Show us your planetary eyepieces!

Discuss telescope eyepieces.
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WilliamPaolini United States of America
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Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#1

Post by WilliamPaolini »


Planetary Eyepieces 2021.jpg
Am curious what others here typically use for planetary observation. Of course any eyepiece will do, but depending on how fanatical you may be with planetary observing your choices will vary. For me I like getting every bit of contrast and detail possible from the eyepiece as I typically use smaller aperture telescopes for the task, either my 100mm Apo or 81mm Apo. On occasion Iwill use my bigger gun, a 152mm Apo, but that is rare as I prefer the convenience the smaller refractors afford.

I primarily use 4mm, 5mm, and 6mm focal lengths to get to planetary magnifications with my 100mm and 81mm scopes, and down to 8mm when using the 152mm scope. So my planetaries are centered on that range.

My "flagship" planetaries are the 6mm ZAO-II, 5mm XO, and 4mm Celestron Abbe show in the right foreground. These I bring to bear when the seeing is superb and I am trying to tease out smallest details on the planet. They always excel over others (I've had over 400 eyepieces in my observing lifetime). Interestingly you will see a plebeian vintage Celestron Abbe Ortho at the 4mm place. I had a 4mm ZAO-II but surprisingly it was not what I would class a top notch performer, no where near the class of the 6mm ZAO-II. I also had a 4mm TMB Supermono and that was the ultimate in performance IMO. However, the small 30 degree AFOV, poor off-axis at faster focal ratios, and tiniest eye lens I've ever come across in addition to short eye relief made me let that go. Over the years I have been buying used 4mm Abbes and cycling thru them. I did this because I had an absolutely stunning 4mm Celestron Volcano Abbe that I sold when I got the TMB Supermono which just bested it (it beat the 4 ZAO-II I mentioned). So I knew that the branding was capable of some incredible performance so it could hold its own with the 6 ZAO and 5 XO, just a matter of finding a good one. Anyway, after acquiring and selling a number of 4mms I finally found one that just hit the ball out of the park, so it now sits with my ZAO and XO in my 4-5-6mm lineup. I have a special low mag Barlow that gets my 6 ZAO to 4mm and the little Celestron Volcano I found it easily its equal so am quite satisfied and will not sell it again!

The other thing I do, which actually gets me within a gnat's hair of the performance of the flagship planetaries, is to use a quality Barlow or Powermate on longer focal length Tak LEs or Edmund RKEs. These two lines under Barlow (the 2.5x Powermate is actually preferred) are just amazing performers and keep pace well with the flagship EPs. So I end up using them most now actually. The Edmund RKEs are pictured in the left foreground, and the Tak LEs are in the background with the TV Barlow and Powermate. Since I wanted a 15mm so I could get to 6mm with the Powermate, I supplemented the Tak LEs with a 15mm Antares Elite 5-element Plossl (same basic 2-1-2 design of the 10mm and longer LEs). I have not yet fully flushed out if the 15mm Antares is performing as well as the LEs in this role, but hope to get back to doing that soon. The RKEs I really enjoy as they are only single coated optics which to my eye tend to render double stars a bit more cleanly and they also bring out colors very well compared to many multicoated fare. Just something I have noticed over the years comparing all the many eyepieces I've had. So always like to have one lineup of single coated eyepieces in the stall.

As a side note, for many years I have not really thought well of the Tak LEs in the planetary role as they showed a soft view compared to Abbes I had, especially the 7.5mm and 5mm LEs. Then one day while playing around with the LEs, I looked at their field lenses just to make sure it was clean before I put them away and they looked perfectly clean. But I felt like playing some more so cleaned them for the heck of it (and I rarely clean the field lens as they rarely get dirty in any way). So I took a Q-Tip dry and just lightly swiped the surface not expecting anything as I could see no dust. Low and behold it left a streak! To my surprise, the 7.5mm and 5mm both had this invisible uniform layer of grease on the lenses! So I cleaned them up. Then I took this other eyepiece I had purchased new some time ago during the summer months a few years ago that seemed soft to me, and it also had a same type of grease layer on the field lens. All I can make of it is that perhaps when things get shipped during the hot summer months that some of the rubber components or lens caps might outgass from the extreme temps that can be in delivery trucks in the hot sun, and that outgassing deposited that invisible layer of grease. At any rate, after tending to all the accessible lens surfaces on the LEs all of a sudden they became stellar planetary performers! So lesson learned for me to always clean the lenses, even when new or when they look clean!
-Bill

