First Light - Baader Morpheus 17.5mm

[RobertI]

It was a beautifully transparent night last night so had a chance for first light with my new Morpheus 17.5mm. As a comparison I used my Hyperion 21mm plus fine tuning ring, giving 17.6mm according to the Baader leaflet. Here are my initial findings.

 

First impressions

Basic stats:

• Morpheus weight = 306g, focal length = 17.5mm field, stop = 21.7mm
• Hyperion weight = 386g, focal length = 17.6mm, field stop =19.9mm

 The build quality is typical Baader – solid, black, simple and business-like. The Morpheus is lighter and slightly narrower than the Hyperion.

One thing I have always liked about Hyperion is the large eye lens but the Morpheus has an even bigger eye lens and it’s just a joy dipping your eye into it. The Morpheus eye lens appears completely flat whereas the Hyperion is concave. Coatings look very similar on both eyepieces.

Just holding the eyepieces to the sky, the AFOV in Morpheus is significantly bigger than the 68 degrees of the Hyperion. Some test results quoted in another thread indicated that the AFOV was tested to be 72 degrees, but I would be extremely surprised if this was the case in my version, definitely closer to 76 degrees (unless the Hyperion is significantly less than 68 degrees).

The luminous lettering is nice but does not stay bright for very long. Also it would actually be more useful if they had just printed the focal length multiple times around the circumference so that it was always visible when in the case.

 

Testing on the night sky

I had a chance to view some nice objects using both eyepieces in my 102ED F7 refractor, and do some testing on the following:

• Mars and the Crab Nebula - both were visible in same field of view, which was a nice surprise.
• M33 superbly bright tonight, wish I could have spent more time trying to identify its various details
• M38 and M36 open clusters
• General milky way scanning in Perseus
• Some bright stars

The general outcome was that the wider field of view significantly improved the viewing experience, and the Hyperion started to feel a bit restricted when switching between the two. The Morpheus was somehow more involving and although the Hyperion could detect the same faint stuff as the Morpheus, the star fields in the Morpheus somehow seemed slightly “brighter” (I can’t think of another way to describe it) – this could well be a trick of the wider FOV, or perhaps the transmission is slightly better, but either way it was nice.

I also did some ‘formal’ testing, albeit briefly:

• In the Hyperion, astigmatism became apparent earlier towards the edge of the FOV and there was a lot of blue colour when at edge. There was much less astigmatism in the Morpheus and virtually no colour at the edge.
•  Both showed similar levels of field curvature I would say (the Hyperion seemed to be much better at 17.7mm than it is at 21mm).
•  Faint stars and DSOs could be detected equally well in both.
•  No obvious sign of different tints between the eyepieces on brighter stars.
•  There was distortion when sweeping back and forth in both eyepieces but was not really noticeable without looking.
•  The on-axis views of brighter stars looked very tight and identical in both eyepieces

One interesting point to note is that the actual FOV of the Hyperion seemed identical to the Morpheus, but I also think there Hyperion was showing lower magnification than the Morpheus, so perhaps theoretical 17.6 mm of the Hyperion is not correct. Not quite sure what’s going on there.

 

Summary

I’m very pleased with my new Morpheus and I think it will be the first eyepiece I go to when I’m looking at DSOs. It’s a significant step up from the Hyperion in terms of field of view and edge of field aberrations resulting in a nicer overall viewing experience. I suspect the more I use the Morpheus the more impressed I will become, and the bigger the gap will seem. I should add though that the Hyperion is still a very good all round performer which is comfortable and easy to live with (they have been my main eyepieces for the the last ten years!), so is still an excellent buy at its price point. 

 Was the Morpheus worth the money and am I likely to buy another? Yes and Yes. 😊  

 Addendum: I've just seen the long Morpheus thread - I shall read this now!

Edited October 21, 2022 by RobertI

[Highburymark]

Excellent report! Baader spent a lot of time developing the 17.5mm and it was clearly worth it.

[Louis D]

2 hours ago, RobertI said:

There was much less astigmatism in the Morpheus and virtually no colour at the edge.

