Eyepiece suggestions

[JoeG]

Greetings from Down Under,

This is my first post. I've been a member since early this year, and check the forum each day. Many thanks for the wonderful observing suggestions. I regularly get away to the outback under very dark skies (SQM 22).

I'll be taking delivery soon of a 16" F4.5 Dob with ServoCat Go-To capability. It will also have a Baader coma corrector. I'm trying to decide on a set of eyepieces. It's been suggested to me that I purchase 24mm Panoptic, 13mm Ethos, and 8mm Delos.

What do you guys think?

Joe

[Marko]

Down under with SQM 22. So, what is heaven like anyway?

The suggestions you were given are a fine set of eyepieces. Do you seek out extremely faint objects that are at the very limits of your detection abilities on a regular basis? (That effects the answer).

I will let the others chime in on eyepiece selection with the only thought being an eyepiece for a bit more magnification would top off your set since a 16" on a great night of seeing in ultra dark skies can do well better than 230x or about what you will get with the 8mm. I would be tempted to round out your high mag side with something in the 6mm range for 300x although the exit pupil gets a bit small you may find it handy for certain times where the skies support that combination.

Side note: I would think that you know of the IceInSpace.com group down there? Great bunch of guys and some very serious observers as well. I enjoy discussions with them from time to time. (I am 'astrospotter' on that board but don't get on that board much these days).

I think some of the other members of this board will make more intelligent suggestions so wait for them to chime in is my final thought.

And enjoy that fine southern sky!

[MarcE]

Hey Joe,
nice scope for these "ultra dark skies". I observed with an 15inch f4.5 Obsession for more than 10 years and my favourite EP was the Ethos 13mm - so this one will be a good choice.
I have no experience with TV Delos, because i use Nagler and Ethos EP. For higher magnification i would suggest an 8mm and an 6mm Eyepiece. I think you will use also 6mm quite often for small PN or Galaxy groups like Hicksons, Arps. If a higher mag makes sense depends on your average seeing conditions. If they are really good, you definitily need additionally a 3.5-4mm EP.
For star hopping for 15 f4.5 the Nagler 31mm was my "workhorse". It has a nice FOV (about 1.5 degrees) and shows stars with f4.5 without Coma Corrector very well. Only at the edge of the field stars looked a bit comet-like. No problem for me, i never used my Paracorr with f4.5.
The Panoptic i honestly do not like so much: you must use your Coma corrector with f4.5 and the FOV is in my opionion too small - if you ever observed with Ethos or Nagler EP and like these wide-field-views.
Thats just my opinion - i am sure here are folks with other suggestions. So listen to them and make your choice.
Btw: Delos EP i will try soon - especially the 8 and 6mm.
Enjoy your perfect skies!
BR
Marc

[Dragan]

Along with your tracking capabilities, I would put some serious thought into some minimalist eyepieces, orthos, monocentrics, etc. There are many believers here in the theory that less glass will show you more and I think it may be worth your time to look into a few.

I have to agree with Mark...if your primary targets are going to be deep sky, no matter the eyepiece design you enjoy best, be sure to get one or two in the 1.5-2.0 mm exit pupil range.

[Bill Weir]

I have to agree with Dragan especially about the minimalist glass comment. I had been skeptical about it but the other night the concept was confirmed. I was out tracking down some Palomar globulars and on one particularly difficult one I decided to slip my 7mm University Optics HD ortho into the focuser. I was using a 6mm Ethos and was very sure I was seeing the glob. With the ortho though while the glob was still difficult, several very faint stars that weren't visible before suddenly popped into view. To me that confirmed the concept. Now I just have to get used to turning the tracking on because seriously, hand tracking with the narrow FOV of an ortho is a pain. I am looking into getting a few more orthos, it's just waiting for the right ones to come up on the used market.

Bill