U.S.A.F. Veteran - Visual Amateur Astronomer since 1966 - Fully Retired since 2019
8" f/5 Newt - Lunt 152 f/7.9 - TSA 102 f/8 - Vixen 81S f/7.7 - P.S.T. - Pentax 65ED II - Nikon 12x50 AE
Pentax XWs - Baader Morpheus - Takahashi LEs - Edmund RKEs - BST Starguiders - 6ZAO-II/5XO/4Abbe
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Bigzmey United States of America
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#2

Post by Bigzmey »


My favorite planetary/lunar/doubles EPs used to be TV Plossls and Baader Classic Orthos. I still keep them in my EP case.
TV Plossls-100220.jpg
Q-turret-5.jpg
However, with time I have discovered that Vixen SLVs and TV Delites on a typical night deliver as many details as the low glass count EPs, but with plenty of eye relief.
SLVs.jpg
Delites.jpg
Scopes: Stellarvue: SV102ED; Celestron: 9.25" EdgeHD, 8" SCT, 150ST, Onyx 80ED; iOptron: Hankmeister 6" Mak; SW: 7" Mak; Meade: 80ST.
Mounts: SW: SkyTee2, AzGTi; iOptron: AZMP; ES: Twilight I; Bresser: EXOS2; UA: MicroStar.
Binos: APM: 100-90 APO; Canon: IS 15x50; Orion: Binoviewer, LG II 15x70, WV 10x50, Nikon: AE 16x50, 10x50, 8x40.
EPs: Pentax: XWs & XFs; TeleVue: Delites, Panoptic & Plossls; ES: 68, 62; Vixen: SLVs; Baader: BCOs, Aspherics, Mark IV.
Diagonals: Baader: BBHS mirror, Zeiss Spec T2 prism, Clicklock dielectric; TeleVue: Evebrite dielectric; AltairAstro: 2" prism.
Filters: Lumicon: DeepSky, UHC, OIII, H-beta; Baader: Moon & SkyGlow, Contrast Booster, UHC-S, 6-color set; Astronomik: UHC.

Observing: DSOs: 3106 (Completed: Messier, Herschel 1, 2, 3. In progress: H2,500: 2180, S110: 77). Doubles: 2382, Comets: 34, Asteroids: 255
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#3

Post by Refractordude »


I am interested in the Delites and Morpheus eyepieces. However, happy with what I currently have. I recently observed Jupiter with my 16x80 ED binoculars. The planet and it's moons in 3D is really special. Thinking about binoviewers for the Yard Canon. Left click the image.
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#4

Post by The Happy Parrot »


Planetary Eyepieces - Copy.jpg
A minimalist approach for me, mostly on my Celestron DX102Az refractor, sometimes on a Z8.

An Explore Scientific 8.8 mm/82 deg and a Meade 5 mm/100 deg. If the seeing is good, and I'm feeling bold and sassy, the Celestron 2X Barlow comes out for the ES 8.8.

I realize this is more glass than most would prefer, but absent a tracking mount, I gladly sacrifice a little clarity for a few extra seconds with the planets in view before I have to manually nudge the OTA.
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#5

Post by messier 111 »


voila , delos some are not in the photo .
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Delos case .jpg
Delos case .jpg (25.3 KiB) Viewed 16681 times
I LOVE REFRACTORS , :Astronomer1: :sprefac:

REFRACTOR , TS-Optics Doublet SD-APO 125 mm f/7.8 . Lunt 80mm MT Ha Doublet Refractor .

EYEPIECES, Delos , Delite and 26mm Nagler t5 , 2 zoom Svbony 7-21 , Orion Premium Linear BinoViewer .

FILTER , Nebustar 2 tele vue . Apm solar wedge . contrast booster 2 inches .

Mounts , berno mack 3 with telepod , cg-4 motorized , eq6 pro belt drive .

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.”
― Isaac Asimov

Jean-Yves :flags-canada:
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#6

Post by mikemarotta »


To answer the question: I use them all.

And in addition to these, I have a 5X focal extender and have gone to 1100X for what it's worth just to see what that is like.
Eyepieces October 2021.jpeg
And I have these, a Nagler Series One 7mm and a not-Meade Meade 14 mm, both 82-degrees.
Nagler and Meade oculars (M).jpg
More power just means more magnification of bad sky. But you never know what it is going to look like until you try.

