Advice on Lenses and observing!

[ChrisMozzi]

Hello fellow stargazers,

I am completely new to this wonderful world and I’m excited to say the least but I am also rather clueless! 

I have a Skywatcher Heritage 150P Virtuoso GTi Table Top Reflector Telescope and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions for me please…

I recently took my new kit out to Bignor Hill (Dark Sky Location) in the South Downs and saw Jupiter and her moons but what I saw was a little small and not overly clear using both the stock supplied 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. I’d love to see them in greater detail and size so was wondering what I should upgrade to lens-wise? 

I’ve done some research and it seems a Barlow lens is the way forward but I am unsure whether to go for a 2x or 3x Barlow lens and whether to go for a 5mm or 6mm accompanying lens also. Or even that my research is correct!

any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

[Nicola Fletcher]

Welcome to this great hobby, and congratulations on your scope! It’s a very nice one - I had the opportunity to look through one at a star party last year and was very impressed.

When I was starting out, people on this forum recommended the BST Starguider series of eyepieces as an excellent upgrade from those supplied with the telescope, at a price that wouldn’t break the bank. A link to their page on FLO’s website is https://www.firstlightoptics.com/bst-starguider-eyepieces.html. I love these eyepieces even though I now also have some of the more expensive ones.

You could get one of the range of higher power eyepieces to start and see how you get on, such as the 6 or 8mm? Personally I don’t much use barlows but a 2x would double the magnification you would get with each eyepiece. 

Beware that the ‘seeing’, ie atmospheric turbulence, can affect your views of the planets, depending on the night. So if you don’t get a great view on any given night, that could be a reason why. I find that continued viewing of Jupiter (over say half an hour or an hour) can result in moments where it looks really clear and I can see lots of detail, and then periods of time where it looks a bit fuzzy. This can get worse as you try to use higher magnifications so don’t be tempted to use very high powers thinking it will give you a better view.

Good luck!

[RT65CB-SWL]

Hi @ChrisMozzi and welcome to SGL. 

I mainly observe the Sun, Moon and planets. The skies have been a little turbulent recently due to a recent Sahara sandstorm... and where I am at time of writing/posting... permanently cloudy! 

Adding a Barlow lens will add some extra weight. I have three of them [Klee 2.8x, TeleVue 1.8x & 2.0x] plus an AstroEngineering Imagemate 4.0x.

You could consider a ‘planetary’ zoom, i.e. the Svbony SV215 3-8mm or the TeleVue Nagler 3-6mm. There is a difference in the AFOV and price. The eye relief for both is about 10mm, so may be a little to close for comfort for some. I have and use both and no regrets buying them.

The plus side is they do not weigh a lot... and less than a Plossl eyepiece/Barlow lens combined.

Edited February 19 by RT65CB-SWL

[ScouseSpaceCadet]

4 hours ago, ChrisMozzi said:

Hello fellow stargazers,

I am completely new to this wonderful world and I’m excited to say the least but I am also rather clueless! 

I have a Skywatcher Heritage 150P Virtuoso GTi Table Top Reflector Telescope and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions for me please…

I recently took my new kit out to Bignor Hill (Dark Sky Location) in the South Downs and saw Jupiter and her moons but what I saw was a little small and not overly clear using both the stock supplied 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. I’d love to see them in greater detail and size so was wondering what I should upgrade to lens-wise? 

I’ve done some research and it seems a Barlow lens is the way forward but I am unsure whether to go for a 2x or 3x Barlow lens and whether to go for a 5mm or 6mm accompanying lens also. Or even that my research is correct!

any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

The supplied 10mm eyepiece is so poor, errors will only be exacerbated using a Barlow.

From my experience using a 150mm aperture and 750mm focal length reflector, the best planetary views are to be had in the 120-150x range unless you have very rare excellent seeing conditions, so a reasonable quality midrange 5mm eyepiece enabling 150x would a good start.

The BST Starguider 5mm should not disappoint. A bit more money will get you a superb Vixen SLV. A bit less money and the Baader Classic Ortho is excellent however the restricted eye relief is not for everyone.

[bosun21]

My advice is similar to those already given above. I would discard the supplied 10mm that came with the telescope (yes they are that poor) and buy yourself a 3-8mm Svbony zoom eyepiece and perhaps a 12mm or 15mm Starguider eyepiece. If you wear glasses while observing them buy a 5mm Starguider rather than the Svbony 3-8mm zoom. If you don't suffer from astigmatism then take your glasses off and simply use the focuser to reach the sharpest focus. The planets can change from being nice and sharp with a lot of details to a disc that resembles a bowl of soup in a matter of minutes. It's the atmospheric conditions that determine how good or bad the planetary views will be for a given hour/night. All we can do is prepare as best we can at our end with the correct equipment etc. The rest is in the hands of the astro gods 🙏.

[Spile]

As you can see I am also a zoom fan. I went for the Baader but user reviews of the Svbony equivalent are excellent so I would go for that.

[lvan]

On 18/02/2024 at 10:32, ChrisMozzi said:

Hello fellow stargazers,

I am completely new to this wonderful world and I’m excited to say the least but I am also rather clueless! 

I have a Skywatcher Heritage 150P Virtuoso GTi Table Top Reflector Telescope and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind answering a few questions for me please…

I recently took my new kit out to Bignor Hill (Dark Sky Location) in the South Downs and saw Jupiter and her moons but what I saw was a little small and not overly clear using both the stock supplied 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. I’d love to see them in greater detail and size so was wondering what I should upgrade to lens-wise? 

I’ve done some research and it seems a Barlow lens is the way forward but I am unsure whether to go for a 2x or 3x Barlow lens and whether to go for a 5mm or 6mm accompanying lens also. Or even that my research is correct!

any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my post!

Hi there, to answer your question, an inexpensive 2x Barlow will serve you well. You can find them new for £20+. With your 10mm you will see what 150x mag is like. You can also back off a bit by removing the Barlow lens and screwing it on your 10mm eyepiece to give you around 112x mag. Likewise you can do the same with your 25mm to see what results you get on different targets. Take it slow and use what you have. When you work out what you like, and what your conditions allow, you can make a better informed decision about eyepieces to get further down the line.

[ChrisMozzi]

Thanks all, 

All your replies have been incredibly helpful! 

[Louis D]

On 18/02/2024 at 11:13, bosun21 said:

If you wear glasses while observing them buy a 5mm Starguider rather than the Svbony 3-8mm zoom.

I've found that the 12mm of usable eye relief in the 5mm Starguider BST to be too little while wearing eyeglasses to comfortably take in the entire FOV at once.  I've found that the 8mm to 9mm of usable eye relief of the Svbony 3-8mm to feel similar in use.  I would be concerned about trying to use its zooming action in a helical focuser, though.  You'd have to firmly hold the focuser while zooming.

[PeterStudz]

People and people with glasses are different.

I observe with glasses and so does my daughter. We have 12mm & 5mm BST StarGuiders and find them perfectly comfortable to take in the entire FOV at once.  

[Louis D]

With my deep set eyes, I have about a 15mm gap between my eyeglass lens and my cornea.  This makes 17mm of usable eye relief about the least I can comfortably get by with.  Of the BST Starguiders, I've measured 12mm of usable eye relief for all but the 25mm, which has 17mm and is comfortable to use.

If 12mm of usable eye relief is enough for an observer wearing eyeglasses, I consider them lucky.  It opens up a huge number of eyepieces for them from Nagler T6 to Ethos with sub-17mm usable eye relief.