What lenses should i use to zoom in more

[arjunchattaraj]

Well i have a orion short-tube 80mm, for this i have a 9mm lens and 20mm along with a barrow which is a 3x, i want to really zoom into planets like jupiter, saturn, and certain other celestial objects which i can see with the 9mm but its not a high enough zoom, could anyone point me to lenses which would really help me see planets like jupiter and saturn in full quality/upclose more upclose

[cajen2]

As with everything, the answer depends on your budget. At the cheaper end, TMB do quite a good job: https://www.firstlightoptics.com/tmb/tmb-planetary-ii-125-32mm-58-eyepiece.html

and also BST Starguiders:

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces/bst-starguider-60-5mm-ed-eyepiece.html

Have a look at First Light Optics' website and feel free to ask them questions - they're very helpful.

[Louis D]

I have an ST80, and it is probably my worst scope for high power planetary viewing due to its short focal length, limiting 80mm aperture, chromatic aberrations, and spherical aberration.  Magnifying a marginal image more isn't going to resolve more detail.  I would recommend using a Green #56 or Yellow-Green #11 filter to cut some of the poorly focused and spherically aberrated red and blue ends of the spectrum to maximize the central green region of the spectrum for which these scopes are optimized.

If you really want to "zoom in on" the planets; that is, magnify them more to see more actual detail, I recommend getting a 6 to 8 inch Newtonian (perhaps as a Dob if you have a lightweight mount) to see much more detail without breaking the bank.

[Louis D]

If you want to push your ST80 as far as it can go with a good high power zoom, pick up a Svbony 3-8mm zoom.  I reviewed it in the following thread: