The Perfect Jupiter Eyepiece.??

[Pliadian]

Hi Peeps,

I have recently bought the Meade LX200 12" and apart from the Series4000 9.7mm, 15mm, 26mmSP & 32mmSP, which I have already.

I am seeking advice and maybe, just maybe the chance to borrow or look through what I need.

I want the perfect eyepiece for Kupiter & Saturn maybe later on.

So, yes an SCT isn't the best for planets however my love of Jupiter needs no explaining, I just want that perfect crisp, high contrast eyepiece to view it high in the coming months.

There is £300+ waiting for the 'one', so please all suggestions please.

From what research I have done I have the following ..

I was looking at a PantaxXW 5mm however, I have been advised that 5mm may be too much for our seeing conditions. OK should I get a 7-8mm?

Others on the list are:

Nagler type 1 4.8mm or 7mm. (like the sound of 'spacewalk' views but is it big view?)

TeleVue Ethos 4.7mm or 6mm.

Pentax XW 5mm.

Baddar Hyperion 5mm or 8mm. (A lot of great reviews for the money, but is worth the extra?)

Ortho's. People keep saying use an Ortho! I understand less lenses = more light but what are the differences with a wide field the TeleVue can give?

So do I stay around 7-8mm and get a quality Barlow to stay on the safe side, or go for it with 4.7-5mm??

So as you can see I have done far too much homework on this but most advice states they ALL have their qualities and it all down to personal choice.

If I am lucky enough to borrow an eyepiece I will leave a cash deposit if needed. Doubtful, but the offer is there.

Thanks for your wisdom guys and galls x.

Scott.

[rowan46]

If you want them for jupiter and saturn and you have a tracking scope, why would you need to spend all that money on wide angle eyepieces? I am not a planetary expert  but those that are recommend ortho's  I would  look amongst them for what you need or even  a nagler zoom narrow  field of view but tunable to catch those moments of good seeing

[Mr Spock]

All those eyepieces are too high powered. Jupiter will be seen best at around x250 at the most. Any higher and you will lose contrast and suffer from our regular poor seeing conditions. A 12.5mm Orthoscopic would give you x240, just about right, and maximise your contrast and detail.

[Stu]

Nothing wrong with an SCT for planets, but am I right in thinking the 12" lx200 has a focal length of 3048mm?

If so, I think you are trying for too much mag, even with a 7 or 8mm.

I don't have a 12" scope, but would think even with that aperture, x250 or x300 would be all you would want on the very best nights. Often Jupiter is best around x180 to x200.

A 7mm would give you x435 which would give a large, but probably over magnified image ie not sharp.

I would probably look in the 10mm to 18mm range, possibly Ortho or Delos would be good. It's worth having options for different conditions.

Cheers,

Stu

[Moonshane]

with your budget you might just get a used 14mm Delos and a 12.5mm orthos as suggested by Stu. listen to Stu as he uses a 4m focal length Mak.

[wookie1965]

I have my best views of Jupiter in my 150p with the BST 8mm giving me a magnification of 93.75 i have got a BST 5mm but have not had chance to try this yet that would give me a magnification of 150

[Northern Soul man]

Hi scott, been thinking about this since you mentioned it last night and came up with this - but the perfect eyepiece for Jupiter would be the GALILEO SPACECRAFT !! not sure about the eye relief though !!!.   Paul.

[Liquid360]

I've got an LX90 10" which has the same optics as the LX200 and am also a big Jupiter fan as it was the subject of my first light. There is no point spending that much money on an eyepiece for a large SCT. Our scopes are exceedingly forgiving when it comes to eyepieces and while they are beautiful pieces you won't notice much. Get an 2" ES82 14mm at most. It'll provide you with the best view you'll ever get! You'll LOVE it!!

- Nate

Birmingham, AL

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The truth is there is no ONE best Jupiter EP. It all depends on conditions. I tend to use magnifications up to 290x (7mm for my scope), but only under very good conditions. 203x, 239x and 254x  (10, 8.5 and 8mm) are the ones I use most, again, depending on seeing. A 12" could be pushed a bit further perhaps, but only if seeing is great (it happens!). At 3048mm  the range from 12 to 16mm is probably best, and perhaps a 10mm for great skies. Orthos are great for those without glasses, otherwise the best EPs I have used are Pentax XW and XFs, and TV Delos eps.

