Still figuring things out. Need some clarification.

[Kirscovitch]

Ok so..... A 130mm reflector scope with a focal length of 650mm and a EP of 25mm will give me a magnification of 26x and a 9mm will give me 72x. So if i got a 2x barlow and used it with the 9mm i should get 144x magnification? Or would I get better results getting a 5mm eye piece? 

[ronin]

Yes, everything is as you say regarding magnifications.

Use or not of a barlow is really your choice.

You would need a reasonable one, simply a piece of junk isn't going to give a good image.

Unless it is fairly good a barlow will diminish the final result, what you want is one that does a good enough job that you cannot detect any worsening or significant worsening.

After that the barlow can be used on other eyepieces.

One other advantage is that a 10mm plossl will have about 6mm eye relief, a 5mm plossl will have about 3mm eye relief, a 10mm plossl in a barlow maintains the 6mm eye relief.

I prefer a specific eyepiece and no barlow, however as said the choice is yours. 2 options and you will get about equal opinions.

[AstroJon]

That is correct yes. As for whether a 2x barlow or 10mm eyepiece (which will get a magnifaction of 130) is better I guess depends on the quality of the barlow and eyepieces. Getting a barlow will give you magnifications of 52 and 144 whereas a decent 10mm eyepiece could give you better views.

I have a reflector the same specifications as yours, for what its worth I decided on a BST starguider 5mm eyepiece as they have had good reviews on here.

[AstroJon]

I meant a decent 5mm, not 10mm and ronin explained better than me

[Kirscovitch]

Thanks for the input guys. Im slowly but surely catching on to things. I feel I have gotten in way over my head but I am excited to get my scope. Astronomy is something I have always been interested in and I'm sure that even though I am feeling overwhelmed right now I think I will catch on fairly quickly. 

[bingevader]

Don't worry about feeling overwhelmed, just relax, take your time and enjoy it!

I used a barlow for over a decade and enjoyed it. You do have to get used to taking it on and off as you use the different EPs at different magnifications. As the others have said, it needs to be reasonable or you'll just degrade the image by adding extra glass.

However, now I'm gradually building up a collection of EPs at individual focal lengths, but I'm not in any hurry.

Cheers

[Kirscovitch]

I think I'll go with a 5mm EP for now. Biggest problem now is finding one in a 2 inch. Everything I'm finding so far is 1.25. I imagine there are adapters out there though.

[ronin]

Getting a 2" 5mm eyepiece will not be easy. Little point in making them, and the glass necessary would make the price high.

Owing to the magnification you would not get a bigger field of view then you would with a 1.25".

The newish Skywatcher 70 degree ones have a 2" fitting but are still fundimentally a 1.25" eyepiece. The 1.25" bit is fixed however they have a 2" sleeve to remove having to swap to a 1.25 adaptor when using the eyepiece in a 2" set up.

The could be one solution, get the 5mm version and just use it as a 2" fitting?

Probably a Celestron eyepiece with you.

[Kirscovitch]

Ooops. My bad. I just realized that it is compatible with 2 inch eyepieces. Feel kinda dumb now lol.

[Joves]

Great advice from all above... And Kirscovitch, the only silly question in Astronomy is the one you don't ask!

Barlow lenses can be a great, affordable way of testing not only the limits of your scope, but also your preference of view. Even an inexpensive one can be a godsend at determining/justifying whether you should bite the bullet and invest your hard-earned in a dedicated focal length eyepiece.

[Kirscovitch]

Well for now i purchased a 5mm EP and a 2x Barlow. I love the idea of playing around and finding a good setup. Pardon the pun but the sky's the limit! Oh and Joves, I see you have a 130SLT. Same as mine. Any tips?

[Pig]

Well for now i purchased a 5mm EP and a 2x Barlow. I love the idea of playing around and finding a good setup.

That's one way of solving the puzzle   buying both, I am sure you will enjoy your new purchases.

[Kirscovitch]

Thanks Pig. Even though I got the upgrades I think I will take some earlier advice and play with what I have for now. There is soooooo  much to learn about telescopes and I don't want to move too fast but I'm so excited I want to jump right in. 

[Joves]

It's a great scope, mate. Was my first and I still have it. Being new to things when I first bought it, I really wasn't too sure what to expect, but was blown away when I got it up and running. It's a nice size aperture for seeing many targets for the first time and the optics really are great (attested to in pretty much every review I've ever read about the scope). The GOTO is fantastic, provided you perform a decent initial alignment (which is very easy to do). To be honest, I think it has more accurate slew to objects than my Meade LX90. A nice feature is that you don't have to know anything about the night sky to perform an accurate alignment. You just choose your alignment method (3 star align is the most accurate), enter the date, time and your local timezone, slew to three bright objects in the sky (including planets or even the moon, which is handy), hit enter and you're up and running. Just make sure you have the mount level and centre the objects in the 25mm eyepiece and you shouldn't have much trouble. Oh, and make sure you have the red dot finder aligned to the scope before the sun goes down. The only thing that would sometimes frustrate me was the need to update the date/time details every time I would align the scope... It's really no big issue though!

As for eyepieces, I made do with the supplied 25mm and 9mm with a 2x Barlow for quite some time and they really weren't too bad at all. I see you've ordered a 5mm, which will compliment them nicely. I added a 7.5mm first and then a 2.5mm (which theoretically could have worked, but really was overkill on the magnification).

I'm sure you're going to love your new scope, Kirscovitch. It really is a fantastic first instrument, which will no doubt get you hooked on this hobby. This takes me back to when I very first set mine up (which is so easy, btw) and I'm getting excited for you. Please don't hesitate to ask any questions should you stumble across any issues.

All the best. Look forward to hearing how much you love it!

Aaron

[Kirscovitch]

oh Rubbish. i mistyped a 5mm. it is a 3mm.

[Joves]

oh Rubbish. i mistyped a 5mm. it is a 3mm.

3mm will be getting up there magnification-wise, but on a nice clear night it should be very nice. Now, don't go trying to Barlow that one, will you!! Haha... Naaaah, go for it!!! Won't look any good (nor would many scopes with a 1.5mm EP) but what's the harm in having a go!!

[Kirscovitch]

Well I plan on playing around with stock ones that come with it first till I get the hang of things. I doubt I will use the barlow with the 3 but who knows. I'm not ruling anything out yet!