First Nighttime Views through a 17mm Ethos

Last Monday night I joined two observing buddies at one of our lesser "local" dark sites. One of my friends was using the 17mm Tele Vue Ethos that he had recently received with his 7.1" f/6 APM achromat when I arrived. This combination yielded 64x and a 1.6 degree TFOV and produced some fantastic views of a number of deep-sky objects including M31 (along with M32 and M110), M35 and NGC 2158, M42 and the Sword of Orion, M44, M45, M46 and M47, M97 and M108, the Double Cluster, and Stock 2. M31, M42, M45, the Double Cluster, and Stock 2 were were particularly impressive through the Ethos.

As far as the specifics of how the 17mm performed are concerned, the 13 degree Fahrenheit temperature and some icy footing made careful comparisons difficult but I found nothing to complain about in the slightest. Stars were quite sharp to the field edge, stellar colors were displayed very well, and I had no trouble taking in the whole 100 degree AFOV.

Dave Mitsky

I agree with you. I received my 17E almost a week ago from Anacortes, they shipped the same day they got it. I only tried it on a 10" f/8 reflector from my light polluted back yard. I guess the good thing is that the temperatures here are in the 50's but there are no "star fields" to see from here. I compared it to my 17T4 and the views are very similar except for the much wider f.o.v, no issues with blackouts and the Ethos is not as heavy as it looks. Contrast was the same on both looking at M42 and sharpness was the same too. It is really the same as the 13E and the 8E but just a different focal length, if you liked the other two you will like this one as well. It is strange how the Nagler's f.o.v feels narrow after looking through the Ethos. The real test would be on my f/4.1 Dob, I hope that the edge sharpness is at least as good as the 17T4, then it will be considered a keeper in my book. The only "complaint" is that the 17E feels a little tall & skinny and the grip doesn't feel that safe, the rubber grip covers only a small portion of the smooth barrel. Can't wait for the 6 Ethos just around the corner.

oren.