Eyepieces

Last night seemed a nice clear evening but as soon as I walked out the clouds came over so I took the time to take a good look at the eyepieces that came with my telescope and the other two I bought separately.

The 10mm and 25mm eyepieces supplied with my Sky-Watcher 130 had no apparent marking on them, which makes me suspicious of the quality. Looking at the manufacturer's website I have worked out that they are branded Super like these below (although mine didn't have the handy sticker to say what they were!).

The 10mm should give me 90x magnification, 180x with the Barlow lens added, and the 25mm should give me 36x magnification, 72x with the Barlow. I also ordered 6.3mm and 40mm Super Plössel eyepices to give me more options. The 40mm Revelation Astro eyepiece should really help me find my way around as a novice because the magnification is only 22x (44x with a Barlow) - this will give me the widest view possible. Maybe I might be able to start identifying things now. The 6.3mm was bought when I thought I was being sent the 650mm telescope so it may be too powerful with the Barlow for my telescope (142x without, 284x with a Barlow).

The Revelation Astro Super Plössel 40mm.

For the novices like me I worked out the magnification by dividing the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece. For example for my 25mm eyepiece this was worked out by using 900/25=36 magnification.

On the plus side, by taking a good look at them yesterday, I worked out why I was having problems seeing with them. I hadn't realised that the eye-cups fold over when the cover is on them in the dark on Saturday and was looking through the eyepieces without the cups in place. At least it will be more comfortable this evening when I use them!