Until I'm able to settle down in 18 months, I bought a Celestron NexStar 130mm (650mm FL) reflector telescope that is portable for drives in to the country. I want to pick up some new eyepieces and have absolutely no problem spending extra given that within two years I plan on investing in a much better (and less portable) device.
The Celestron website recommends I buy X-Cel series eyepieces for my current telescope, but they seem to put the eyepieces in rough price categories with parent scopes, and this method seems more of a money grab to me.
Basically, I would rather buy the best (for example) 8mm eyepiece I can, so I can use it with future telescopes, but just want to make sure that these better eyepieces won't cripple my current viewing.
From what I understand, a poor eyepiece will ruin a great telescope, and a great eyepiece will bring out the most of your scope, but is there really such a thing as simply 'too good' an eyepiece?
Thanks for any and all opinions!
2007-12-27 09:43:12 · 2 answers · asked by alex m 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I have a set of X-Cel Eyepieces (2.3mm, 5mm, 8mm, 12.5mm, 18mm, and 25mm) and I have been less then impressed. The biggest problem that I have with them seems a bit silly; the rubber light shields on them are just too short. They work well with glasses; but, when you need a tight seal to block out stray light you can't get it. The eye relief is 20mm and the shields only extend 10mm. Would it have broken the bank to do a 20mm shield that could have folded down for eyeglass users?
2007-12-27 10:51:07 · answer #1 · answered by n2s.astronomy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The only thing that will suffer from "too good" an eyepiece is your checking account. Even in your little reflector you may notice the quality improvement with better eyepieces. If you can afford good eyepieces now, go for it - no sense in buying twice.
2007-12-27 19:06:48 · answer #2 · answered by injanier 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