Eyepiece for planetary observation

[Ganemedes]

Greetings and salutations, 

    I am an owner of a skywatcher 200/1000 PDS and recently i started questioning myself about buying an eyepiece for planetary observations, especially Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, since this July, Mars will be closest to earth and observation will be easier. 

    I currently own a 28 mm eyepiece which came with the telescope, a 15mm celestron omni and a 10 mm X-Cel, with a 2.5 celestron Ultima barlow. My primary thoughts, were either a 4.7 mm explore scientific 82 fov or a 6.7 ES 82 fov, but i really want your advice and point of view in this, since i am relatively new to astronomy, only 1.5 years. 

    From a little investigation, i found that televue eyepieces are really perfect for planetary observations, among others, but their cost is really high, especially when one can buy 2 really good eyepieces for the price of a televue nagler. 

    Thank you in advance for your replies and clear skies to all!

[johninderby]

The Explore Scientific are very good eyepieces so you wouldn’t go wrong buying them.

However for planetary observing the Televue DeLite line are really superb. Only 62 degree for but optimised for planetary use and by Televue standards not badly priced.. 10% off sale at on Televue at the moment as well.

[Ganemedes]

Thank you for your reply, 

    I read very good reviews about them as well. In fact this was my alternative, i.e. the televue 5mm, but i thought, since ES are less expensive with bigger fov it would be more clever buying one with a bigger fov. Let me ask something and excuse my ignorance in this. By saying optimised for planetary use, you mean that this eyepiece will not perform the same for dso? 

[johninderby]

The same characteristics that make the DeLites so good for planetary also makes then good on faint DSOs but the narrower fov means not so good on larger DSOs or general widefield.

[Mark at Beaufort]

Hello Ganemedes and welcome to the forum. I have owned both the 4.7 and 6.7mm ES82 and they are really good eyepieces. The other EPs that I would recommend for Planetary viewing costing slightly less than the ES82 are the Vixen SLV EPs - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/vixen-eyepieces/vixen-slv-eyepieces.html

If you start with the 6mm that will give you reasonable magnification and sharp image across the FOV.

[Ganemedes]

Thank you both for your responses. I am really glad i am part of this great community.

    The vixen SLV eyepieces did not came up in my investigation, even though i read about them in astronomy books. It will be considered, but do you think it will give better views than an ES or a televue eyepiece? 

[Mark at Beaufort]

2 hours ago, Ganemedes said:

    The vixen SLV eyepieces did not came up in my investigation, even though i read about them in astronomy books. It will be considered, but do you think it will give better views than an ES or a televue eyepiece? 

If you really have no problem with cost then buy the TeleVue Delite range.  However, many members on this forum would also recommend the Pentax XW range - https://www.firstlightoptics.com/pentax.html

[N3ptune]

The 4.7 is popular these days. Here are my observations.

I own one of these with the same telescope and I love it for the moon, it's giving 212x. I find the views to be of very high quality most of the time to inspect surface details and small craters all around. Although, I find 212x can be to be a bit too much magnification on the planets especially when they are low like right now, but it's a good option I would not discard.

With the time spent at sketching the moon, it's my most used eyepiece. it's fault, it seems like it's an eyepiece for people who don't wear spectacles.

[johninderby]

Has anyone tried the Opticstar Ultra Wide eyepieces?  Look a bit familiar don’t they. ?

http://www.opticstar.com/Run/Astronomy/Astro-Accessories-Telescopes-Opticstar.asp?p=0_10_5_1_8_322

[Ganemedes]

8 hours ago, johninderby said:

Look a bit familiar don’t they.

Actually, this is the first time i encounter these eyepieces. They look familiar indeed and they are a little less expensive than the ES. Is there anyone who can give some more information about them? 

[GordonD]

I have not seen those before either. They really are exact ES82 clones, right down to the specs across the range. Apart from the weight - they are listed as a little lighter.

And they are all notably cheaper. A difference of around £20, more for the 2" ones.

Surely they must come off the same production line. Has anyone tried them yet?

Gordon

[johninderby]

I’ve being looking for reviews but nothing yet. Don’t think,they’ve been carrying them for long.

Think my next eyepiece is going to,be one of the Opticstar 8.8mm ones instead of the ES.