Also, I took the bait on some close-out inventory from OPT (Oceanside Photo and Telescope), and bought Celestron FirstScope eyepieces just to see what the view is like. It is not stellar, for sure, but not half bad. For myself, I am more interested in the basic facts and the big picture. For example just to identify a double star, it is enough to resolve the pair. Obviously, at some level - for deep space objects such as Messier globular clusters, a better view is better. Last month, with the Astro-Tech 115 APO and Nagler 7 mm ocular, I was able to resolve stars in M-22. Mostly, in the 102 with the Celestron Ploessls it just appears as you expect: a puffball. Either way, it is still a globular cluster and my better view of individual stars does not prove that they are in that mass. For that, other instruments and methods are necessary. We mistake birdwatching for ornithology.
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#7

Post by mikemarotta »


The Happy Parrot wrote: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:54 pm A minimalist approach for me, mostly on my Celestron DX102Az refractor, sometimes on a Z8.
An Explore Scientific 8.8 mm/82 deg and a Meade 5 mm/100 deg. ... Celestron 2X Barlow comes out for the ES 8.8.
I realize this is more glass than most would prefer, but ...
I applaud your parsimony! Contrary to your assumption, it seems that you work with much less glass than most are given to. I packed away my new computerized Celestron AVX "go-to" mount and tripod. It is nice, but a lot of work. It is convenient to be able to sit for some long minutes without having to move the tube, but all in all that's what the control cables are for and it is not the worst of problems.

Because I am not using the heftier mount, I am not using the larger refractor. The Explore 102-mm doublet on its Twilight 1 mount is my grab and go. And, I confess, while I do play with all the oculars, I am given to finding with the 32-mm and putting in the 17-mm with 2X Barlow for close-ups. And there it is. So, thanks to you for speaking up on behalf of "less is more."
---------------------------------------
Michael E. Marotta
Astro-Tech 115 mm APO Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/6.47 Refractor Explore Scientific 102 mm f/9.8 Refractor Bresser 8-inch Newtonian Reflector Plössls from 40 to 6 mm Nagler Series-1 7mm. nonMeade 14 mm. Mounts: Celestron AVX, Explore Twilight I Alt-Az, Explore EXOS German Equatorial
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#8

Post by The Wave Catcher »


With my 102 mm, f/4.5 achromatic refractor I love my Astro-Tech 5 mm Paradigm ED eyepiece for planetary use. I will sometimes use my Celestron 2x Barlow on occasions with it. The Astro-Tech has a good field of view and the eye relief is fantastic for a 5 mm FL. The 60 mm aperture mask (painted yogurt lid) will clean up any chroma well and provides me with a poor man’s apochromatic. I keep a minimalist amount of gear in my go box.
1DD72CC3-CDB2-4A20-B8A3-026E3A0B2F44.jpeg
C9BA49F0-8DB2-497C-B6F2-FC40C2B9C187.jpeg
EA0B6852-1E7D-4492-96F5-2D53086C2CFD.jpeg
Steve Yates

Astro-Tech AT102ED, 102 mm, F/7, ED Achromatic Refractor
Astro-Tech AT80ED, 80 mm, F/7, ED Achromatic Refractor
Bresser AR102s, 102 mm, f/4.5, Achromatic Refractor

Explore Scientific Twilight I Alt/Az Mount
Bresser Nano Alt/Az Mount
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#9

Post by DeanD »


I have tried a range over the years, and still have a TMB 2.5, and Long-Perng LER 3 and 5 (these are I believe the same as Williams and Orion "planetary" and other re-badged versions). Occasionally I have barlowed the Nagler T6 13mm (I have TV 3x and 2x), which gives excellent sharpness and contrast, but generally now I simply use the Nagler 3-6 zoom (below). It seems hard to beat, and it is super convenient as I can adjust the magnification instantly according to the conditions. I got it used, and for way less than four equivalent fixed fl Fujiyama or Abbe Orthos (plus better eye relief!). One eyepiece to rule them all for me! ;)

I did try it just for fun one day on Jupiter at 3mm with the TV 3x barlow (816x) on my TSA102. Ridiculously high power (1/8 mm exit pupil!), and corresponding low contrast, but still sharp.
Nagler3-6.jpg
Telescopes: 12" f5 dob, Celestron CPC800, 150mmf5 Celestron achro, Tak TSA102, TV76, ETX125...
Binos: Steiner Wildlife XP 10x26, Swarovski 8x30 Habicht, Zeiss SFL 8x40, Vanguard Endeavour 10.5x45, Fuji FMTR-SX 10x50, Tak 22x60, Orion Resolux 15x70
Eyepieces: way too many (is that possible?), but I do like my TV 32mm plossl, 13mm Nagler T6, 27mm Panoptic and 3-6mm Nagler zoom, plus Fujiyama 18mm and 25mm orthos and Tak 7.5mm LE
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#10

Post by John Donne »


Docter 12.5
Pentax 7mm
TeleVue 22 Panoptic
4mm KK Ortho
TeleVue 2X Barlow
20211019_212854.jpg
Skywatcher 100mm f9
Explore Scientific 127mm f7.5
Skywatcher 72mm ED f6
SCOPES :ES127 f7.5, SW100 f9 Evostar, ES80 F6, LXD75 8" f10 SCT, 2120 10" f10 SCT, ES152 f6.5.
MOUNTS: SW AZ/EQ5, MEADE LXD75, CELESTRON CG4, Farpoint Parallelogram.
BINOCULARS: CL 10X30, Pentax 8X43, 25X100 Oberwerks.
EP: Many.

