12 replies to this topic

[SDAngler]

I am new to astronomy and have recently purchased a used Meade 10" LX200 Classic SCT f/10 and a 2" diagonal.  Could I get suggestions for the best, but not costing an arm and a leg, eyepiece(s) for viewing Jupiter and Saturn.  I am 58 years old and wear glasses, but don't mind taking them off when observing.  I live in the suburbs of a large city, so if I need some sort of filter, please suggest if applicable.  I know nothing, so please keep it simple.  I'd like suggestions for things I can find on CN or that other site's classified - when possible.

 

 

 

[SeattleScott]

The good news is you have lots of time. You won’t be able to see Jupiter and Saturn for months.

13, 10 and 8 would be a good planetary spread. Or something close to those. A zoom could be an option.

Scott

[vtornado]

Hello Ken and welcome to cloudy nights.

 

I assume that this telescope has working tracking, if so you don't need a wide field eyepieces.

 

Sometimes glasses wearers can get away with short focal length eyepieces.  Refractive errors can be

fixed with the  focuser.   At high power viewing of planets,  eyeball astigmatism is minimized.

 

As far as focal length goes, I think the best views of planets is around an exit pupil of 1mm which means around a

focal length of about 10mm.   However because of the aperture of your telescope, this also yields a magnification

 of 250x.   Depending upon how stable your atmosphere is, that magnification may not produce good results.

 

I live in the Upper Midwest United States, and seldom have nights where I can reach that power.   Usually

I top out around 200x.   Some nights of very steady air I have reached 300x.  Ususally that is summer

with high humidity.

 

Given these constraints.   Something between 10 and 15mm might be optimal.

 

I use televue plossl's, and vintagle circle t orthos for planetary viewing.

 

Baader offers some modern ortho's but I don't have any to judge.

 

VT.

[Astro-Master]

I'd look for a used Baader Mark IV or Mark III 8-24mm zoom on Cloudy Nights Classifieds.  A used Mark III zoom for under $200, or a used Mark IV for a little over $200.

 

On you're scope the zoom would give a spread of power from 108X to 325X.  The zoom is great for dialing in the right power for the seeing conditions, and zooming in for small details.

[hboswell]

I am new to astronomy and have recently purchased a used Meade 10" LX200 Classic SCT f/10 and a 2" diagonal.  Could I get suggestions for the best, but not costing an arm and a leg, eyepiece(s) for viewing Jupiter and Saturn.  I am 58 years old and wear glasses, but don't mind taking them off when observing.  I live in the suburbs of a large city, so if I need some sort of filter, please suggest if applicable.  I know nothing, so please keep it simple.  I'd like suggestions for things I can find on CN or that other site's classified - when possible.

Hi Ken,

 

Until my cataract surgery this past August, I had worn glasses for nearly 60 years. I had significant astigmatism, so if you don't this won't apply to you. What I found was that for eyepieces higher than about 8mm, I had to wear my glasses, because otherwise the stars would look like slashes. Below that - in my 5mm ortho, 5mm Radian, even in my 8mm Radian, observing without my glasses was OK. What that meant from a practical standpoint was that when I was considering a new eyepiece, eye relief - the distance your eye needs to be form the eyepiece to get a clean focus - was critical. Something like 15mm or greater eye relief. Like I said, however, if astigmatism isn't a problem for you, ER isn't such a consideration.

 

Harry

[RichA]

I am new to astronomy and have recently purchased a used Meade 10" LX200 Classic SCT f/10 and a 2" diagonal.  Could I get suggestions for the best, but not costing an arm and a leg, eyepiece(s) for viewing Jupiter and Saturn.  I am 58 years old and wear glasses, but don't mind taking them off when observing.  I live in the suburbs of a large city, so if I need some sort of filter, please suggest if applicable.  I know nothing, so please keep it simple.  I'd like suggestions for things I can find on CN or that other site's classified - when possible.

Stick to powers in the 200x-400x region for the scope.  But more important than the eyepiece, always remember to view the planets as high above the horizon as they can be, after the telescope has cooled to outside temperatures for at least an hour and look for nights when the stars are steady (twinkling very little).  A scope like a 10" can show huge detail on major planets, but only if certain conditions are met.

[Migwan]

Best eyepiece for planets in my C11;  6.5mm, but I have to wait for a very good night.  9mm, I don't have to wait so long.   12.5, any night that I would ever bother to be out will do.   

 

If you want just one eyepiece to cover all conditions, then an 8-24 zoom is it.  Though a Baader is better corrected at the edges and has a wider field of view, planets can be viewed on axis, so a cheaper version will do just fine on planets. 

