Nexstar 5 Eyepieces

I am a newbie regarding scopes and eyepieces and have recently acquired a Nexstar 5 along with a Celestron 25mm Plossl, a Celestron Ultima 5mm and a Celestron 12.5mm Ultima.

I live in the Tampa, Florida area and the city lights are annoying to say the least. Just wondering, are there any recommendations that would enhance my viewing or are the above eyepieces sufficient?

It seems that the 5mm is somewhat tough to look thru as the images are a bit more dim than with the other two pieces and my eyelids are literaly touching the glass in order to get a decent view. The 12.5 seems to be pretty good and the 25mm is nice, but doesn't really bring Jupiter in very close (as an example).

I see a lot of used eyepieces for sale in Astromart and any tips on what to try and pick up would be appreciated; new or used. My self-imposed budget is to spend no more than $100 each per new/used eyepiece. Thanks in advance.

It seems that your main concern is getting a comfortable high power view through your scope. You could either barlow the 12.5mm Ultima eyepiece you have or get something more comfortable than the 5mm. I've looked through a 6mm Orion Expanse eyepiece which was pretty decent although it seemed to have a bit more light scatter than the Ultimas. The eye relief was decent but it was prone to blacking out a bit. I noticed that the 5mm Celestron X-cel is in stock at Anacortes, I would just order one and compare it to your 5mm Ultima. If you like it, get the 8mm to fill in the gap between 12 and 5. If you don't, just return it or sell it on Astromart. I've used a couple of the Orion Epic ED versions of the X-cels (same eyepieces) and was very impressed considering the price. The view is nearly as good as a Televue Radian and they are just as comfortable to view through. If you decide to double your budget, the 7mm and 5.2mm Pentax XL eyepieces are excellent. I have the 7mm and it is easily the most comfortable to use high power eyepiece I've used and has fantastic image quality as well.

Joplin

I bought some Tak eyepieces and the seller included some winged rubber eyeguards that really help cut down stray light. You may be able to get some to fit your eyepieces at a scope shop.

I usually cup my hand over the other eye, but some people swear by an eyepatch for blocking light from the unused eye.

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Hi Tom.
I also own a Nexstar 5i and have replaced almost all my "chinese" eyepieces during last months, this helped me to get better views.
This is my current set:
- UO orthos : 5,7,9 and 12,5mm
- Meade SP 12,4mm (old design, made in Japan)
- TV Plossls 15 and 17mm
- Celestron Axiom 19mm
- Celestron Ultima 30mm
- Nexstar Plossl 40mm

The orthos are excelent for planetary and double star observing (not so affected by the LP).
If you have problems with the city lights you should try a good UHC filter.
This filter really helps for some nebulas in a sky with LP.

Forgetting eyepieces for the moment, if you live in Tampa, like I do, consider going to the Hickory Hill observatory with the rest of the crew. We go at least once / month (pending weather) and stay the weekend since it has a house, three bedrooms with bunks, fully stocked kitchen and two, nice bathrooms.

If you want to try out some other eyepieces, like some mentioned here, email me and I'll be glad to share.

Steve Sherrod
[email protected]

http://web.tampabay.rr.com/smilner/sherrod1/Astronomy.htm
No one can laugh at my web stuff, I have never done any before this experiment!

I am a newbie regarding scopes and eyepieces and have recently acquired a Nexstar 5 along with a Celestron 25mm Plossl, a Celestron Ultima 5mm and a Celestron 12.5mm Ultima.

It seems that the 5mm is somewhat tough to look thru as the images are a bit more dim than with the other two pieces and my eyelids are literaly touching the glass in order to get a decent view.
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The focal length of the Nextstar 5 is nominally 1250mm, this means your eyepieces provide 50X, 100X and 250X with exit pupils of 2.5mm, 1.25 mm and 0.5 mm.

At 250X the image is going to be significantly dimmer than at 100x or 50X, 250x would normally be considered the maximum magnification and useable when the scope was well cooled, well collimated and the seeing good.

I would suggest considering eyepieces that fill the the 100-200X range and maybe one between 50X and 100X.

I have the Adorama version of the Orion Expanse 9 mm and I recommend it as a worthwhile investment. This would give you about 140X, a boost in magnification with a wide FOV. The Expanse 15 mm would provide a nice view at about 83X and could be doubled with a barlow to about 170X which would be a reasonable magnification for the Next Star.

A good barlow would be needed, currently the Orion Deluxe shorty is on sale for about $55, this is reputed to be the same barlow as the Celestron Ultima which has a great reputation.

Jon