[Sirius Bizness]

The Delos 12mm sounds ideal and useful for some wider views if needed

[Pliadian]

Hi scott, been thinking about this since you mentioned it last night and came up with this - but the perfect eyepiece for Jupiter would be the GALILEO SPACECRAFT !! not sure about the eye relief though !!!.   Paul.

Gimme a 1 way ticket and im in. haha

[Pliadian]

Thanks Guys,

This is Exactly what I needed to know. All your advice has rang a bell from other read up's.

You see, I was simulating the eyepiece view using all my info in Stellerium. But of coarse, a nice big Jupiter in the field does not reflect the blur from too much mag in reality, including viewing conditions.

The plan is I stay up until 6am to catch Jupiter next week and I can actually see what my S4000 9.7mm & 15mm eyepiece compare.

Does anyone know where I can see examples of a 10-13mm view through a 12" SCT? Anything online or in a gallery here?

Thanks for the help, you stopped me running blind when I should take a wise stroll x.

Scott.

[Northern Soul man]

Yeah, I think that, this apparition she's going to be riding really high on the ecliptic - so you may be able to push the mag up a little, as said by Michael, you could probably use a few different close focal lengths on different nights and get different results on each of these nights, but with such a large aperture, you may notice the changes in "seeing" more.  You may also get slightly better results with a polarising filter or a colour filter , this will help a little with "glare" from such a bright object in the ep, using them will help "tease" more noticeable detail out whist taking the overpowering "brightness" away from the disc, maybe a #11 to bring out the belts, even, with your aperture a #25 for the blues - but there's no real substitute for actually just spending time with Jupiter in the FOV - its sounds boring but trust me, I could spend an hour at the ep - over this period, you can really notice the rotation in real time, and there really is NO other way to do it - its so infectious.   Paul.

[

Here's Jupiter through the 1100 using a toucam webcam and stacked in Registax - this much detail isn't really visible, but certainly hints are visible when the seeing steadies.

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Good point about spending time at the EP, Paul; it's what observing Jupiter is all about. First of all it is the most dynamic planet, showing lots of change in a short time span. The second reason is to wait patiently for those brief moments of perfectly stable air that occur even on mediocre nights (this holds true for all planets). Those moments have me glued to the EP whispering "wow!" A comfortable observing chair is a must, in my view. It allows you to relax and focus on observing, and spend much more time at the EP without doing your back in.

[Mark in Macc]

£300 would buy you a pair of WO binoviewers with 20mm eyepieces and £120 to spare. The eyepieces supplied are pretty good in a SCT. You wouldn't regret it.

[Stu]

As Shane says, I use a 4000mm focal length mak, and more recently have settled on orthos and TV Plossls, accepting that it is never going to be a widefield scope.

An 18mm BGO gives x222 in my scope which is a useful high power, whilst a 15mm Plossl gives x267.

At 3048mm, as has been said, a range of ep's between 16mm down to 12mm or even 10mm will give you good options for different conditions. Delos or Pentax XW would be great, as would Orthos, and I suspect TV Plossls given the slow nature of the scope. You don't need widefield necessarily for planets.

Stu

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Even in slow scopes better EPs can yield noticeably better results. In my F/10 SCT I did notice quite a difference when moving from Plossls to Vixen LVs to Radians to XWs/XF/Delos. Each provided a step up, either in comfort (in particular Plossl-> LV), or in image quality (with slowly diminishing returns)

[ronin]

If the focal length is just over 3000mm then look at a 15mm or 18mm, a 12mm may be a possibility.

Forget the idea that more magnification is better.

[Pliadian]

Yeah, I think that, this apparition she's going to be riding really high on the ecliptic - so you may be able to push the mag up a little, as said by Michael, you could probably use a few different close focal lengths on different nights and get different results on each of these nights, but with such a large aperture, you may notice the changes in "seeing" more.  You may also get slightly better results with a polarising filter or a colour filter , this will help a little with "glare" from such a bright object in the ep, using them will help "tease" more noticeable detail out whist taking the overpowering "brightness" away from the disc, maybe a #11 to bring out the belts, even, with your aperture a #25 for the blues - but there's no real substitute for actually just spending time with Jupiter in the FOV - its sounds boring but trust me, I could spend an hour at the ep - over this period, you can really notice the rotation in real time, and there really is NO other way to do it - its so infectious.   Paul.

