Eyepieces for Meade Lightbridge

[Astralstroll]

I have a couple of dilemas regarding aditional eyepieces for the Meade Lightbridge.

Firstly, do I go for 1.25" or 2". Im assuming that there is a lot more choicefor the 1.25", but is that a good enough reason.

Secondly,can anybody recommend any suitable suppliers for eyepeces that dont cost as much as the scope? Ive seen a fair few suppliers whilst trawling the various sites, but need some advice.

Dave.

[Rob_UK_SE]

Your decision whether to purchase 2" or 1.25" eyepieces depends on whether you are looking for wide field views and or how much you wish to see in the eyepiece. How much we see is, in part, determined by the field of view. There can be a significant difference in price between these eyepieces, but also their performance too. A cheaper 2" eyepiece can produce some vey disappointing results, whereas a 1.25" eyepiece of a similar power (such as a Baader Ortho design) never disappoints.

For the moon, planets, globular clusters, double stars, etc you will be looking for greater magnification. I would recommend and eyepiece that is around 8mm for medium power viewing. This would result in views with 159x magnification, more than enough to see the planets well on most nights.

For galaxies and nebula most observers use lower power (low magnification) eyepieces. Therefore, something around 24mm or greater would be preferred. This would result in a magnification 52x in your scope and would be perfect for M81 & M82, M31, the veil nebula, etc.

Interestingly, If you look through a 40mm 1.25" eyepiece with a 42mm field of view, you will see more or less the same amount of sky as a 24mm 1.25" with a 62 degree field of view. This is because you see the same amount of sky with both, but one of them (the 40mm) presents the view in a much smaller size. If you look through a 22mm eyepiece with 82 degrees field of view, you will actually see slightly more sky than the 24mm 1.25" eyepiece. Another benefit is increased contrast when you view with slightly increased magnification. 2" eyepieces are more expensive because there is more glass required and a lot of design work to achieve a non distorted view. Ultimately, 2" eyepieces let you see more sky - in some cases, much more sky. When you look through a 2" eyepiece with 100 degrees field of view it is a bit like looking through a window from a space ship sometimes, but you pay a hefty price for this.

My recommendation would be to consider Celestron's X-Cel LX eyepieces. They are very reasonably priced at around £70 each eyepiece. Perhaps just the 25mm and 8mm / 10mm to start. If you find you are looking for other sizes then you might add something in between, or with a little more power. It is very tempting to purchase a full set (at great expense) straight away, but you will find there are certain sizes you are always reaching for.

Please find a link below:

http://www.firstligh...x-eyepiece.html

First Light Optics (the site's sponsor) are an excellent company and have never let me down. They would be my first call. However, Harrison Telescopes and Telescope House are also very fine companies.

I have attached an image showing the different eyepiece sizes to that illustrates the amount of sky you would see with a 10" telescope (similar to yours).

Regards,

Rob

[Mike73]

I think Robs post covers it, well done Rob!

[alan potts]

If I were you I would take my time and buy secondhand, if you move on to another eyepiece later, your not going to be out of pocket by a long way. Poeple that are into this hobby by nature all look after their gear. Try a star party so you can get to see views through some of the better eyepieces like Tele-Vue and Pentax, tthen you can make up your own mind as to wether they are worth the extra money.

Alan.

[John]

Good post from Rob there - and very sound recommendations.

I used to use a mix of 2" and 1.25" eyepieces when I had a Lightbridge 12". The 2" ones for lower power, wide angle views and the 1.25" ones for medium to high magnifications.

The Lightbridges can get a bit top heavy though so I found I needed to add some counter weighting to the bottom end of the tube when using the 2" eyepieces. Worth it though, for the great views they give