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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#11

Post by The Happy Parrot »


mikemarotta wrote: Wed Oct 20, 2021 12:09 am ... It is convenient to be able to sit for some long minutes without having to move the tube, but all in all that's what the control cables are for and it is not the worst of problems.

Because I am not using the heftier mount, I am not using the larger refractor. The Explore 102-mm doublet on its Twilight 1 mount is my grab and go....
Agree with you on the convenience a 102 refractor on an alt/az mount provides for quick set up, Mike. You remind me of another reason why I ended up with wide view eyepieces. My entry level mount and tripod are so wobbly, especially on hard ground, that I avoid any contact with it, even the alt/az cables, for as long as possible. Otherwise, I have to wait ~4 seconds for vibrations to dampen. Setting up on grass helps notably.

I'd like to try the different Televue eyepieces someday, but a better tripod and mount are probably the next upgrade.
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Makuser United States of America
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#12

Post by Makuser »


Hi Bill and all. For lunar and planetary viewing I use 1.25" eyepieces. Here are my favorites. First up is the complete set of Smart Astronomy clones of the Orion Edge On series from 3mm to 27mm. In back are the Edge On Planetary and in front are the Edge On:
Planetary Eyepieces1.JPG
Next are my TMB Optical Planetary II eyepieces and my two 1.25" Barlows:
Planetary Eyepieces2.JPG
And here are some individual eyepieces (three are vintage) that I use on occasion and they still give a good account of themselves at the telescope:
Planetary Eyepieces3.JPG
Thanks for the interesting thread Bill and some very nice eyepiece kits shown on here.
Marshall
Sky-Watcher 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov-Cassegrain on motorized Multimount
Orion Astroview 120ST f/5 Refractor on EQ3 mount
Celestron Comet Catcher 140mm f/3.64 Schmidt-Newtonian on alt-az mount
Celestron Omni XLT150R f/5 Refractor on CG4 mount with dual axis drives.
Orion 180mm f/15 Maksutov-Cassegrain on CG5-GT Goto mount.
Orion XT12i 12" f/4.9 Dobsonian Intelliscope.
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#13

Post by Starship9 »


The Pentax XW's and Nagler 2mm-4mm zoom are in this case:
epscase01Jan21.JPG
.....and the 6mm and 4.7mm Ethos are in this case:
epscase02Jan21.JPG
I'm a visual observer based in the South West of England.
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#14

Post by John Baars »


I do all my planetary observations with these three:
IMG_E0898 (629x800).jpg
Leica ASPH 17.8-8.9 mm. Performance is at the highest level, but just below the XO5, well above my regular orthoscopics.

in combination with:
Zeiss barlow.jpg
For the full range to 240X.

And when seeing permits:
DSC02636 (960x603).jpg
The 5mm Pentax XO5 for planetary use. This is really the best I have. Gives me 180X in my 120 mm Evostar apo.
The 2.5 mm is for double stars.
Refractors in frequency of use : *SW Evostar 120ED F/7.5 (all round ), * Vixen 102ED F/9 (vintage), both on Vixen GPDX.
GrabnGo on Alt/AZ : *SW Startravel 102 F/5 refractor( widefield, Sun, push-to), *OMC140 Maksutov F/14.3 ( planets).
Most used Eyepieces: *Panoptic 24, *Morpheus 14, *Leica ASPH zoom, *Zeiss barlow, *Pentax XO5.
Commonly used bino's : *Jena 10X50 , * Canon 10X30 IS, *Swarovski Habicht 7X42, * Celestron 15X70, *Kasai 2.3X40
Rijswijk Public Observatory: * Astro-Physics Starfire 130 f/8, * 6 inch Newton, * C9.25, * Meade 14 inch LX600 ACF, *Lunt.
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#15

Post by j.gardavsky »


John Baars wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 10:03 pm I do all my planetary observations with these three:
Image
Leica ASPH 17.8-8.9 mm. Performance is at the highest level, but just below the XO5, well above my regular orthoscopics.

in combination with:
Image
For the full range to 240X.

