Best Optics for Planets

[AnthonyMac]

Hi All, Recently got myself a Skywatcher 200p EQ5. Had amazing views of the moon, jupiter and saturn with the standard 10mm,25mm eyepiece supplied and 2x barlow. The views however were a little small and although I could see quite good detail with jupiter, saturn had a little less. 

Can anyone give me an idea of the best optics(reasonably priced of course) to increase the size and detail. I was thinking of purchasing a 3x barlow and also a bst explorer ED 8mm to achieve better results? will these greatly improve my views? Also without getting to far ahead of myself are the 5x barlows any good? Thanks in advance

[Peter Drew]

Better quality eyepieces than the stock issues and a better 2x Barlow will give you improved views, a 3x or 5x Barlow will do the opposite! The only other item that will significantly improve the view will be a night of excellent seeing. 

[Stu]

As Peter says, the x3 and higher powered barlows are really for planetary imaging, they don't really have a use for visual observing as they generally push the magnification too high.

Your scope is f5, with a 1000mm focal length.

Views of planets tend to be best at just enough magnification, too much and the atmospheric seeing blurs what you see. Between x150 and x200 is often good, x180 can be a good optimum in Jupiter, Saturn can take more but is very low this year (and for the next few years)

This puts you in the 6mm or 5mm territory. Perhaps try a 6mm (x167) first as it will get more use. A Barlow with an 8mm will take you to x250 which you won't use very often, perhaps only on Mars at opposition.

[estwing]

a couple of decent ep's is the way to go something around 20mm and 12mm...then if you get a barlow later it turns your ep collection into 20 x2 = 10mm and 12 x2 =6mm a nice little spread of power..like Stu says above,x250 isnt used that often

[ronin]

The 8mm BST will improve things, equally the 6mm WO planetary will also improve thngs, then you can add in the 7mm Celestron X-Cel.

The "problem" is that for planetary observing you will want a selection of eyepieces with a small seperation.

It really is a case that the 6mm may not work but the 7mm will.

Recent post on a similar question and one reply pointed out that for planetary they had eyepieces in 1mm increments from 5mm to 12mm, or 15mm. :eek:

I am the same.

If you are going for planets then 100x to 120x should produce a good Jupiter, 120x-150x should produce a good Saturn.

I think the scope is 1000mm focal length so that means 8mm and 6mm, so if budget allows consider the 8mm BST and the 6mm WO.

Those 2 should allow viewing of the 2 main planets until Mars appears next year, at which time it all becomes as much chance - at that time I suspect a good barlow may be a better option allowing the BST to give around 250x.

Will point out that either planet will still not fill the eyepiece, they have a habit of still looking small. :grin:

[philj]

All the above plus dont rule out something like a decent quality 8-24mm zoom eyepiece, these cover alot of ground, ok theres more glass in them than some eyepieces but they are versatile. Ive had a Vixen 8-24 for years and love it, the Hyperions have good reviews also.

[John]

Having owned and used quite a few eyepieces over the years (too many !), including in scopes like yours,  I reckon the best performing eyepieces currently on the market at a reasonable price (ie: less than £50 apiece) are the Baader Classic Orthoscopics. With your scope the 6mm Baader CO would give you 167x magnification which would be great for Jupiter. I've compared the Baader Classic Orthos to some of the best "planetary" eyepieces and there is really very little performance difference between them.

Here is a review I posted on this eyepiece range a while back where I compare them to other similar eyepieces:

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/175014-baader-classics-the-story-so-far/

The BST Explorers / Starguiders might be a little more comfortable to view through but for pure optical performance on the planets I don't think the Baader Classic Orthos can be beaten for their purchase price. The 10mm and 18mm are rather excellent deep sky eyepieces too

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Orthoscopic designs are great in terms of sharpness and transmission, but have low eye relief at  short focal lengths. This is not a problem if you do not wear glasses while observing. Otherwise long-eye-relief EPs are needed.