 

If you want to go with an economical eyepiece or two, Astronomics who host this site has THESE.   Maybe try the 8 &/or 12mm.  

 

 I've had good luck with Meade HDs that run about $50 used. 

 

Good luck

 

jd

[Echolight]

I use an 8-24 zoom for all of my high power viewing. Mostly on the Moon and planets. It seemed like the simplest solution when I started, and it's produced good results so far.

 

For planets just the standard 8-24 should do fine most of the time in that scope.

But for detailed closeups of the terminator of the Moon you could boost the magnification with a low power barlow. I push my 6 inch refractor up to 375x. And you should be able to go higher with a 10 inch SCT. 

[SeattleScott]

I use an 8-24 zoom for all of my high power viewing. Mostly on the Moon and planets. It seemed like the simplest solution when I started, and it's produced good results so far.

For planets just the standard 8-24 should do fine most of the time in that scope.
But for detailed closeups of the terminator of the Moon you could boost the magnification with a low power barlow. I push my 6 inch refractor up to 375x. And you should be able to go higher with a 10 inch SCT.

Texas might get better seeing conditions than most of the country. Most people typically top out around 300x on a very good night.

Scott

[Echolight]

Texas might get better seeing conditions than most of the country. Most people typically top out around 300x on a very good night.

Scott

I only use that high on the Moon. I guess being such a bright, detailed, high contrast target, it's easier to ramp it up on.

 

For Jupiter and Saturn I pretty much top out around 200 under the best conditions with the 6 inch achro. For the best detail anyway.

If I had a 120 apo or 10 inch newt it might be a different story.

 

I mainly just use the 8 inch SCT for smaller DSO on the go-to mount.

Edited by Echolight, 26 January 2021 - 09:22 AM.

[BPoletti]

If I might make a semi-educated suggestion considering your suburban setting and quality of your telescope, you might consider a TeleVue Delos 12mm and an Explore Scientific 2x Focal Reducer.  The Delos is a very good eyepiece and the 2X Focal Reducer will provide a very good quality 2X reduction in focal length creating a 6mm focal length with the same approximate eye relief.  Both are 1 1/4" eyepieces so an adapter is necessary in your 2" diagonal, but they are inexpensive and can stay fitted in the diagonal, if it is more convenient.  (A cheap old 1 1/4" Plossl can be used as a dust plug.)    

 

I have used the Delos 12mm and the ES 2X Focal Reducer and find them both to provide exceptional viewing quality.  

 

As an alternative to the Delos, ES has a very nice 82 degree 11mm eyepiece and a 14mm eyepiece.  I have not tried the 11mm eyepiece, but it is also quite good.  I own the ES 82 degree 14mm eyepiece and find it quite pleasing with no annoying distortion.  The 14mm matches up nicely with the ES Focal Extender to provide a 7mm focal length with the approximate eye relief of the 14mm.  Both are 1 1/4" eyepieces.

 

An Orion SkyGlow filter would help reduce some of the light pollution issues, but will tint the objects under observation.  Not terrible since the planetary detail will still be there, but just tinted toward blue.  There are models of the Orion SkyGlow filter that screw into the visual back of most SCT's including the LX200 (the diagonal would screw into the filter).   I have not noticed a degradation of image sharpness using this filter.

 

All of the above items work very well in both of my 8" f/10 SCT scopes with 2" diagonals.

 

Sometimes these optics are available used but in very good conditions in the classified ad for sale sections of Cloudy Nights and AstroMart.

Edited by BPoletti, 26 January 2021 - 03:42 PM.

[vtornado]

 An Orion SkyGlow filter would help reduce some of the light pollution issues, but will tint the objects under observation.  Not terrible since the planetary detail will still be there, but just tinted toward blue.  -- BPoletti.

 

You use a "nebula" filter to view planets?   Do you find that helps?

 Since planets are colorful ,holding back part of the spectrum blocks some detail..

 

Some folks use a variable polarizer to cut down on glare.   

[BPoletti]

 An Orion SkyGlow filter would help reduce some of the light pollution issues, but will tint the objects under observation.  Not terrible since the planetary detail will still be there, but just tinted toward blue.  -- BPoletti.

 

You use a "nebula" filter to view planets?   Do you find that helps?

 Since planets are colorful ,holding back part of the spectrum blocks some detail..

 

Some folks use a variable polarizer to cut down on glare.   

 

The Orion SkyGlow filter is a broadband light pollution filter, not a "nebula" specific filter.  In my scopes, it does just that.