Eyepieces for 6se please

Hi Guys & Girls
ok i am now looking for some good eyepieces for my 6se, I only have the 25mm that came with the scope but since waiting to get some' i have got all the other bits i needed sorted like power source (check) Chair (check) Heaters (check) angry wife .

Forgot to say I have to use Glasses to view with the scope.
So what would be good ones for this scope ?

Hi Graeme,

The Baader Hyperion series seem to be a firm favourite with many Nexstar users here, giving reasonable eye relief, a good 68 degrees AFOV and a quality EP at what appears to be a reasonable price, pretty wherever one is purchased.

They are modular in design and thus a 1.25" barelled EP can be turned into a 2" of different focal length merely by unscrewing the front lens contained in the 1.25" barrel adapter, thus giving two EPs for the price of one !

Alternatively, Baader also offer what many claim to be an excellent zoom EP, ranging between 8mm - 24mm on a "click-stop" basis for the 8mm, 12mm, 16mm, 20mm and 24mm parfocal positions and anywhere in between, with AFOVs ranging from 68-50 degs and again, reasonable eye relief at, I believe, ca. 15mm.

Eyepieces truly capable of appeasing irate wives with enough spare cash left over after purchase to take her out to dinner ! :rofl2:

But seriously, far from me to insist, so do take a look around at other types and manufacturers and listen to what others have to say on the topic before you choose, since, as you can imagine, the options are vast !

Best regards,
Tel

Apart from Tel's advice, don't forget to add a Barlow. A barlow will turn your 25mm into 12.5mm without reducing the eye relief since you wear glasses.

I use Explore Scientific and Baader Hyperion.

Have a look at my tag line.... all of those work well. The 6 SE is forgiving on EP's so you don't have to spend on premium ones unless you want. The Astro-Tech / Sterling plossls give great views for the money. Nice scope Welcome, Tony

I have the C8 and use the ES 82* series EP's like Haseeb (Maverick). They are also suited to other scopes which will annoy your wife even more !

Hi Tassy:

First, in most cases you should be able to view without glasses. The focus adjustment will compensate for the correction that your glasses normally provide. If you have strong astigmatism, you may still need to wear your glasses, but usually you'll only need them for low magnification eyepieces.

To see if you really need the glasses, try observing without them. As you move the focus in and out, if you have a problem with astigmatism you'll see the star stretch in one direction on one side of focus, and then on the other side of focus it will stretch in a direction 90° from the first side ... and it will probably not be sharp even when in focus. You should try this test with each eyepiece you have to see which you can use without glasses.

If you need glasses, you'll want to look for eyepieces with at least 15mm (20 is better) of "eye relief". That's the distance from the eye lens to where your eye has to be to see the view properly.

The best bang-for-the-buck eyepieces seem to be the Baader Hyperions and ES (Explore Scientific) 82 series. The Baaders have been around a while and offer a 68° apparent field of view (AFOV). The ES82s are a newer line and provide an 82° AFOV. The ES82s Range in price from around $100-$200 USDdepending on the focal length, and run the size gamut from moderately large to huge. The Baaders are all the same price at about $120 USD and span a much smaller range of size and weight.

If these prices are a bit steep for you, I recommend the Agena Astro Enhanced Wide Angle EPs as an excellent "bargain" set. You can get the set of 4 EPs for $135, or individually for about $37 each. These are the same ones that Orion sells as their Expanse set for about double the price. These have the same 20mm eye relief and 68° AFOV as the Baaders. The main drawback is that their cheaper design experiences blackouts and kidney-beaning much more easily than the Baaders or ESs. That means that it's more difficult to hold your head in exactly the right spot to get a clear view, which can become tiring for long sessions.

As for sizes, since you already have the 25mm, I'd go with something in the 13 to 15mm range as your next eyepiece. I find my 13mm Baader Hyperion to be my most used EP, followed closely by my 21mm. Note that on most nights, the atmoshperic seeing (turbulence) will limit your maximum magnification to far less than what you scope is capable of. On most nights I observe I can get to 150x without a problem (13mm EP). On about half the nights I observe, I can use my 8mm EP at 250x. It's only on rare nights of excellent seeing, only about 2-3 nights a year around here, that I can use my 5mm and get to my scope's maximum 400x magnification (on the 8SE).

-Dan

+1 on what Dan said and the others, I missed the part about your glasses. You will probably need EP's with the appropriate eye relief. The Agena EP's look to be a good deal for the money..... Tony

I don't own the 6SE but I do own it's big brother the 8SE. I have really bad astigmatism in both eyes. One of the CNers Starman1 suggested the Baader Hyperion eye pieces. So I ordered one. I ordered the 17mm. It is one of favorite eyepieces. I plan on ordering more as funds permit. And for $139 per eyepiece, that is a pretty good deal. I can have my eyeglasses on and look into it and the FOV is stunning. Bright and crisp.

The downside of the the Baader. It's BIG!! But big eyepiece means big views.

The Baader's get a lot of praise! I might want to look a little closer at these!

I use a mix of AT Paradigms and Celestron XCel-LXs.
Good EPs at a low price.

