supplied with the scope to start with and then consider expanding / upgrading those once you have some experience under your belt.

Adding lots of magnification which is what barlow lenses do, 3x and 5x ones more so, does not show you any more detail generally. The standard 10mm eyepiece plus the 2x barlow will give you 240x magnification which is about as much as can be used most of the time - too much sometimes.

Lots of astro objects are best viewed at low or medium magnifications (eg: 30x - 90x).

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

The 3x and 5x are generally more usefull for imaging. Barlows mess with eye relief, and a 5x will mean your eye will need to be on the other side of the garden from the scope lol

[Keiran]

As john said stick with what came with the scope. They are not the best of quality normally, but they are enough to get you started.

Its not all about the magnification when it comes to this hobby, there are only so many things that you can at 200x The moon and planets, but there is sooooo much more out there which require much less magnification for you to see in all their beauty.

Sorry, anyway welcome and i hope that helped a little Have you decided what scope to get yet?(im an idiot should have clicked the link now i see your looking at orion... )

Keiran

[chownsie]

The 3x and 5x are generally more usefull for imaging. Barlows mess with eye relief, and a 5x will mean your eye will need to be on the other side of the garden from the scope lol

Very nicely put....made me chuckle!

[gurneyfan67]

I agree with above responses. Wait until you have lived with the scope a while. It and your own preferences will dictate if other accessories are needed. Generally the Orion Plossl eyepieces which come with their scopes are good quality.

[John]

....Generally the Orion Plossl eyepieces which come with their scopes are good quality.

That would be nice

We only generally get low cost modified achromat eyepieces with scopes in the UK though

Unless you buy the Orion (USA) brand of course but they cost a fair bit more than their Skywatcher counterparts over here - generally about 2 nice plossls more

Maybe the OP is based in the US and can go for the Orion option at a reasonable cost though.

[rpmiller78]

i am able to get the telescope and the eye piece set for $460, as opposed to some of the groupings that i have seen on amazon.com which consists of scope, barlow, moon filter for $420. i will end up getting a lot more for my money. not bad for a first scope budget, i think. i am in the us. i live in wisconsin(you may have heard of our state politics).