Viewports to the Night Skies

Teleview Nagler Eyepieces (82° apparent field of view)

TeleVue 2" Nagler 31 mm Type 5. Normally used on the Orion 120mm f/5 refractor, where it provides an astounding 4.25° true field of view at 19.5 magnification power. This eyepiece does not have the proper curvature of field to work well on an f/10 SCT.

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Meade Ultrawide Eyepieces (84° apparent field of view)

  • 2" 14 mm providing 23 arc minutes true field at 220 power. This eyepiece is normally loaded into the standard turret, where it is probably used more than all others combined. This is because it sits at the "sweet point" where the effective resolution of the telescope approximately equals the intrinsic resolution of the eye. The eyepiece skirt has been fitted with a focus ring to make it parfocal with the others.
  • 2" 8.8 mm providing 14 arc minutes true field at 345 power. This eyepiece is normally loaded into the standard turret, where it is the highest reasonable magnification power usable on most nights. The eyepiece skirt has been extended and fitted with a focus ring to make it parfocal with the others.
  • Two 1.25" 6.7 mm providing 11 arc minutes true field at 455 power. The body of one of the pair has been machined down several millimeters so it will fit more deeply into the holder. This serves the dual purpose of making it parfocal when used in the turret, and independently focusable when used in the binoviewer.
  • 1.25" 4.7 mm providing 7.8 arc minutes true field at 650 power. This eyepiece is rarely used due to its low eye relief and high magnification power.
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Meade Superwide Eyepieces (68° apparent field of view)

  • 2" 40 mm providing 53 arc minutes true field at 75 power. This eyepiece is normally loaded into the standard turret, where it fills the role of providing the widest true field of view, sufficient, in fact, to contain both clusters of the double cluster in Persius.
  • 2" 32 mm providing 42 arc minutes true field at 95 power. I no longer use this eyepiece much myself, but it frequently finds itself loaned out to others while at Saturday night viewing sessions.
  • Two 1.25" 24.5 mm providing 33 arc minutes true field at 120 power. One of these is normally loaded into the standard turret. A pair is needed for the binoviewer.
  • Two 1.25" 18 mm providing 23 arc minutes true field at 170 power. These eyepieces are used exclusively in the binoviewer.
  • Two 1.25" 13.8 mm providing 18 arc minutes true field at 220 power. These eyepieces are used exclusively in the binoviewer.
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Meade Super Plossl Eyepieces (52° apparent field of view)

Meade illuminated reticle Plossl Eyepieces (52° apparent field of view)

Intes Binocular

Intes bino-viewer customized for SCT usage by world famous astro-machinist Gary Russel. This is a truly marvelous device for viewing the brighter objects in night skies. The extra measure of vision and comfort provided by using both eyes wide open cannot be adequately described, it must be experienced. Both eye and facial muscle fatigue is all but eliminated. The typical bino-skeptic is usually won over within just a couple of seconds of viewing. A true enthusiast can literally spend hours viewing an entire Jovian lunar transit or GRS crossing. The moon at first quarter looks truly three dimensional, and the view of Omega Centauri will actually leave you gasping for air.

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Intes 2" Quad Ocular Turret

Intes 4-position 2" ocular turret with integral deluxe star diagonal with 96% reflectivity and 1/15 wave surface accuracy. Each of the four eyepiece clamps has a compression ring to minimize marring of the eyepiece skirts. The click stop detent has a delrin tipped locking screw (not visible in this view). Visible on top is a one-in four-out power splitter for eyepiece dew heaters. For a normal evening of viewing, the turret is loaded with: SWA40, SWA24.5, UWA14, and UWA8.8 eyepieces. This gives a field of view selection of: 53, 33, 23, and 14 arc minutes with corresponding magnification powers of: 75, 120, 220, and 345.

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Intes Deluxe 2" Star Diagonal

Intes deluxe 2" star diagonal with 96% reflectivity and 1/20 wave surface flatness accuracy. Eyepiece clamp has compression ring to minimize marring of the eyepiece skirt. This "standard" diagonal is used for special conditions where the turret would be awkward or cumbersome, such as when looking through the bino-viewer.

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Teleview Everbright 2" Star Diagonal

Teleview Everbright 2" star diagonal with 99% reflectivity and 1/10 wave surface flatness accuracy. This diagonal is normally used in the piggyback Orion 120mm f/5 refractor.

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