The 6SE seems to be forgiving on EP's. Most of mine are not very expensive. I think I payed the most for the Explore Scientific which is a good one. I try to keep a look out for good deals in the classifieds! I've been reading the threads on orthoscopic EP's in regards to doubles. I guess eyepieces can be a never ending story though! I'm looking to get a 8SE OTA or a smaller Apo maybe 80mm to 100mm sometime so I need to think about what eyepieces work well with them too....

Hi Guys
I would like to thankyou all for the advice that you have given me.

I think i will go with the Baader eyepieces and well an ES for good measure, since I will have to order from the states might as well get a few to save me on shipping.

Again thankyou all for your time and information i am greatful.

cheers

Graeme.

Those should do well for you! Keep us posted.... Tony

I just bit the bullet and bought the Televue 32mm Plossl. It is awesome. I found myself using it almost exclusively the other night for first light. The difference between it and the stock 25 that comes with the 6SE is absolutely noticeable. I do have a Vixen 15mm that gives good planetary views, but from now on it's premium eyepieces for me. Keep in mind, they'll be good forever if/when you get aperture or refractor fever.

Thanks for the info Jack will keep this in mind as well.

Jack - Thanks for the info! I don't have any TV's but I see a lot of the plossls and higher end EP's in the classifieds pretty regularly. I know they are nice

Televues are definitely the top of the line in terms of quality. Just keep in mind that a Plossls generally has a field of view of around 50°, which can seem somewhat limiting by the standards of modern designs. I think the reason they are often found in the classifieds is because people want to upgrade to wider fields.

-Dan

Dan - Other than the ES I have, the rest are pretty much the smaller FOV. I'm used to a smaller one so it doesn't bother me that much. I do like the ES I have but I equally like the others. I hadn't given much thought to it but I think you are probably right about the TV plossls. Wider FOV's are the going thing right now I guess. I've been looking at some of the orthos that are out there. I always liked them. The old .965 Circle T that I have is a great little eyepiece. Very sharp views with it. I've looked some at the Baader orthos and I keep tabs on some of the vintage ones I see in the CN classifieds. I keep hearing that rumor about the UO orthos and I've heard the Edmund orthos are good. I really like the Asro-Tech plossls though, for the money they seem good to me. Tony

But does a wider field of view do anything for planetary viewing? I don't have any (just the 32mm that came with my 6SE) but to my thinking a wider field EP would be good for DSO viewing, right? I mean do I need 68 degree FOV for looking at Jupiter? Or Saturn?

But does a wider field of view do anything for planetary viewing? I don't have any (just the 32mm that came with my 6SE) but to my thinking a wider field EP would be good for DSO viewing, right? I mean do I need 68 degree FOV for looking at Jupiter? Or Saturn?

Jim

But does a wider field of view do anything for planetary viewing? I don't have any (just the 32mm that came with my 6SE) but to my thinking a wider field EP would be good for Pleides, or DSO viewing, right? I mean do I need 68 degree FOV for looking at Jupiter? Or Saturn?

Jim

Hi Jim,

I certainly don't need a wide F.O.V for Planets, the Moon and trying to tease detail out of anything. In fact, I think a narrower F.O.V is more desirable when observing same.
Personally, I don't understand this obsession with wide Field of views all the time.
Yes, I have wide field eyepieces for observing open clusters, rich star field, Asterisms etc, but why eyepieces are rejected on the grounds of having a narrow F.O.V I don't fully understand. Surely you need a mixture of both?? I certainly find that I do. I use a zoom as my main eyepiece, and you can't get much narrower than that.

As I say, just my personal opinion.

Regards. Peter

Hi Jim:

If you're buying eyepieces ONLY for planetary viewing, and ONLY for use with a tracking mount, then a case can certainly be made that you don't need wide field views. But, my own personal preference is to see a wider view even for planetary observation. I like being able to see more of the moons for context, and it's nice to be able to see other objects when there are the occasional conjunctions.

To me though, the bigger issue is just that good eyepieces are expensive and I don't want to invest in multiple sets for multiple purposes (although I know many people do). I use my EPs in a variety of scopes and mounts, including a manual alt/az mount. If I'm not using a tracking mount, wide fields are VERY helpful in providing high mag views while still allowing reasonable drift time through the field before needing to reposition the scope.

In addition, I want to be able to use my EPs for a variety of targets, not just planets. Purists will argue that the wide field EPs are more complex, use more elements, and have reduced contrast and sharpness compared to EPs like plossls and orthoscopics. That certainly is correct, but I find the differences to be small, at least with good quality wide field EPs, and not worth carrying around multiple sets of EPs and paying the extra bucks for them all.

This is just my 2 cents (and worth every penny!)! But the reason there are so many kinds of EPs is because its a very individual thing and everyones preferences and priorities are different.

-Dan

If you're interested in wide field then your 32mm may already be at the upper limit. This is true if the FOV of the EP is 68° or higher. See this thread for details.

http://www.cloudynig...3619392/page...

Hi Jim:

This is just my 2 cents (and worth every penny!)! But the reason there are so many kinds of EPs is because its a very individual thing and everyones preferences and priorities are different.

-Dan

And who can argue with that.

Regards. Peter.