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12.5MM BAADER MORPHEUS
The 12.5mm Baader Morpheus, (2022)
As used in a 10" Orion Intelliscope with and without a coma corrector. The coma corrector I used with this is a GSO. I used the proper spacers and tested it in fairly dark skies and from home. When used with the GSO coma corrector, and the proper spacing, this eyepiece is sharp out to the edges. The only thing I found when using the GSO coma corrector is that bright stars show a lot of Chromatic Aberration. Without the coma corrector, CA is completely gone, so I now use it without a coma corrector. Without the CC, there is coma to be seen, (which comes from the fast F/4.7 mirror and to be expected). The coma without the CC seen is not a distraction at all as I look in the center for the most part. I will look at open clusters towards the edges, but still I am not distracted at what I see.
Eye placement:
Eye placement when using the 12.5mm Baader Morpheus is one of the easiest I have ever seen. I am one who does not use the eye cup in the "up" position, as I like to "hover" above the lens. I still have no problems in holding the views this way. I use an observing chair which helps aid the eye and keep me still. Sometimes I will "raise" the eye cup when using filters as the field gets somewhat dark and the eye cup raised does help. The field stop is easy to see and is soft looking in daylight, but looks fine in the dark.
Using with a Barlow Lens:
The 12.5mm Baader Morpheus barlows perfectly and plays nice. I have tried it with an 2" ES Focal Extender, 2" GSO ED Barlow and also the 2" Orion Barlow. Eye placement is still very easy.
Using with Filters:
The 12.5mm Baader Morheus plays nice with filters as well. I have noticed that when using other eyepieces with filters that I get unwanted "reflections," and that can be bothersome. Usually a hood or cover over your head helps, but some eyepieces are worse than others in this regard.
Planetary Viewing:
I have viewed Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mars with this and all of the barlow lenses I mentioned in the "Using with a Barlow Lens" section above. There was no "ghosting" seen at all when I looked at Jupiter, Saturn, Venus or Mars. The insides must be baffled really well in order for this to happen, I imagine. TeleVue eyepieces are well known for this type of interior baffling, and the Baader Morpheus I suspect are just as well baffled, from what I can see. I once viewed with a friend of mine named CHRIS using his 10" Teeter telescope with Zambuto optics using my 6.5mm Baader Morpheus and a 2" Orion barlow at around 450x on Jupiter and the views were incredible. We also did Saturn at 640x and we couldn't believe how nice they both looked. (I know that his Zambuto was the magic in this, but the Baader Morpheus and the barlow also was a factor in the entire train). We also tried using his 6mm TeleVue Delos and 2x Barlow. The Delos are also excellent!
Deep Sky Viewing:
I have done a LOT of deep sky viewing using the 12.5mm Baader Morpheus and the results have been excellent. I have bought and sold the Morpheus 3 separate times, only to go back to them because they are so comfortable to use, and they don't weigh a ton, lol. I owned 4 APM 100 degree eyepieces, (which are excellent BTW), and I sold them off to go back to the Baader Morpheus. Sometimes I need glasses to read charts on my cell phone or to read the Intelliscope Computer to get to obscure objects, so I leave my glasses on and I will use the glasses at the eyepiece, which is easy with the Baader Morpheus eyepieces. I couldn't do that with the APM 100's. Deep sky shows up very nicely in the 12.5mm Morpheus and from what I can see, the transmission is excellent in the 12.5mm.
I don't use the eyepiece alone. I have Antares Twist Lock adapters on all of mine because I have 2 inch filters. (I only have 2 inch filters because at one point, I did own 2" eyepieces, and I did not want to fiddle in the dark, so I just left the adapters on all of my 1.25" eyepieces), so I have no comments on the "safety kerfs".
Well, that's all for the 12.5mm Baader Morpheus. I hope you liked my review.
Clear Skies!
-Mark