Suitable Eyepieces for Orion xt8

[JKstargazer]

Last year I purchased an Orion xt8 as my first telescope and I absolutely love it.  Seeing that nicer days are ahead of us ,I have been looking into getting a few nicer eyepieces to enhance my viewing.  My scope came with a 10mm Sirius Plossl and a 2" 28mm Deep View eyepiece.  I have primarily looked at Explore Scientific eyepieces, but I am not set on them.  My main goal is to get eyepieces that I will be able to use on future telescopes as well as my current dob.  If anyone has any recommendations I would appreciate it, Im really just looking to get 1 may 2 new eyepieces for now.  The focal length is 1200mm and the focal ratio is f/5.9.  Thanks for the advise in advance.  

[Ricochet]

What sort of targets do you enjoy looking at? Do you feel that you would like higher magnification or brighter, wider views for those targets? There is quite a price range with ES eyepieces so what is your budget per eyepiece? 

[rockystar]

are you happy with the current eyepieces? Are you looking to replace them for some reason? Or, as ricochet says, are you looking for something higher mag, or something in the middle of the two you have?

[JKstargazer]

Im not looking to replace my current eyepieces, mainly I'd like to enhance my collection.  I just want to be able to to take full advantage of my telescope.  I'm mainly interested in DSO at this point.  I'd love to get a wider and brighter view of my targets.  If possible I would like to stay around $250 on the high end.  I figure I can get them over time because I'm not really in a rush.  

[Ricochet]

I think that really to go wider than the 28mm you're going to have to effectively replace it as you probably don't want to go significantly longer but you can go for something with a wider field of view. My suggestions would be either the 30mm ES82 or the 34mm ES68 which will both give you approximately the same real field of view. If you are observing from an urban/suburban location the 30mmES82 would probably be a better choice due to the smaller exit pupil and slightly darker background sky. You can use the brightness of the background sky in your 28mm to try to judge your sky conditions. The longer the focal length the less magnification and the less the accordions will be darkened. 

For DSOs an exit pupil of around 2mm is often recommended so I would be inclined to start by looking for an eyepiece that will provide that with your current scope as it will probably be your most used eyepiece. Exit pupil = eyepiece focal length / telescope f ratio so you're looking for something in the 12-14mm range. A 14mm would be a good step down from your 10mm eyepiece although picking new eyepieces in relation to the freebies supplied with a scope isn't necessarily a good idea as you are bound to replace those eventually. Here I suggest the 11/14mm ES82 or the 12.5/14mm Baader Morpheus. Personally, based on the reviews, I think I would be inclined to try the Baader. 

[JKstargazer]

Thank you for the input.  One question on the 30mm & 34mm ES eyepieces.  They weigh 24-35oz, do you see this being a problem for a dobsonian?  I don't want it to be too top heavy.  The xt8 I have has tension screws not springs.

[Rick_It]

Consider also the 28mm/68°, which is significantly smaller. If you observe from a suburban location, I would prefer it over the 34mm. Moreover, it's more future proof if you plan to increase the size of your dobson. From 10" above you have scopes which are f5 and faster: really too much for a 34mm unless you live in the desert. In contrast, if you plan to buy a schmidt cassegrain or a refractor, then the 34mm is a good choice.

 

EDIT: you know, you only need the f-ratio of a scope to choose eyepieces focal lenghts. In fact:

exit pupil = eyepiece focal lenght / f-ratio of the scope

[rockystar]

I've got a skywatcher 8" dob and the 24mm 82• ep, not sure how it compares to the 30, but I don't have any problems with it - it stays balanced.

[Ricochet]

3 hours ago, JKstargazer said:

Thank you for the input.  One question on the 30mm & 34mm ES eyepieces.  They weigh 24-35oz, do you see this being a problem for a dobsonian?  I don't want it to be too top heavy.  The xt8 I have has tension screws not springs.

Having not used your scope I don't know exactly how it will react. You might find that you need to increase the tension just for the large eyepiece or you might want to add a counter balance system. For example you could fix a magnetic knife rack strip to the lower part of the tube and then move a weight up and down that strip to counter the effects of having eyepieces of differing weights at the top. 

[Pondus]

I`ve got the ES20 100 and same Scope as you. I just increase tension slightly when I use this rather big eyepiece.

Not a big problem at all. I think the ES20 weighs 34oz (?)...

 

Rune