What is your most used eyepiece and why?

[iam4208]

Looking to upgrade from the standard ones and thought I'd ask a simple question.

My most used is the Skywatcher 25mm that came with my Dob, giving 48x magnification. It's used to find things mostly, but so many objects look finer in it than the higher magnification of my only other eyepiece - 10mm Skywatcher.

What's your most used eyepiece, what magnification does it provide and why does it spend so much time in your scope?

[John]

While it was not exactly the same, a similar thread was run last month and you might be interested in the replies:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/208511-whats-you-favourite-eyepiece/

[Qualia]

When choosing a new eyepiece you might find this a useful rough working guide. My journal has a number of observations on exit pupil (EP's focal length / telescope’s f/ratio) which conclude:

• 6mm - 4mm - nice wide field, handy for star hopping, really nice for star fields and large open clusters
• 4mm to 3mm - nice contrast, good on star-fields.
• 2.5mm to 1.5mm - nice for most DSOs and general planetary viewing.
• 1.6mm to 1mm - nice contrast and resolution on planets, Moon and globs.
• 1mm to 0.5mm – possible finer detail on planets tweaked, Moon work, tight doubles split.
• 0.4mm – not any occasion to justify an assessment.

In terms of a 10" f/5, we're talking general magnifications between:

• 40x - 60x
• 60x - 85x
• 90x - 170x
• 150x - 250x
• 250x – 500x
• 625x

And in terms of EP focal length for a 10” f/5, we’re looking at:

• 30mm to 20mm
• 20mm to 15mm
• 14mm to 7mm
• 8mm to 5mm
• 5mm and less
• 2mm

In practical, everyday terms, on most evenings I'm not pushing 200x. I may - on occasion - use 250x for the Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, perhaps some doubles, but not on anything else. From this pattern, a number of observations can be made:

I feel one only needs one decent long focal length EP, something around the 50x. And that small focal lengths are not going to be used that much.

However, the range of possibility between 2.5mm to 1.5mm exit pupil is huge. What looks relatively tiny in terms of exit pupil is in fact a wide range of magnification dependent on the given object being observed, the atmospheric conditions, one’s state of mind, level of fatigue and even one’s age. That tiny 1mm covers most DSOs and a good general level of planetary viewing.

From this, I worked out that if I took one of my telescope's aperture, say, the 250mm, and divided it by 2 , I ended up with 125. If I looked at that in terms of magnification I would require a 10mm EP. I then divided that 10mm by my scope's focal ratio and ended up with an exit pupil of 2mm. This I figured would be the general work-horse for the 10".

From this reasoning, I figure little steps could be made on a 1.3 or 1.4 ratio. So, for example, from the hypothetical 125x mag, or 10mm workhorse EP, I'd divide the mag or multiply EP's focal length by 1.3 and 1.4. So, I end up with 96x to 89x, or an EP of around 13mm to 14mm, or an exit pupil of between 2.6mm to 2.8mm.

Here, then, with just 3 eyepieces we have a really decent set for DSOs: 50x, 90x, 125x. With a 2x Barlow, that gives a useful range of magnifications: 50x, 90x, 100x, 125x, 180x, and 250x (weather and atmospheric conditions permitting). Sure, there is room for improvement, a lot of room, you might fancy 150x for Jupiter, for example, you may get into planetary viewing and want a run of high power EPS but you get an idea of what is possible with just 3 EPs and a Barlow.

If I were you, I'd set up a thread about your budget, telescope and focal length and then let us confuse you even more with our opinions

[dweller25]

In My 8" F/6 dob the most used eyepiece is a 7mm Pentax XW giving x171. This eyepiece gives very sharp contrasty views on the planets, has 20mm eye relief and a wide field of view which reduces the amount of nudging I have to do. This allows me a very comfortable viewing session on the planets.

[AstroJOE]

Is have to say my Baader zoom is the most frequently used as I use it to align my scope every time. It's incredibly useful for that tbh. I also use it when doing eyepiece projection with a DSLR and again it is very handy to adjust the focal lengths and adjust the size of the image I'm capturing. It's also pretty good with planets and the moon. It's not my favourite eyepice though as it does have a number of restrictions visually. My favourite one which I use when observing DSO's is my 36mm Baader Aspheric which offers superb views in my 11" SCT and also offers a fairly decent FOV with the scope when coupled with a 2" diagonal.

James

[ronin]

I have 5 scopes, what works in one is not relevant to another.