Interesting.  I would have thought the 17.5mm Morpheus was astigmatism free at f/7.  My 14mm shows a bit at f/6, but the 9mm appears astigmatism free to the edge, just like my 10mm Delos.

Are you sure you weren't seeing defocused stars due to the field curvature of your refractor?  Make sure to refocus for the edge to see if it sharpens the stars out there into pinpoints.  If they switch between radial and tangential lines on either side of best focus at the edge instead of oblate circles, that truly is astigmatism.

[RobertI]

1 hour ago, Louis D said:

Interesting.  I would have thought the 17.5mm Morpheus was astigmatism free at f/7.  My 14mm shows a bit at f/6, but the 9mm appears astigmatism free to the edge, just like my 10mm Delos.

Are you sure you weren't seeing defocused stars due to the field curvature of your refractor?  Make sure to refocus for the edge to see if it sharpens the stars out there into pinpoints.  If they switch between radial and tangential lines on either side of best focus at the edge instead of oblate circles, that truly is astigmatism.

Yes it was more like V shaped stars which changed shape when changing focus. It was only the very edges but I shall double and sketch if useful. 

[Louis D]

V-shaped stars are generally related to lateral chromatic aberration where different colors focus at different distances from the center.  Try a really bright star and see if that V shape becomes a rainbow.  It could also be that all colors focus together, but the star image is distorted at the edge into a coma shaped image on either side of best focus and somewhat even at best focus.  Is that eyepiece coma?  I'm not sure what the proper term for it is.

[RobertI]

20 minutes ago, Louis D said:

V-shaped stars are generally related to lateral chromatic aberration where different colors focus at different distances from the center.  Try a really bright star and see if that V shape becomes a rainbow.  It could also be that all colors focus together, but the star image is distorted at the edge into a coma shaped image on either side of best focus and somewhat even at best focus.  Is that eyepiece coma?  I'm not sure what the proper term for it is.

Thanks Louis I will try that.

[F15Rules]

Great report Robert and very balanced, I felt.

Also, helpful for newer observers and/or those who can't financially stretch to the cost of the Morpheus range, by reminding us that the venerable Hyperion range is much cheaper, yet can still deliver excellent, sharp views in the main central portion of the field.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

[RobertI]

2 hours ago, F15Rules said:

Great report Robert and very balanced, I felt.

Also, helpful for newer observers and/or those who can't financially stretch to the cost of the Morpheus range, by reminding us that the venerable Hyperion range is much cheaper, yet can still deliver excellent, sharp views in the main central portion of the field.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

Thanks Dave.  🙂

Edited October 21, 2022 by RobertI

[RobertI]

Well, I’ve just been out for another very quick view and I reviewed the edge of field aberration on the Morpheus - I was very surprised to find that the stars were sharp right to the very edge in all directions, and any lack of sharpness was resolved by adjusting focus. So I am now very confused as to why I saw V shaped stars yesterday. The only thing I can realistically think of is that I was sometimes holding one eyepiece while I tested the other, and perhaps heat generated caused an issue, but seems a bit of a stretch. But it’s good news, the eyepiece is even better and really does live up to its “sharp to the edges” claim. 👍

[cajen2]

Told you so! 😄

[Stardust1]

Excellent report! I'm using the Morpheus 17.5 in binoviewer. It has an immersive view and it's sharp. I haven't experienced any eye constraints. 

[bosun21]

No astigmatism in my 17.5mm Morpheus, both in cyclops and in my binoviewer. Sharp to the edge.🙂

[badhex]

On 21/10/2022 at 18:00, RobertI said:

It was a beautifully transparent night last night so had a chance for first light with my new Morpheus 17.5mm. As a comparison I used my Hyperion 21mm plus fine tuning ring, giving 17.6mm according to the Baader leaflet. Here are my initial findings.

 

First impressions

Basic stats:

• Morpheus weight = 306g, focal length = 17.5mm field, stop = 21.7mm
• Hyperion weight = 386g, focal length = 17.6mm, field stop =19.9mm

 The build quality is typical Baader – solid, black, simple and business-like. The Morpheus is lighter and slightly narrower than the Hyperion.

