Advise on Eyepieces for Skywatcher 130M

[umycot]

Hello all

I’m totally new to all of this and have always had an interest and curiosity in the stars and planets so the wife treated me to a telescope as a present. Great stuff. So I can only apologise for the naivety!!!

I was wondering if I could pick someone’s brain who has the same telescope as mine or experience with it. 

I was going to expand/replace my eyepiece collection and wondered if there were suggestions to get the best out of viewing the planets and the moon. (Also is it worth getting a moon filter?)

The telescope has an aperture of 130mm and 900mm focal length. 

Thank you in advance. 

[Louis D]

First, what's your budget?  Most folks recommend the BST Starguider line as very good step-up line of eyepieces for folks on a budget.

I have a moon filter and never use it.  Just stare at a sheet of white paper lit by a flashlight (torch) to constrict your eye's pupil before looking in the eyepiece if the moon seems too bright.  The moon is as bright as asphalt at noon.

[umycot]

Thanks for the reply. 

I was thinking around £50-£60. But i don’t know if that is realistic. I know they’ll be a limit of what would be beneficial for a fairly entry level telescope. 

Any suggestions on magnification?

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, umycot said:

I was thinking around £50-£60.

Total or per eyepiece budget?  If that's you're entire eyepiece budget, I'd need to know what eyepieces you already have to make the best use of your limited funds to augment and fill in holes.  You could also go with an 8-24mm zoom such as the Celestron or SkyWatcher to stretch your budget.

If that's a per eyepiece budget, I'd recommend the 8mm and 15mm BST Starguiders and a 32mm Plossl.  FLO is the SGL sponsor and offers a 10% discount on two BSTs purchased together.  Alternatively, you could swap out the 15mm BST Starguider for a 17mm Plossl to keep down costs.  I wouldn't recommend going much below that focal length in a Plossl because the eye relief gets tight and uncomfortable.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @umycot and welcome to SGL. 

+1 for a zoom e/p to begin with if you are on a tight budget. Once you have found the sweet spot you and your eyes are comfortable with, then proceed to purchase the primes. I am not normally a zoom e/p lover, but they do give you an idea as to what you can expect to see.

[umycot]

Thank you for all the detail in your reply. Sorry I should have clarified that was a per eyepiece budget, so I can look at getting one a month. 

Would it also be worth getting a decent 2x Barlow, or is it better to get the desired magnification using eyepieces alone?

 

Thank you for the reply Philip R. We posted at the same time. Would your advise be any different now knowing I mean £50 per eye piece budget. 

Thanks

[Louis D]

5 hours ago, umycot said:

Sorry I should have clarified that was a per eyepiece budget, so I can look at getting one a month.

If you get the BSTs from FLO, you get a 10% discount at 2, 15% discount at 4, and a 20% at all 7.  So, it may be worth saving up and getting several at once.

5 hours ago, umycot said:

Would it also be worth getting a decent 2x Barlow, or is it better to get the desired magnification using eyepieces alone?

Starting out, maybe.  I have a bunch but rarely use them.  It's really cumbersome unless you just leave it in the focuser and stay at higher powers all night long, like during planetary and lunar observing.  I've found that dedicated short focal length eyepieces generally always outperform really good barlows with longer focal length eyepieces.  Given the generally terrible seeing conditions in the UK, I would expect the usability of barlows to be fairly limited there.

[umycot]

That’s a good deal on buying multiple so your right it might be worth saving up. 

Thank you for the comments. I will have a look around the internet tonight and price them up. 

I keep hoping for clear nights so I can get some time behind the eyepiece, but you’re right, generally terrible conditions!!!!!

[PaulM]

recently bought the 8mm and 15mm BSTs EPs and a 2x barlow for my 8" 1200mm dob and very happy with this setup its quick n easy to swap the EPs and barlow in and out and refocus takes a matter of seconds

I use the 25mm that came with the scope for initial targeting sometimes but the 15mm usually does the job

[Littleguy80]

The 130M was my first scope. Loved it. I had the 8mm, 12mm and 18mm BST Starguiders. The 8mm and 12mm saw the most use. I also had an ES68 24mm which I got secondhand for £65. It was a superb eyepiece and well worth the money. It gave a nice big field of view and hence worked well as a finder eyepiece. I think it was the quality of this eyepiece that meant the 18mm BST saw less use than the others. The BSTs often come up secondhand for around £35. The secondhand market for astronomical equipment is very good. Check out Astro buy sell as a good site to find secondhand gear.

The 130M is a very capable scope if you can get it under some good dark skies. I joined my local astronomy club to use their dark site. £25 for a years membership. Proved more valuable than any eyepiece I bought!

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, Littleguy80 said:

The 130M is a very capable scope if you can get it under some good dark skies. I joined my local astronomy club to use their dark site. £25 for a years membership. Proved more valuable than any eyepiece I bought!

Unfortunately for me, my local club's dark sky site is 70 miles and a minimum 1 1/2 hour drive away from my house.  How far away is your club's dark sky site from your home?

[Littleguy80]

5 hours ago, Louis D said:

Unfortunately for me, my local club's dark sky site is 70 miles and a minimum 1 1/2 hour drive away from my house.  How far away is your club's dark sky site from your home?

That’s a shame, Louis. It’s only a 30 minute drive to mine. 

[umycot]

By pure luck my local club is literally 2 minutes from my house which I only discovered after starting to research recently, so that will be worth me dropping by I think. 

Thanks for more great advice Littleguy80