[NGC404]

My LVW 22mm is the first choice out the bag every time as an all rounder

Magnification varies depending on which scope I use

Tal Klevesov 8" - 90x

Tal 4" frac - 45x

Astromaster 70mm frac - 40x

SW 12" dob - 68x

[Stridor]

This is my favourite and always first out the case; Celestron Ultima 32mm (Mag 73x in my scope) ; long eye relief and wide field of view; also like the chunky rubber grip for handling.

[Kirscovitch]

I mostly use the stock 9mm that came with my SLT. With or without a 2x barlow depending on the target.

[Reeny]

Gotta be the 16mm Maxvision 68-degree in the Revelation barlow = 165x magnification.

It hits the spot every time before trying to move up to 200x, or 240x mag.

[Christhorpe]

My televue plossl 32mm is my 'finder' ep. So its my most used. Most loved ? That's another question.......

[Moonshane]

my usual answer to this is "the one that nicely frames the object I am currently observing for the scope I am currently using". I am not being evasive at all but there are so many objects of different types and sizes and I have four scopes. Different eyepieces make for more variety too.

my logic for eyepiece choice which might help you is here http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/188794-eyepiece-groups/

[nightfisher]

I dont have a "most used" ep, my set has been put together over a period of time, these ep`s all get used depending on what im doing, but most used may be the circle T ortho as that goes in first as a finder ep and gets used for low power work

[scarp15]

My most used eyepiece is my 26mm Nagler as it is used as a finder as well as for studying many, usually larger objects and for galaxy clusters. In addition to this, my 10mm Delos is receiving a good deal of use to, both as a planetary e.p, and for teasing out details on brighter galaxies.

[Pig]

My favourite is my 17.3mm Delos, why?  Great with all targets

[AlexB67]

Seeing there was a similar thread when I nominated the 28mm MV. Often the one I start out with it, but to be honest I don't have one once I concentrate on a target it is whatever is demanded  that gives me a best balance of framing it, and contrast etc. 

I'll slightly twist the tale and name my favourite eyepiece, it is the pentax 10.5mm XL, great all rounder, comfort, contrast, ortho like views, bar a little bit more scatter, 2mm exit pupil, sharp on stars, no flaring, great correction across the FOV in my 10 inch Dob, great on galaxies too, gets often used and is a great workhorse.  On planets it would be the 6mm TV Radian. 

[iam4208]

Wow, lots of fantastic answers to a pretty popular subject and no wonder. There are so many ways to go about the task of building an eyepiece set. I can see me referring to this info over the coming weeks as I look to build mine. Thanks everyone.

[Naemeth]

Probably the 24mm TV Panoptic for widefield views, it's light too! It does depend on the target and the scope I'm using though - for instance I don't like using the Panoptic on my ST80.

Wow, lots of fantastic answers to a pretty popular subject and no wonder. There are so many ways to go about the task of building an eyepiece set. I can see me referring to this info over the coming weeks as I look to build mine. Thanks everyone.

Be careful about building an eyepiece set. It is very easy to get carried away - trust me .

(The 3 eyepiece cases in the corner agree with me - in my defence though I've got 8 scopes so it's only a bit more than 2 per scope  ) 

[John]

Be careful about building an eyepiece set. It is very easy to get carried away - trust me .

Too right - number of the eyepieces mentioned here cost more than the OP's scope !

Fortunately £50 per eyepiece spent wisely can also build a very nice set that will be a major improvement over the stock ones.

[bingevader]

my usual answer to this is "the one that nicely frames the object I am currently observing for the scope I am currently using".

I was thinking along the same lines, but obviously with regards to fewer 'scopes and fewer EPs! 

[Joves]

I really can't understand why anyone would get carried away buying silly old eyepieces!

[Lorne]

Ian,

My most used eyepiece is the 28mm Skywatcher Nirvana, in fact, I even used it in YOUR scope at last weeks session to nicely frame the Leo triplet of galaxies! 

[Phil Creed]

The 14mm and 10mm Delos are my clutch EP's.  These provide the right blend of power and bright image scale for most DSO's.

Clear Skies,

Phil

[denis0007dl]

I use most 25mm Zeiss orthos in bino.

Why?-they are superb and two eyes are always better thsn one eye.

[AstroJon]

I guess my most used eyepiece (with a heritage 130p) is not the one I would expect. It is my 5mm BST Starguider for the simple reason that most of the clear nights I have had the moon has been rather bright so I've been mainly doing lunar, planetary and double star observing.

From the little I have seen so far, I suspect that the 16mm MV will become my most used when I get the chance.