TheSkySearchers

Well i have taken the plunge into 100 degree eyepieces. Saturday night i dropped my new ES 9mm 100 degree into the focuser of the 16 inch with a GSO coma correcter in place and head off to the Orion Nebula. In my scope this gives me 200x. The night was just a bit suboptimal for 200x but it didnt detract from the view. Some eyepieces are like looking out a window of a spaceship, this one is like being out in space. I can say for sure and for certain that when the skies allow that eyepiece will be in the focuser. For me it might just be the perfect eyepiece.

Hopefully you will get a lot of use from it.

This is a good match for your DOB, providing ~2mm exit pupil. Enjoy!

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:35 pm This is a good match for your DOB, providing ~2mm exit pupil. Enjoy!

I dont know beans about exit pupils, what i do know is the images returned are just amazing.

I'm only a very casual visual astronomy, about the only time I have an eyepiece on my scope is during our club's outreach star parties. My two favorite eyepieces with my Explore Scientific ED152 are the Explore Scientific 82° 30mm hand grenade (3.7mm exit pupil) and the 27mm TeleVue Panoptic (3.3mm exit pupil)
They are very close in magnification so I don't usually put the TeleVue in at outreach events. Everybody loves the moon through that 30mm though!

AstroBee wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:56 pm I'm only a very casual visual astronomy, about the only time I have an eyepiece on my scope is during our club's outreach star parties. My two favorite eyepieces with my Explore Scientific ED152 are the Explore Scientific 82° 30mm hand grenade (3.7mm exit pupil) and the 27mm TeleVue Panoptic (3.3mm exit pupil)
They are very close in magnification so I don't usually put the TeleVue in at outreach events. Everybody loves the moon through that 30mm though!

I have made several attempts to adopt a glass grenade or glass pineapple, but just can't get past the size and weight. Panoptic 27mm on the other hand is indeed a very nice EP.

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:07 pm Hopefully you will get a lot of use from it.

I was able to get out with it once so far. What it does on the Orion Nebula is something special.

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:28 pm

AstroBee wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:56 pm I'm only a very casual visual astronomy, about the only time I have an eyepiece on my scope is during our club's outreach star parties. My two favorite eyepieces with my Explore Scientific ED152 are the Explore Scientific 82° 30mm hand grenade (3.7mm exit pupil) and the 27mm TeleVue Panoptic (3.3mm exit pupil)
They are very close in magnification so I don't usually put the TeleVue in at outreach events. Everybody loves the moon through that 30mm though!

I have made several attempts to adopt a glass grenade or glass pineapple, but just can't get past the size and weight. Panoptic 27mm on the other hand is indeed a very nice EP.

I personally prefer a heavier eyepiece. Just a feel good in the hand kind of thing

Mike Q wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:33 am

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:28 pm

AstroBee wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 10:56 pm I'm only a very casual visual astronomy, about the only time I have an eyepiece on my scope is during our club's outreach star parties. My two favorite eyepieces with my Explore Scientific ED152 are the Explore Scientific 82° 30mm hand grenade (3.7mm exit pupil) and the 27mm TeleVue Panoptic (3.3mm exit pupil)
They are very close in magnification so I don't usually put the TeleVue in at outreach events. Everybody loves the moon through that 30mm though!

I have made several attempts to adopt a glass grenade or glass pineapple, but just can't get past the size and weight. Panoptic 27mm on the other hand is indeed a very nice EP.

I personally prefer a heavier eyepiece. Just a feel good in the hand kind of thing

And if occasion calls you can throw it at the neighbor's flood light.

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2024 6:04 pm

Mike Q wrote: ↑Thu Feb 08, 2024 10:33 am

Bigzmey wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 9:28 pm

I have made several attempts to adopt a glass grenade or glass pineapple, but just can't get past the size and weight. Panoptic 27mm on the other hand is indeed a very nice EP.

I personally prefer a heavier eyepiece. Just a feel good in the hand kind of thing

And if occasion calls you can throw it at the neighbor's flood light.

I dont have that much arm. The closest neighbor is 250 yards away lol

I still prefer my 50° AFOV and smaller eyepieces.
I still have the 12 mm and 17 mm Nikon NAV HW 102° but rarely use them.

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Fri Feb 09, 2024 5:32 am I still prefer my 50° AFOV and smaller eyepieces.
I still have the 12 mm and 17 mm Nikon NAV HW 102° but rarely use them.

I have switched over to pretty much all 80 to 82 degree eyepieces for the dobs. I still have all my Planetary Edge Ons from 3mm up to 12.5 that i have in a travel case for the frac. They still do pretty well for hundred dollar eyepieces.
I only have the 1 100 degree eyepiece at the moment and its really probably the only one i will buy. My skies limit me to 200x most of the time. If i were to get one more it would probably be the AT 7/100. I do have the rare occasions that i can get to 300x, but they are so few and far between i cant justify the expense of it at this time

I've gone through hundreds of eyepieces over the last 60 years (soon 61), and before I wore glasses at the eyepiece, I preferred 100°.
Since wearing glasses with focal lengths >8mm, I tend to prefer 78-85°, as they are wide enough not to feel cramped, while narrow enough there is no impediment to wearing glasses and seeing the entire field.
100° eyepieces compatible with glasses would be too large and heavy (and expensive), I think.
Below 8mm, I have 6 eyepieces in my kit, and 4 of them are 100° or wider. I still like that unbounded view.
And, the hyperwide fields give a lot more time to watch an object drift across the field, too.

It would be hard for me to justify going down to the AT 7mm/100 as my skies dont generally allow to get much past 200x most of the time.

It is a nice focal length and being hyperwide really helps with large apertures. My APM XWA 9mm is used a lot in my 16" f/4 + PC2 dob.

I made the decision to go ahead and buy the AT 7mm 100 degree eyepiece last week. It will get use in the 102 and the 10 inch more then the 16 inch but on really good nights when I can get past 200x it wll be used.