20 to 25mm - the all-purpose focal length?

[25585]

3 hours ago, Paz said:

LouisD has provided a great answer to this. Ive had an interesting experience for observing variable stars recently. As it involves really concentrating on certain stars for some time Ive started to be able to pick out fainter stars because Ive somehow subconsciously learned more about how to pick them out, and oddly from this type of observing I now notice more subtle star colours when colour never really used to register with me unless it was really obvious. Im not sure how this last development works but there you go.

If as I expect you are using averted vision, the concentration of cones in your eye will not only pick up fainter stars, but also their colours. To check in advance I use the data in Sky Catalogue 2000.0 Vol.2 which lists all variable, double & non-standard stars (in RA & dec) as well as DSOs from Sky Atlas 2000.0. Something Uranometria does not do, listing only DSO data.

[rwilkey]

Hi all, my story has been a bit of a journey as follows:

Skywatcher LET 25mm (50° AFoV), a great and very sharp ep with twist-up eyeguard, very hard to find these days, but was selling for £29 when I bought it some years ago. 
BST Explorer 25mm (60° AFoV), one of the best and most comfortable ep's I have ever used, bought when I saw the reviews of the AT Paradigm on CN when they were only just being introduced in the UK.  With twist-up eyeguard.  I think I only paid £31 new for it!
Axiom LX 23mm (82° AFoV) bought at an astronomy fair in Devon about 7 years ago, I love the twist up mechanism, but now replaced with:
Explore Scientific 82° Series 24mm, same AFoV as the above but ergonomically easier to use, found this made my ep case too heavy, so replaced it with:
TV Panoptic 24mm (68° AFoV) - a brilliant ep which I very much enjoy using.  Nice and light and compact.
TV Nagler (T4) 22mm (82° AFoV), obtained because it was going for less than half-price on Ebay, now you can't argue with that can you?

I love all these ep's, but in different ways, and do not intend getting rid of any except the Axiom LX which was eclipsed by the ExSc, and there is no point in keeping both. 

Here is a picture of my newest baby(s), the Nagler 22mm T4:

 

[Paz]

11 minutes ago, 25585 said:

. To check in advance I use the data in Sky Catalogue 2000.0 Vol.2 which lists all variable, double & non-standard stars (in RA & dec) as well as DSOs from Sky Atlas 2000.0. Something Uranometria does not do, listing only DSO data.

I didn't know that, I've got  uranometria  and field guide but as you say it is dso's only and I have other books for stars themselves. I must resist the temptation to look at any more atlases, there's no way I am getting away with having another one!

[Paz]

16 minutes ago, rwilkey said:

TV Nagler (T4) 22mm (82° AFoV), obtained because it was going for less than half-price on Ebay, now you can't argue with that can you?

Thats sooo unfair! ? I waited ages for a 22mm to come up second hand and had no luck. In the end I gave up and got one new (ok with a bit of a discount) from an astro  fair! ☺

[rwilkey]

3 minutes ago, Paz said:

I didn't know that, I've got  uranometria  and field guide but as you say it is dso's only and I have other books for stars themselves. I must resist the temptation to look at any more atlases, there's no way I am getting away with having another one!

Ah, but the Cambridge Double Star Atlas does it for me and has everything from double stars, nebulae, galaxies and star clusters

[rwilkey]

17 minutes ago, Paz said:

Thats sooo unfair! ? I waited ages for a 22mm to come up second hand and had no luck. In the end I gave up and got one new (ok with a bit of a discount) from an astro  fair! ☺

Hi Paz, this will scare you: I bought the item in a job lot for 1k, with three other Naglers, a PowerMate 2.5x, Panoptic 35mm and some other bits and pieces. I have also bought new at IAS and have got reasonable discounts.  I was also lucky enough to get the TV Zoom 3-6mm at nearly half price off a member on this forum.  I have been very fortunate!

[Paz]

1 minute ago, rwilkey said:

Hi Paz, this will scare you: I bought the item in a job lot for 1k, with four other Naglers, a PowerMate 2.5x, Panoptic 35mm and some other bits and pieces. I have also bought new at IAS and have got reasonable discounts.  I was also lucky enough to get the TV Zoom 3-6mm at nearly half price off a member on this forum.  I have been very fortunate!

That's a good haul! You do need a bit of luck in this game plus knowing your stuff so  you can jump on the opportunities. ☺

[25585]

ABS UK scares me. As much for its bewilderingly dated formats, as what I would spend there. Though a Wanted ad or 2 might be what I need to do for particular items.

 

[rwilkey]

11 minutes ago, 25585 said:

ABS UK scares me. As much for its bewilderingly dated formats, as what I would spend there. Though a Wanted ad or 2 might be what I need to do for particular items.

 

Hi 25585, this will scare you even more, I bought it off Ebay, however, I have had rewarding experiences off ABS UK as well.  Buying second-hand is a good way of buying quality stuff at a reasonable price, but check out carefully before you buy.

[niallk]

Pan 24 - a beaut of an EP!

Exquisite in my 10" f/4.7, and I also used it with a 2.5x PM a lot in that scope.

I have found that it also works rather well in this mode in my Lunt, even if the combo looks a little unwieldy:

It has been usurped by a 17E in my 15" now though...

[Arcturus D]

In my darkish suburbia, I'm finding I use my 32mm most, which gives me a 5.33mm exit pupil. Smaller exit pupils often make galaxies invisible.