Telescope Eyepieces Guide

Telescope Eyepiece Fundamentals

There is no faster way to degrade your telescope's optics than to pair it with a low- quality bargain-bin eyepiece. Choosing the right eyepieces for your telescope goes beyond just basic magnification. Poorly made telescope accessories and eyepieces can reduce a crisp, beautiful image to a sad, fuzzy mess. There are a number of factors that go into making a great telescope eyepiece, but choosing the right eyepiece for your telescope also requires some forethought and consideration. Before we list our favorite telescope eyepieces for sale, we’ll cover some of the basics you need to know to make an informed decision.

How to Choose the Best Eyepieces for Your Telescope

Whenever possible, you should choose an eyepiece with an optical quality that matches or exceeds your telescope. You have invested in the optics of your telescope, don't cheapen your observing experience by skimping on the eyepieces that will bring your view into focus. Keep in mind that the final image you see depends on several factors, including some things you can’t control (like the seeing conditions) and others you can, such as the optical quality of each component in your optical chain.

Here are some terms you should familiarize yourself with before buying telescope eyepieces online eyepiece shopping:

Focal Length
The most important measurement of an eyepiece, the focal length is the distance that light travels through the eyepiece to reach your eye, but most importantly, it is the determining factor in the resulting magnification of an image through your telescope. Keep in mind that the higher the focal length of the eyepiece the lower the resulting magnification will be. See the "Eyepiece Math" section below.

Apparent Field of View
Commonly called out as AFOV in degrees. This is the calculated angular diameter of light you can see through the eyepiece. Anything less than 40 degrees is considered narrow and is best suited to observing the planets or the moon. 80 degrees and above is considered wide. A wide field of view provides a more immersive visual experience, especially for large deep sky objects.

True Field of View
The angle of the sky that your eyepiece will produce when paired with your particular telescope also represented in degrees.

Barrel Size
The barrel of an eyepiece is the section that slides into the focuser or diagonal, and it generally comes in one of two sizes: 1.25" or 2". Sure, there is such a thing as a .965" eyepiece, but they are getting scarce since most telescope manufacturers around the world switched over to the standard quite some time ago, which is, you guessed it, 1.25".

Eye Relief
The distance your eye must be from the eyepiece to view a focused image. Too short and eyelashes will brush the glass, too long and you might find yourself bobbing and weaving to find the image. Comfortable eye relief is a matter of personal taste, though most will find eyepieces with 10-20mm easy to use. Eyeglass wearers will appreciate a longer (more than 15mm) eye relief if they like to keep their glasses on while observing.

Telescope Eyepiece Magnification Formula

Simple Math For Determining The Focal Length For Your Telescope Eyepiece
An eyepiece is defined by its focal length, apparent field of view, and barrel size, but how do you know whether it's right for your telescope? First of all, you need to know the magnification that will result if you pair an eyepiece you are considering with your telescope. The math is easy division; take your telescope's focal length in millimeters and divide it by the focal length of the eyepiece, also in millimeters. For instance: a telescope with a focal length of 500mm divided by a 10mm eyepiece will yield 50X magnification. Simple.

Another way to tackle it is to figure out a magnification you’d like to have available for your telescope and then pick an eyepiece that would provide that magnification. This can be achieved by dividing the telescope’s focal length by the desired magnification to solve for the eyepiece focal length you would need to achieve that magnification. For example: If you have an 8" f/10 SCT, it has a focal length of 2032mm. Let’s say you’d like an eyepiece that gives you 250X. 2032 divided by 250 is about 8, so you know an 8mm eyepiece would get you close to that desired 250X. Easy!

Before you sit down with your calculator and come up with a set of eyepieces that will be perfect for your telescope, there are a couple of things to consider when it comes to magnification. The physical limits of a telescope and the sky above hinder us from increasing magnification without restriction. A good rule of thumb is to keep maximum magnification to approximately 40X or 50X for every inch of aperture up to about 300X for average seeing conditions. If you are lucky enough to observe in excellent, clear and dry skies you could push this limit to 400X or even 450X, but that is not normally the case. Why? Because you're not just magnifying the object you are looking at, you are magnifying everything between your telescope and that object. In most locations, this means a lot of pollutants, moisture, and atmospheric turbulence. Imagine zooming into a photo on your computer, the image remains sharp up until a point and then it becomes distorted and blurry. The "stuff" that gets between your telescope and your target (celestial or terrestrial) does that same thing to your view if you magnify the image beyond what the conditions can tolerate. Terrestrial viewing has so much atmosphere, heat, dust, and pollutants to deal with that magnification can rarely go beyond 60X! That is why most any spotting scope you’ll find on the market has a max magnification of 60 times as far as your eye can see. Now you know why.

