My first Views!

[aries]

After a near perfect sky last night, (MOON!) i actually got to see Saturn in all it's glory

with the rings in perfect view, including the space between the planet and the rings being quite evident

I WAS BLOWN AWAY! never seen it before then, and i wonder what improvement the view would have

if i changed the EP's from Kellner's to plossl's?, possibly with a wider field of view?

Any advice here would be gratefully received.

Nick.

:saturn:

[jgs001]

Nick, Great news. I think the first view of Saturn is something that stays with everyone, mine certainly does. I'm no expert on eyepieces, but soon after I got my scope, I bought a few second hand plossls from on here, and they were much better than the plossls that came with the scope. There's a couple of plossls on <a href=http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php>here</a> for about £10 each.

[centroid]

The first view of Saturn is a memorable occassion for all of us.

Kellner eyepieces are right at the budget end, hence them coming as a 'freebie' with many scopes.

The Plossl is a good 'all round' eyepiece, and some have a wider field of view (FOV) than others. As with all optics, the more you pay, the more you get in terms of build and optical quality.

Most eyepiece manufacturers, state the FOV and 'eye relief', for each eyepiece.

Dave

[The Warthog]

The main difference between Kellners and Plossls is field of view. I used Kellners for years because that is what the local science shop had. I sold them a few years ago, but there was nothing wrong with them. Yours probably have plastic barrels, but the Kellner I saw on my BIL's telescope wasn't bad.

However, when you are ready to get new eps, get Plossls, and a decent Barlow, and come up with a set that you can use with the Barlow and not duplicate any focal lengths. Start with an ep that is the same lenght as your scope's f/number, and then plan your ep kit so you don't have, for instance, a 25 and a 12, which wastes the Barlow. I've gone into more detail on some other threads.