And when seeing permits:
Image
The 5mm Pentax XO5 for planetary use. This is really the best I have.
The 2.5 mm is for double stars.
I agree,

it can be as simple as the John's set!

I can put a similar set next to my telescope:
1. Leica WW Asph Zoom, plus Baader VIP 2x Barlow (instead of Carl Zeiss Barlow)
2. Pentax SMC XW 5mm (instead of Pentax SMC XO 5mm)
3. Pentax SMX XO 2.5mm

Maybe, it is a matter of time, when the eyepiece sets for the specific observing jobs wil reveal some converging preferences,
JG
6" F/5 Sky-Watcher achro, 2" BBHS Star Diagonal, 2" zenith prism, 1.25" Takahashi prism
Leica 82mm APO Televid
Eyepieces: Docter UWA; Leica B WW and WW Asph. Zoom; Leica HC Plan S and L, monocentric; Pentax SMC XW, O-, XO; Tak MC O, Carl Zeiss B WW, and Pl, E-Pl, S-Pl, W-Pl;
Swarovski SW; Baader Symmetric Diascope Edition; Nikon NAV SW, ; TMB supermonocentric; Rodenstock; Vixen HR; TV Delos
Filters: Astrodon, Astronomik, Baader, Balzers, Zeiss West and East, Lumicon
Binoculars (7x42 up to 15x85): Docter Nobilem, Leica Ultravid, Nikon Astroluxe, Swarovski EL Swarovision; BA8 (Kunming Optical)
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#16

Post by WilliamPaolini »


John Baars & j.gardavsky,

Outstanding approach! Clean and simple! :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup:
-Bill

U.S.A.F. Veteran - Visual Amateur Astronomer since 1966 - Fully Retired since 2019
8" f/5 Newt - Lunt 152 f/7.9 - TSA 102 f/8 - Vixen 81S f/7.7 - P.S.T. - Pentax 65ED II - Nikon 12x50 AE
Pentax XWs - Baader Morpheus - Takahashi LEs - Edmund RKEs - BST Starguiders - 6ZAO-II/5XO/4Abbe
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#17

Post by j.gardavsky »


WilliamPaolini wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 1:11 am John Baars & j.gardavsky,

Outstanding approach! Clean and simple! :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup:
Bill,

I have also a set of the Pentax SMC O- orthos,
purchased thanks to one of your reviews,

JG
6" F/5 Sky-Watcher achro, 2" BBHS Star Diagonal, 2" zenith prism, 1.25" Takahashi prism
Leica 82mm APO Televid
Eyepieces: Docter UWA; Leica B WW and WW Asph. Zoom; Leica HC Plan S and L, monocentric; Pentax SMC XW, O-, XO; Tak MC O, Carl Zeiss B WW, and Pl, E-Pl, S-Pl, W-Pl;
Swarovski SW; Baader Symmetric Diascope Edition; Nikon NAV SW, ; TMB supermonocentric; Rodenstock; Vixen HR; TV Delos
Filters: Astrodon, Astronomik, Baader, Balzers, Zeiss West and East, Lumicon
Binoculars (7x42 up to 15x85): Docter Nobilem, Leica Ultravid, Nikon Astroluxe, Swarovski EL Swarovision; BA8 (Kunming Optical)
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#18

Post by WilliamPaolini »


j.gardavsky wrote: Wed Oct 27, 2021 9:50 am
I have also a set of the Pentax SMC O- orthos,
purchased thanks to one of your reviews,

JG
That is the only set of eyepieces I've sold that I wish I had kept. Not that it will happen, but would sure be nice if Pentax resurrected them one day.
-Bill

U.S.A.F. Veteran - Visual Amateur Astronomer since 1966 - Fully Retired since 2019
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Pentax XWs - Baader Morpheus - Takahashi LEs - Edmund RKEs - BST Starguiders - 6ZAO-II/5XO/4Abbe
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NGC 1365 Australia
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#19

Post by NGC 1365 »


00000IMG_00000_BURST20211031123746702_COVER[8992].jpg
Here are three of mine, mostly used with either a Takahashi FC76 DC or FC100 DC.
Ivan
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Jones
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Re: Show us your planetary eyepieces!

#20

Post by Jones »


20211102_125756.jpg
All orthos from Japan you can buy new today are made at the Masuyama OHI factory and are as good as anything ever made.
These are Takahashi 6MMS and Fujiyama 5 & 4mm's.
Arizona- where the sky's are not cloudy all night.

Triple lensed fracs are so yummy when looking at planets.
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