Celestron Plossl?

Question

im looking around for an eyepiece for my telescope and wanted to know if Celestron Plossl is a good brand?

this is the one im talking about
http://www.atozastro.com/shop/ProdImages/celestron_9mm.jpg

Answer 1

Hi William -

Celestron is certainly a good brand name - they have a reputation for good quality optics. Plossl is the name for a design or eyepiece configuration. Plossl eyepieces have 4 elements and are generally at the low end of the price range. They are supplied by most of the brands (like Celestron, Orion, etc.) but you should know that you usually get what you pay for. Not a bad eyepiece, but you will certainly notice the difference when you set up with a Celestron Axiom eyepiece or, even better, a Televue Nagler. Remember, you don't need a full set of eyepieces. One premium eyepiece of mid range to low power is better than three or four "bargain" eyepieces.

Answer 2

The Ploessl eyepiece is a very good all-purpose eyepiece and gives very good views in most Telescopes. When I started in Astronomy a long time ago, This was THE eyepiece everyone wanted, you could not even buy them here in the states, they were only sold by a french company called Clave'.
Meanwhile fashions have changed along with the Telescopes. Some of today's Telescopes have very short F/ratios and won't work too well with older style eyepieces such as Ploessls, Kellners and Orthoscopics. That is what the modern high priced eyepieces are designed to work with. If your telescope has an F/ratio less than F/5, some of these modern eyepieces may be just what you need.
If your scope has an F/ratio of F/5 or more, the ploessl will work fine. You might want to consider upgrading to a "super Ploessl" Sometimes called "silver tops". The difference between the two is the anti reflection coating.
The silver tops are multi-coated on all surfaces, reducung reflections a bit more.

Adolph

Answer 3

The Celestron is just one of many low end Plössl eyepieces, no better or no worse. Plössl is a design which originated in the 19th century, and remains popular today. Many different companies sell Plössl eyepieces with their names on them, though most of them are actually made in one or two factories in the Far East.

Answer 4

That's what I use. Although I usually take pictures through a 40mm plossl because the hole you look through is a little larger size than a 13mm or 9mm.

What kind of telescope do you have, and what would you like to observe?

Here's some of my astro-photos.

http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c221/kbilyak/