Celestron Nexstar 6SE, Best eyepieces

[Richard Hather]

Hi I've just acquired a Celestron Nexstar 6SE and I was wondering what are the best eyepieces I can get for this telescope considering I wear glasses as well thank you.

I currently have the 25mm that came with the scope and a 40mm-8mm Vixen plossl eyepieces which aren't bad but I want the best.

[Putaendo Patrick]

What are you prepared to pay for the best? Really top EPs can easily cost upwards of 500 pounds each.

This said, your telescope is a SCT with a focal length of 1500mm and a focal ratio of 10. This means realistically that it will easily tolerate a range of good EPs with excellent eye-relief at considerably less cost - perhaps in the 60 to 150 pound range.

What magnifications and types of observation are you thinking about?

 

[Louis D]

Well, if you want the best available, you could look into getting Televue Naglers, Ethos, Delos, and Delite eyepieces, Pentax XW and XO eyepieces, Nikon NAV SW and HW eyepieces, the Docter 12.5mm eyepiece, ES 92 and 120 eyepieces, used Zeiss orthos and monocentrics, TMB super monocentrics, etc.  You could easily drop $20,000 buying all of these if you can find them.

[Dave In Vermont]

I concur that a SCT, like your Celestron Nexstar 6SE, will 'tolerate' a wide-range of EP's. As you are an eyepiece wearer (while observing?), short eye-relief eyepieces would not agree with you - such as Orthoscopics. But there is a wide-range of EP's that can do the same job of teasing-out fine details on subjects like planets and comets. And without taking on the National-Debt by TeleVue®, etal.

As even what is considered a mid-range EP of 8mm, and resultant shorter eye-relief of many choices, is approaching the limit for magnification from the normal skies in the UK.

Magnification, for all who are just starting-out with telescopes, is achieved by dividing the focal-length of the telescope - 1500mm - by the focal-length of the eyepiece - 8mm - thus: 1500 / 8 = 187.5X The skies in the UK generally limit the observer to around 200X on a night of good 'seeing.' A 6mm would bring you 250x, which would be a rare night.

Some EP's I happen to like, which are not cheap, or top-tier either, are the Baader Hyperion's. I like their performance in my SCT(s) and Maksutov-Cassegrain. You might enjoy finding a nearby astronomy club that has observing-nights where you could meet other telescope owners who'd let you take a look through their scopes with a variety of EP's. See what you like in particular.

A very nice telescope you have! Enjoy!

Dave

[Gazabone]

I haven't tried a tremendous range of ep in my 6SE but I seriously like the Baadar Hyperion range, they seem to work well in all my scopes.

[bomberbaz]

Richard. Some years back I had the 8 SE and the Hyperions were superb in it without busting the bank. Great eye relief for glasses wearing at the eyepiece and impresive feilds of view too.

[brantuk]

Plus one for Baader Hyperions here too - I also like the Meade 4000 series in Sct's. Both ranges give very nice sparkly clear views at modest cost - a cut above the cheaper end eyepieces imho. But try them before buying - one persons recommendation doesn't always suit another persons eyes - even with TV's.

[Highburymark]

The 10mm Hyperion is an excellent choice with the C6 - gives a very useful 150x and in an F10 scope delivers views that are as good as eyepieces costing twice as much.

[MfM]

I have been following this thread as I am in a similar position having just got a 6se with no previous relevant experience. In the end I have ordered some BST eyepieces at 8mm 12mm and 18mm but to be honest this is probably on the basis of a few opinions on randomly selected threads and naive faith rather than knowledge.  I will probably  end up learning from my mistakes.

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

MfM - I doubt you will be disappointed, BST eyepieces have an excellent reputation for their performance/value. Remember, too, that the Hyperion costs almost double the BSTs. The original question was the best, and like most things this comes at a certain price.

[John]

32 minutes ago, MfM said:

I have been following this thread as I am in a similar position having just got a 6se with no previous relevant experience. In the end I have ordered some BST eyepieces at 8mm 12mm and 18mm but to be honest this is probably on the basis of a few opinions on randomly selected threads and naive faith rather than knowledge.  I will probably  end up learning from my mistakes.

 

Good choice.

My scopes are faster than SCT's and my usual eyepieces are Tele Vue Ethos and Pentax XW's but I have some BST Starguiders for star parties and they work very well for their price. Having used Hyperions I'm not sure they offer any more than the BST Starguiders for their additional cost, other than a slightly wider view. The Maxvision 68 and 82 degree eyepieces offer great peformance per £ spent as well.

 

 

[brantuk]

Yup - I agree. You won't be disappointed with BST's - and you'll be happy with the price.

[bomberbaz]

one should mention the celestron x cel lx range. Similar to the bst but better eye relief I believe.  I have never compared so cannot verify this but I have used and was happy enough with the x cel range of eyepieces.

[cloudsweeper]

XCel LXs are indeed nice EPs - I have three.  The twist-up eyeguard is a good feature too.  And their 16mm eye relief is pleasing to work with.

Doug.

[Richard Hather]

Cheers everyone after doing a bit of research and looking into a lot of EPs. I've decide on buying 3 EPs to begin with and in this order-

1. Televue 24mm panoptic 

2. Baader Morpheus 14mm

3. Not sure between the Baader 6.5mm-9mm I will save this purchase until I have more experience with the first 2.

Ive already looked through a Baader Morpheus EP and I was blown away by not only the detail and contrast with the darkness of the sky but the field of view and general comfort of viewing was incredible.

so the only question is does anyone have experience with they TV 24mm pan as this will replace my 25mm that came with the scope it's my most used EP and I have to be sure it's a keeper just like the Morpheus EPs thanks again everyone ☺️☺️☺️

[Gazabone]

1 hour ago, Richard Hather said:

Cheers everyone after doing a bit of research and looking into a lot of EPs. I've decide on buying 3 EPs to begin with and in this order-

1. Televue 24mm panoptic 

2. Baader Morpheus 14mm

3. Not sure between the Baader 6.5mm-9mm I will save this purchase until I have more experience with the first 2.

Ive already looked through a Baader Morpheus EP and I was blown away by not only the detail and contrast with the darkness of the sky but the field of view and general comfort of viewing was incredible.

so the only question is does anyone have experience with they TV 24mm pan as this will replace my 25mm that came with the scope it's my most used EP and I have to be sure it's a keeper just like the Morpheus EPs thanks again everyone ☺️☺️☺️

Nice choices, personally I think you will get a lot of hours of pleasure out of those.  Happy viewing ??