eyepiece questions

jhw23924 · Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 2 Location: chase city virginia

I have a Celestron StarHopper 8 telescope.
I am most interested in viewing the sun,moon,and planets.
A few questions:
1.which eyepieces would be most efficient with my particular telescope? Confused

2.would I be better off with a 2 x or 3 x barlow?

Jne_K · Site Admin Joined: 24 Sep 2003 Posts: 5403

Hi

To barlow or not to barlow - that is a question that will sometimes start an argument. I like barlows, but not everyone does.

I like a barlow for a couple of reasons

1) A barlow maintains the eye relief of any eyepiece. Since I wear glasses, this means I can use my lower power eyepieces with long eye relief and still get more magnification. This is a better alternative for me than using short focal length (high magnification) eyepieces, which usually have very short eye relief and thus cannot be used with glasses. I really hate taking my glasses off when it is dark. (Yes, I have misplaced them!)

2) Adding a barlow to your current eyepieces is a less expensive option than buying more eyepieces. Hey, I know what it means to be on a budget.

Some will claim that a barlow adds too many lenses to the optical system and will thus cause a reduction in light transmission. This may be true, but, for the most part, I think this is splitting hairs. It has not been an issue for me. Others will claim that a barlow will reduce image quality. I disagree. As long as you are using a quality barlow, optical quality of the eyepiece will be preserved, but you still experience a drop in image quality by increasing magnification, same as you would by using a separate, higher magnification eyepiece.

Overall, you are going to find a 2x barlow to be more useful and also to be more available. A 3x typically produces more magnification than your scope can use, anyway.
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jhw23924 · Joined: 26 Feb 2008 Posts: 2 Location: chase city virginia

Now,an eyepiece collection question....
The only eyepiece I currently have is the 25 mm that was included with the telescope when I purchased it.
I am looking for a few select eyepieces that will serve my observing purposes well,considering I am on a somewhat tight budget.
Again,my main interests are the planets,moon,and sun.
I have checked into many different brands of eyepieces.
Celestron,Meade,.....
I'm sure just a barlow addition won't be enough with only a single eyepiece.
Since it is a Celestron telescope,do you think their eyepieces would be sufficient?
And which sizes in mm would most likely be my best choices?
There's so many choices,I'm as confused as a baby in a bottle factory!

Jne_K · Site Admin Joined: 24 Sep 2003 Posts: 5403

Hi

I generally recommend a range of magnifications in the low, medium and high range and do not recommend more than 200x as a maximum for most situations. Using a scope at higher magnifications becomes much more difficult and the atmosphere seldom allows using more than this, anyway. Usually, three eyepieces or two eyepieces and a barlow will do as a minimum.

Use high magnifications for the moon and planets, but keep magnifications on the lower, and sometimes much lower, side for nebulae, star clusters and galaxies. A good way to start is a kit, such as the Celestron. After you've gained experience, you will develop some persoanl preferences as to eyepieces and be in a better position to make decisions about spending money on expensive eyepieces. Indeed, some premium eyepieces may cost as much as your new scope.
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