One thing I have always liked about Hyperion is the large eye lens but the Morpheus has an even bigger eye lens and it’s just a joy dipping your eye into it. The Morpheus eye lens appears completely flat whereas the Hyperion is concave. Coatings look very similar on both eyepieces.

Just holding the eyepieces to the sky, the AFOV in Morpheus is significantly bigger than the 68 degrees of the Hyperion. Some test results quoted in another thread indicated that the AFOV was tested to be 72 degrees, but I would be extremely surprised if this was the case in my version, definitely closer to 76 degrees (unless the Hyperion is significantly less than 68 degrees).

The luminous lettering is nice but does not stay bright for very long. Also it would actually be more useful if they had just printed the focal length multiple times around the circumference so that it was always visible when in the case.

 

Testing on the night sky

I had a chance to view some nice objects using both eyepieces in my 102ED F7 refractor, and do some testing on the following:

• Mars and the Crab Nebula - both were visible in same field of view, which was a nice surprise.
• M33 superbly bright tonight, wish I could have spent more time trying to identify its various details
• M38 and M36 open clusters
• General milky way scanning in Perseus
• Some bright stars

The general outcome was that the wider field of view significantly improved the viewing experience, and the Hyperion started to feel a bit restricted when switching between the two. The Morpheus was somehow more involving and although the Hyperion could detect the same faint stuff as the Morpheus, the star fields in the Morpheus somehow seemed slightly “brighter” (I can’t think of another way to describe it) – this could well be a trick of the wider FOV, or perhaps the transmission is slightly better, but either way it was nice.

I also did some ‘formal’ testing, albeit briefly:

• In the Hyperion, astigmatism became apparent earlier towards the edge of the FOV and there was a lot of blue colour when at edge. There was much less astigmatism in the Morpheus and virtually no colour at the edge.
•  Both showed similar levels of field curvature I would say (the Hyperion seemed to be much better at 17.7mm than it is at 21mm).
•  Faint stars and DSOs could be detected equally well in both.
•  No obvious sign of different tints between the eyepieces on brighter stars.
•  There was distortion when sweeping back and forth in both eyepieces but was not really noticeable without looking.
•  The on-axis views of brighter stars looked very tight and identical in both eyepieces

One interesting point to note is that the actual FOV of the Hyperion seemed identical to the Morpheus, but I also think there Hyperion was showing lower magnification than the Morpheus, so perhaps theoretical 17.6 mm of the Hyperion is not correct. Not quite sure what’s going on there.

 

Summary

I’m very pleased with my new Morpheus and I think it will be the first eyepiece I go to when I’m looking at DSOs. It’s a significant step up from the Hyperion in terms of field of view and edge of field aberrations resulting in a nicer overall viewing experience. I suspect the more I use the Morpheus the more impressed I will become, and the bigger the gap will seem. I should add though that the Hyperion is still a very good all round performer which is comfortable and easy to live with (they have been my main eyepieces for the the last ten years!), so is still an excellent buy at its price point. 

 Was the Morpheus worth the money and am I likely to buy another? Yes and Yes. 😊  

 Addendum: I've just seen the long Morpheus thread - I shall read this now!

Great report - glad you're enjoying the 17.5mm as much as I do! 

[Highburymark]

On 21/10/2022 at 21:33, F15Rules said:

Great report Robert and very balanced, I felt.

Also, helpful for newer observers and/or those who can't financially stretch to the cost of the Morpheus range, by reminding us that the venerable Hyperion range is much cheaper, yet can still deliver excellent, sharp views in the main central portion of the field.

Thanks for sharing.

Dave

The Hyperion 10mm was my first eyepiece experience beyond a set of Meade Plossls which I’d used for many years. In an F/10 SCT and 105mm Mak it was wonderful! 

[CedricTheBrave]

Love my 17.5 Morf.

using it on the VX14 is quite something