What Eyepieces Should I Have?

[ASTRONOMO]

I recently purchased a Celestron Advanced VX8 that included a 25mm eyepiece, but wonder what I should be considering for future eyepiece purchases. I plan to do Planetary observing, Galaxies and some Deep Space eventually. I have read a number of comments on the WWW relating what eyepieces one should have in their collection but, the answers there are all over the map.  I would imagine that if I were to get to a star party I could try various ones and see what works the best for me but, in the mean time, I need to decide what I should have in my arsenal.  Any suggestions or help will be appreciated.

Regards,

Don

[rory]

Hi don , as you say you would like to observe deep sky objects and planets , there's no simple answer , as you basically would want low powers and higher power eyepieces . There's a great thread on the beginers forums titled " eyepieces the very least I need" and it would a good idea to have a read . As you say visiting a astro club/ star party would be advantageous.

I don't know the focal ratio of you scope ect , so I can't give ideal focal length eyepieces ( someone with a bit more knowledge will able to answer this)

Also check out the eyepiece forum further down , it's packed with info .

Welcome to the forums don .

[rory]

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/43171-eyepieces-the-very-least-you-need/?view=getnewpost

Here's the link to the eyepiece thread .

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Very good advice Rory. That thread has been pinned for a good reason. The basic idea is to get a short, medium and long focal length EP. When I got my GP-C8 (distant ancestor of the Advanced VX8) the scope came with a 26mm Plossl (Celestron branded but Vixen built). I added a 10mm Plossl (same series), a 36mm Vixel Plossl, and a 0.63x reducer. This gave me a useful range of eyepieces and magnifications (6 in all, although the 36 was used least, I tended to prefer the 0.63x reducer with 26mm).  A 10mm is probably the best first choice for a planetary EP. It is always the first in my scope once I have a planet centred, and it is useful in most seeing conditions (if the 10 doesn't work, it is a bad night for planets). I cannot wholeheartedly recommend a 10mm Plossl, due to the short eye relief. With glasses I could not see the whole FOV, and I kept banging into the EP with the glasses, which caused awful vibrations. If you do not need to wear glasses while observing, by all means get a good 10mm Plossl, or even an orthoscopic. Both are very good on planets, and really only have a drawback of poor eye relief. If you do need to wear glasses, think of something like a TS HR Planetary EP, or the more expensive Vixen NLV or LV lines (I replaced my 10mm Plossl with a 9mm LV quite early, the rest stayed for more than 10 years). I find the LVs very comfortable, and a Planetary clone I have works well with glasses too.

If you want to splash out, you can look at the TV Radian 10mm (about 100 quid second -hand), or the much more expensive TV Delos and Pentax XW offerings. These will not so much show you stunningly better views than the previous types (though they may be subtly better in the centre), but give that quality view over a wider field of view. This is less important for planets than for deep sky. 

On DSOs your 25mm (Plossl?) should do well, but consider replacing it with a MaxVision 24mm 68deg EP. These are really good quality EPs going for ridiculously low prices at the moment (79 euro, they are the exact same design as the Meade Series 5000 SWA, which are listed at 200+ euro). This EP gives the largest possible FOV in a 1.25" EP. If tight eye relief does not bother you, the 16mm is worth considering too, as a medium magnification EP. If you do want better eye relief, the Vixen (N)LV 15mm or TS HR Planetary 15mm are certainly worth a look.

The BST Explorer gets a very good press here as well. These are also sold as TS ED, or Astro-Tech Paradigm ED. Remember that at F/10, your scope is pretty easy on eyepieces, so I would not rush to expensive kit. Any decent set of EPs spread out roughly as 10, 15, and 25mm should keep you going for a long time. I only started replacing the good old Plossls when I noticed the deficiencies.

[ASTRONOMO]

Thank you folks for your reply and the information you provided. Too bad Celestron did not do a better job of providing a equipment guide for each Scope. And, the dealers don't know much either so you buy and then your pretty much on your own. We will look into choosing several  lower than that which came with the scope probably 17mm and maybe around 10mm. What would be grand... would be to go to a Star Party and try some eyepieces to see what works best for my style. I will only be viewing 50% of the time, the rest will be with a CCD Camera and a DSLR.

Thanks again for your words,

Don