Astro Essentials Eye pieces.

[RyanL]

Hi,

I recently picked up a Skywatcher 114/1000 eq1 for the grand sum of £6.50 on eBay ( I know not the best but couldn't let it go far that price!) and I'm thinking of getting a couple of Astro Essentials Eye pieces to go with it and to maybe also use on my Heritage 100p.

Are these EP's as good a bargain as I suspect they are and which one would be best for a wide field of view particularly with the 114? I already have 2 lots of the standard Skywatcher 25mm and 10mm EPs and 2x Barlow so would something different be better for higher magnification?

Cheers

Ryan.

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @RyanL

A bit more expensive but the https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html give 60deg AFOV and would be a better choice for wide field views, as opposed to 52deg AFOV for Plossl e/p’s.

[RyanL]

Thanks for the advice,, I'll take a look 

[Adam J]

I would think the 32mm 52 degree astro essential would give a similar fov as the 25mm 60 degree BSG. Also with a larger exit pupil in the 32mm.

Edited May 19, 2023 by Adam J

[RyanL]

1 hour ago, Adam J said:

I would think the 32mm 52 degree astro essential would give a similar fov as the 25mm 60 degree BSG. Also with a larger exit pupil in the 32mm.

Hi,  Am I right in thinking the larger exit pupil is better for glasses wearers like my son?

Thanks..

[Louis D]

4 hours ago, RyanL said:

Hi,  Am I right in thinking the larger exit pupil is better for glasses wearers like my son?

Thanks..

Nope.  Longer eye relief is better for astigmatic eyeglass wearers.  If your son's prescription has little to no cylinder (CYL) correction, he doesn't need to wear eyeglasses at the eyepiece.  You can just focus out the distance correction with the focuser.

Larger exit pupil makes extended, diffuse objects like nebula and galaxies brighter by concentrating the total light flux into a smaller area.  Thus, more photons per unit area increases the perceived brightness.  It also makes the sky background brighter (for the same reason, it's an extended object), sometime negating any advantages (both get brighter at the same rate).  An exception to this is when using line filters like OIII filters on nebula.  The increased exit pupil makes the dim image easier to see because it blocks the light pollution of the background sky while letting through the OIII emission lines.

[RyanL]

Thank you for the explanation, much appreciated .

[Adam J]

17 hours ago, RyanL said:

Hi,  Am I right in thinking the larger exit pupil is better for glasses wearers like my son?

Thanks..

Well it makes it easier to position your eye, but mainly the image will be brighter due to lower magnification. On a 32mm the eye relief will be fine for glasses. 

Adam 

[Marvin Jenkins]

On 19/05/2023 at 00:49, RyanL said:

Hi,

I recently picked up a Skywatcher 114/1000 eq1 for the grand sum of £6.50 on eBay ( I know not the best but couldn't let it go far that price!) and I'm thinking of getting a couple of Astro Essentials Eye pieces to go with it and to maybe also use on my Heritage 100p.

Are these EP's as good a bargain as I suspect they are and which one would be best for a wide field of view particularly with the 114? I already have 2 lots of the standard Skywatcher 25mm and 10mm EPs and 2x Barlow so would something different be better for higher magnification?

Cheers

Ryan.

I want to be the first to say well done. Entry into astronomy for less than a tenner!

A lot of good advice here but I can’t help but feel that you just need clear skies and opportunities, don’t we all?

Will you be the first to do Astro photography with a phone holder for less than 50quid.

Good luck with your purchases and clear skies, enjoy the bargain.

Marv

[RyanL]

Hi

Thanks for all the advice. I've decided that as the scope doesn't get great reviews I'm not going to get any upgrades, instead I'll put money into my new scope fund and just use what came with it.

At the price I paid it doesn't matter if I break it so I can use it to practice collamation and getting used to an Eq mount etc.. Just need to find some time and a clear sky to use it now.

Cheers

Ryan.

 

 

 

[bomberbaz]

15 hours ago, RyanL said:

Hi

Thanks for all the advice. I've decided that as the scope doesn't get great reviews I'm not going to get any upgrades, instead I'll put money into my new scope fund and just use what came with it.

At the price I paid it doesn't matter if I break it so I can use it to practice collamation and getting used to an Eq mount etc.. Just need to find some time and a clear sky to use it now.

Cheers

Ryan.

 

 

 

What a very sensible man you are and refreshing to see such a pragmatic approach.  

[RyanL]

On 21/05/2023 at 03:59, Marvin Jenkins said:

I want to be the first to say well done. Entry into astronomy for less than a tenner!

A lot of good advice here but I can’t help but feel that you just need clear skies and opportunities, don’t we all?

Will you be the first to do Astro photography with a phone holder for less than 50quid.

Good luck with your purchases and clear skies, enjoy the bargain.

Marv

No holder! That's why they're so bad.

[Louis D]

Actually, they're just overexposed.  They don't appear to be particularly "bad" other than that.  Try adjusting the exposure compensation feature on your phone's camera toward the minus sign or dark sun or simply to the left on the slider, so less light is collected for each exposure.  To access it, bring up the camera tools (perhaps a gear or similar icon) and look for a sunburst-like icon, IIRC.  Another option is to tap on the bright part of the moon on the screen to force focus and exposure to be centered on that region of the image.  However, this approach is difficult to do without a holder, but you can try it.

[Ratlet]

If you are using android, I highly recommend proshot.  You can adjust every setting imaginable and ,importantly, turn off autofocus as this can cause the focus to chase itself as you're trying to focus the scope and the camera is trying to adjust its focus.

Edge of the moon looks good and sharp so you could probably just reduce the 'shutter speed'.  This will reduce the brightness of the image and minimise blurring.

[RyanL]

Thanks for the advice, I know almost nothing about photography and for my wallets sake I don't want to dig too deeply! 

I will continue to play around with what I already have though as I can see the appeal but I'm red/green colour blind so any photos may look a bit odd to others! 

Cheers

Ryan.