[1363113353236.jpg

Here's Jupiter through the 1100 using a toucam webcam and stacked in Registax - this much detail isn't really visible, but certainly hints are visible when the seeing steadies.

That is what I am planning, hours at the eyepiece. Anything that resembles that picture would be wonderful enough. Filters for the bands i've learnt about. Lots say it is best when not fully dark for the bands best view or use a filter. One suggestion for contrast detail I heard was to shine a torch into the scope when dark. This actually changes the contrast to bring out banding features! Fascinating. I can picture the 'flare' effect from Star Trek. JJ Abrams is a big fan of flares. Sorry I am getting sidetracked but its a great film.

I love it here, cheers my fellow interlects x.

Scott.

[Naemeth]

My answer would be this, a little out of your budget though, but it does qualify as one eyepiece

http://www.apm-telescopes.de/en/Eyepieces/Zoom-Eyepieces/Leica-Zoom-eyepiece-Vario-8.9-17.8-mm-ASPH.-2-with-T2-Thread.html

[Pliadian]

Agreed.

Al Nagler is right in what he says, something like..

'Magnify enough so the image is as large as possible WITHOUT loss in contrast or sharpness. That is the limit, full-stop'.

Therefore, forget barlows, once it's at max. Do not go further, you will loose quality over quantity.

As an Engineer this statement makes perfect sense.

EG: You can reach max volume RMS on an audio system and anything over will be distorted. Extra decibels is proportionate to deterioration of the waveform.

Same with Photons, they are all waves to an extent, but I won't bore you with the amateur Physicist I am. Just makes logical sense.

The physics of light diffraction is fascinating to me but it all follows simple physics rules.

You Guys    - The penny has dropped, now I understand. Thanks,

Scott.

[Pliadian]

All those eyepieces are too high powered. Jupiter will be seen best at around x250 at the most. Any higher and you will lose contrast and suffer from our regular poor seeing conditions. A 12.5mm Orthoscopic would give you x240, just about right, and maximise your contrast and detail.

All those eyepieces are too high powered. Jupiter will be seen best at around x250 at the most. Any higher and you will lose contrast and suffer from our regular poor seeing conditions. A 12.5mm Orthoscopic would give you x240, just about right, and maximise your contrast and detail.

So at f/l 3048, that suggests a 12mm or 13mm. Now i'm getting there.

[Stu]

Even in slow scopes better EPs can yield noticeably better results. In my F/10 SCT I did notice quite a difference when moving from Plossls to Vixen LVs to Radians to XWs/XF/Delos. Each provided a step up, either in comfort (in particular Plossl-> LV), or in image quality (with slowly diminishing returns)

Which Plossls were you using Michael? Whilst I generally agree with you, the TV's do seem to be pretty sharp, and I like the performance in the mak, having also tried nags/ethos etc. Nice and lightweight too. Then I suppose it is f20 vs f10 so even less demanding.

Cheers,

Stu

[Pliadian]

I've got an LX90 10" which has the same optics as the LX200 and am also a big Jupiter fan as it was the subject of my first light. There is no point spending that much money on an eyepiece for a large SCT. Our scopes are exceedingly forgiving when it comes to eyepieces and while they are beautiful pieces you won't notice much. Get an 2" ES82 14mm at most. It'll provide you with the best view you'll ever get! You'll LOVE it!!

- Nate

Birmingham, AL

YES. THAT, EXACTLY THAT. It is all clicking now. I have plenty of light so now I have an excuse for a great 2" wider field. Perfect. Btw, what is ES82, durrr.

[Naemeth]

YES. THAT, EXACTLY THAT. It is all clicking now. I have plenty of light so now I have an excuse for a great 2" wider field. Perfect. Btw, what is ES82, durrr.

Explore Scientific's 82 degree eyepiece series.