[Ganemedes]

1 hour ago, johninderby said:

I’ve being looking for reviews but nothing yet.

Me too, but nothing relevant with the eyepieces. There are some discussions here about the shop, though. Do they really offer free shipping to Europe and UK? That is what i understood from their site. 

[25585]

In the current APM Telescopes sale, the Lunt 3.5mm 110 degree AFOV has been reduced to €199. 

[RiponJas]

The Opticstar ep's come in at 188 quid for a set of 6 on ebay at moment. 

That can't be a bad buy. Considering them myself. 

[John]

38 minutes ago, RiponJas said:

The Opticstar ep's come in at 188 quid for a set of 6 on ebay at moment. 

That can't be a bad buy. Considering them myself. 

These are not the same as the 82 degree eyepieces being discussed above. They are a 70 degree SWA range which are OK in F/10 scopes but not too well corrected at the field edges in faster scopes:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Opticstar-XS-70-Super-Wide-Angle-FMC-Eyepieces-Set-of-6-UK/322562443185?hash=item4b1a3847b1:g:IUsAAOSwvjdZSnS2

They normally retail for between £45 and £55 each so the price is a discount but they are not as good quality eyepieces as the 82 degree ones which cost around 2x - 3x as much.

[F15Rules]

Have you considered the Baader Morpheus range? Comparable optical quality to the Pentax XW but much cheaper and a wider 76deg field. Superb eyepieces at 14mm and 17.5mm. I haven't tried the shorter focal lengths but am sure they will be of similar quality.

Have a read of William Paolini's excellent review of the Morpheus range?..

Dave

[Charic]

On 27/06/2018 at 18:59, Ganemedes said:

.............buying an eyepiece for planetary observations, especially Jupiter, Saturn and Mars........

I have a Skywatcher 200/1200 Dobsonian and the best view I had of Jupiter was by using a 12mm eyepiece, could have been the 8mm but sure it was the 12 ( without looking back to my threads)
Unfortunately, the Planets are poorly placed for me, due to street lights, structures and trees, so I've only had the real pleasure of looking at Jupiter and the Moon. The conditions were perfect too, seeing the shadow of Io clear as day and sharp too, but this image, etched to memory only lasted for a few minutes if that?

It's not that easy selecting eyepieces as there are so many variables, not least the users own visual acuity and experience, and having the right conditions.
When I decided to try 'better' optics, I relied on the TeleVue Delos range, but alas, to my eyes were no better than my Starguiders.
Only you will know whats right/best after trial and error.
For me, I favour whats left in my signature, and could live on solely using the Starguiders on my f/6 scope.
 
I like to collect whatever, and I'll collect the set if one part is any good. The TeleVues were no better, but cost more, so discounted  the remainder of the set and sold. The Plossl's were part of an initial decision to just  own a set. The Revelations came out tops for my use, and the SPL's are a complete set, but I only needed the 6mm to fill a gap in the BST's.
Should the 6mm BST  Starguider ever arrive, I'd have one and do away with the SPL's and possibly the Plossl's.

The only other eyepiece I would like to try now, for my own curiosity, is a TeleVue DeLite, but not holding my breath that they'd be any better on this scope.
For some time now, my eyepiece collection is complete, and from my signature you'll see some of the 'better' eyepieces that have gone to other stargazers.

It will never be an easy task, seeking the right eyepiece,  getting it right the first time, but one day, you'll know whats right/best for your own needs.

[Ganemedes]

    So, an old astronomy friend of mine decided to purchase the Opticstar 4.7mm  87 degrees eyepiece as soon as he saw the price of it, and,  as you may have guessed, i tried it on my Newtonian the next day it was delivered.

    Since i could not decide which one was better for me, i had a few observing sessions with it during the summer. The eyepiece gave sharp images of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, moist and temperature allowed (Sometimes nearly 30 degrees C at night). The problem i spotted, was that in bright targets such as the planets, small reflection of the planet is visible, bearable, but still annoying. Nevertheless, it never happened when i observed the moon. In addition, i found out that the eyepiece darkens the field around the target, which was good if you observe the planets, but not so good for DSO, such as clusters. 

   Anyway, thought i should let you know about it. 

 

Greetings from Greece, 

Kyriakos