Which eyepiece for closer views of Saturn/Jupiter

[bendiddley]

Hi All. I've just bought a skywatcher 200p dob and started using it a few nights ago. I found Saturn quite easily and used the 10mm eyepiece that came with the scope to see it more closely which I was pleased with as I had heard the 10mm wasn't very good (lower expectations syndrome I reckon). But I would like to see it more closer than that, I'm also thinking ahead of when Jupiter comes out of hiding so this applies here too. Can anyone recommend an eyepiece size that would be helpful for this? I'm aware that seeing conditions often affect how high you can go but what would be one that could give me realistic closer views? Any comments welcome.

[Charon]

With my CPC800 it is either my 8mm Radian or the 10mm Baader Hyperion, it just depends on conditions.

[knobby]

5 mm is prob tops with our weather / seeing that gives you 240 x mag ( is your scope 1200mm? )

Baader or Celestron are both good.

A BST 5mm would be a good shout!

Eps are very subjective though ... you might try a viewing night somewhere?

Good luck

[Bluey]

Maybe think about a Barlow, this will give you 2 different magnifications for each eyepiece.

[Alan_B]

I have to cast my vote for the Baader Genuine Orthoscopic (BGO) range . I have the 7 & 9mm and they give great views Tight eye relief though so not to everyone's taste

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

[E621Keith]

What's you budget.

For around £100, a 12mm X-Cel LX and a good barlow (e.g. TAL 2x) will be a good option. 100x with the 12mm and 200x when barlowed.

[euphony]

X-Cel LX's are very good as mentioned above

Chris

[Moonshane]

the most common magnification I use for Saturn (which can generally take a little more magnification than Jupiter) is between 150-200x. As mentioned your scope as a focal length of 1200mm so these magnifications equate to an eyepiece with a focal length of 8-6mm so maybe a 7mm would be good on average more than either and this would give 171x, a decent magnification. this could be achieved in two ways. buy an eyepiece of 6-8mm or consider an eyepiece like a 15mm plossl which would have relatively good eye relief and on it's own produce a nice magnification of 801x, plus a 2x barlow lens. you can buy decent 15mm plossls used for maybe £15-50 depending on quality. I have a Televue 15mm Plossl which is lovely to use and costs the higher end of the scale but also a Meade 15mm Plossl which I use in my school's telescope which I bought for £15. in truth there's not a lot of difference, especially in an f6 scope - in fact the same scope as yours. with a (used) £15 2x barlow, it gave really excellent views of Jupiter as well as the moon at our last Astro Club meeting.

[bendiddley]

What's you budget.

For around £100, a 12mm X-Cel LX and a good barlow (e.g. TAL 2x) will be a good option. 100x with the 12mm and 200x when barlowed.

Well being a newbie and have forked out quite a bit of my budget on the scope and some other accessories already I don't have loads to spend on eyepieces. i've been looking at the bst explorer ones as these seem to get good reviews and are in my budget, just wasn't sure what size for close up's and whether i should look to another make. if 5mm is good as knobby said then maybe that is my answer, but its good to get a consensus first. the barlow combo is an interesting option, but i think that deserves another post.

[knobby]

Should point out that the 5mm will only be useable in good conditions with the scope well cooled and collimated ... I like the suggestion if a 15mm and a Barlow!

But on a good night 5mm on Saturn is awesome

[StarryBob]

I have the 5mm BST and it works very well in my 200P but mine is the explorer scope with a 1000mm focal length, the extra mag of the 1200MM dob might be just enough to tip it too far. If you have a 200P dob then maybe a 7mm Celestron X-Cel XL or similar would be better.

[mart rich]

I have the same scope, and I have a Baader Hyperion zoom 8-24mm which I am very very happy with. The zoom feature is very good and removes the need to change eyepices. I also have the Baader barlow (2.25x) which gives a high magnification when combined (probbaly more than normally seems to be recommended). The beauty of the zoom is that if conditions aren't right for high magnification you can just zoom back out to what suites the conditions.

But yes it is expensive but then it is several eyepieces in 1. The views of Saturn are magnificent though - based on this experience I would recommend any of the Baader eyepieces.

Martin

[paul schofield]

I would go for something in the 5-8mm range, possibly BST or any of the above. Personally if I was going to use a barlow I would stick closer to 8-10mm.

[JamesF]

I have to cast my vote for the Baader Genuine Orthoscopic (BGO) range . I have the 7 & 9mm and they give great views Tight eye relief though so not to everyone's taste

I love my BGOs too. They're lovely eyepieces for the money. But if you need to wear glasses don't bother. With the shorter focal lengths you almost have to climb inside.

James

[JamesF]

Oh, and they're rapidly becoming unavailable. It's pretty much impossible to get the 12mm now and I think the 9mm and/or 7mm may be getting a bit thin on the ground, too.

James

[knobby]

Also ... don't dither too long as Saturn is rapidly dissappearing into the horizon , earlier each night !

[TractionMan]

I'm a newbie as well so I might not be the right guy to give advice just yet. Just thought I'd share my noob ( ) opinion anway. Last night I used the 7mm Celestron X-Cel LX/Heritage 130P combo. Quite a bit smaller scope than the one you're using, but views of Saturn were absolutely brilliant!

[Brian Nordstrom]

Hi All. I've just bought a skywatcher 200p dob and started using it a few nights ago. I found Saturn quite easily and used the 10mm eyepiece that came with the scope to see it more closely which I was pleased with as I had heard the 10mm wasn't very good (lower expectations syndrome I reckon). But I would like to see it more closer than that, I'm also thinking ahead of when Jupiter comes out of hiding so this applies here too. Can anyone recommend an eyepiece size that would be helpful for this? I'm aware that seeing conditions often affect how high you can go but what would be one that could give me realistic closer views? Any comments welcome.

For nice medium / high power , the William Optics PL'S I have a 3mm and its very good . A mate got a 5mm and its as good as mine so 100% so far , buty seriously mine is very good at the 166x it gives in my 90mm LP APO or the 300x in my 127 triplett ,,,

Sorry I will use it at 300x this saturday 16th at or dark sky night .

The outback under mag 6 skies is awsome , not quite as good as the photos , but itw a definate . Woaw ! .

But seriousley the 14mm looks like a nice eyepiece . Have a look .

Brian