PS: For years, the general rule of thumb for maximum magnification per inch of the aperture was 50X - 60X, which is higher than we stated above. Problem is, this generous guideline assumes better seeing conditions than most people have to contend with today. In our experience, this has disappointed many an amateur astronomer who found that their high magnification eyepiece didn’t come to focus 95% of the time. We are not saying that your conditions might support higher power than normal, it might. However, we will stick with our 40X - 50X up to 300X max for most people on most nights.

Now that you know the math needed, let’s use our 8" SCT example again. 8 inches means we technically have a magnification limit of 400X, but let's say you live in the suburbs at a low elevation and the seeing conditions are just so-so. We stick with our 300X limit. For a high power eyepiece (2032/300) you could go with a 6mm or 7mm eyepiece. For a medium power eyepiece (approximately 150X) a 13mm or 14mm eyepiece would do. For a low power eyepiece (about 75X), which are great for finding and centering or observing very large and close objects like the Moon or Sun, an eyepiece between 25mm and 30mm would work well. Fill in from there as your budget allows and to support the types of objects you love to observe most.

Determining True Field of View

But what about that field of view, you may ask? And what's the difference between Apparent Field of View (AFOV) and True Field of View (TFOV)?

Apparent field of view is the width or angle of the view through the eyepiece before it's paired up with a telescope. This is the measurement that is advertised for most eyepieces…82º, 68º, etc. True field of view is the width of the view when it's paired with a telescope, and it’s called "true" because you won’t be doing much observing with just an eyepiece alone! True field of view is found by dividing the apparent field of view of the eyepiece by it's resulting magnification. The number you get from this equation is a much smaller measurement in degrees that relate to the apparent size of objects in the night sky.

Revisiting our 8" SCT…when we use a 7mm eyepiece with an 82-degree apparent field of view in our telescope, it will yield a magnification of approximately 290X. So take the apparent field of view of 82 and divide it by 290 (the resulting magnification) and you’ll get .28 degrees. The full Moon is about 0.5 degrees, so you would see about half of the moon's disc with this eyepiece choice. If you wanted to see the entire full moon at once, you would need a lower power eyepiece and/or a wider apparent field of view. In the end, the width of view is really a matter of personal choice.

Common Telescope Eyepiece Designs

Plossl: The most ubiquitous eyepiece design you'll come across and for good reason. The Plossl is a good all-around eyepiece design, is well suited for generic use and is relatively inexpensive to make. This is why many telescopes come standard with at least one Plossl eyepiece. This doublet design has an apparent field of view of 50-degrees or wider but can suffer from short eye relief making them difficult to use for some eyeglass wearers.

"Wide": A generic classification attached to a huge number of specialized designs produced by companies such as Celestron, Explore Scientific and Meade. Typically anything with more than 5 lens elements and an apparent field of view larger than 80 degrees could be dubbed a "wide" eyepiece design, but there are also 68- and 72- degree eyepieces that have been designated as "Wide" as well. You'll find wide eyepieces cover a large number of brand names.

Zoom: An eyepiece with a variable focal length. Zoom eyepieces are well suited for outreach use, terrestrial observing and solar observing thanks to the convenience of a range of magnifications without requiring a physical change of eyepiece. In instances where you need to quickly reduce and increase magnification repeatedly, zoom eyepieces will save you from having to switch out eyepieces in rapid succession.

Orthoscopic: Also called Abbe eyepieces, Orthoscopics have a narrow field of view but produce nearly perfect images thanks to a simple but effective lens configuration. Orthoscopic eyepieces are best for lunar and planetary observing.

Tele Vue Proprietary Designs: Al Nagler, of the eyepiece manufacturer Tele Vue, has designed several eyepieces, the most famous of which is the Nagler. Nagler eyepieces have 8 elements that are fully corrected for astigmatism and chromatic aberration and have a wide 82-degree field of view. The Nagler has spawned new or modified designs since its creation in 1979, including the Ethos, which offers up to 120 degrees AFOV, and it's more compact offspring, the Delos, which is a 72- degree eyepiece with a long eye relief of 20mm. While well corrected and excellently made, eyepieces containing a large number of elements are heavier than other designs. A focuser and mount that can handle the additional weight are necessary.

Caring for Your Eyepieces

Once you've selected your eyepieces and are investing in those great views, you want to keep them clean and safe. Screw-top bolt style cases are the easiest way to add the first layer of protection to your eyepieces. Eyepiece bolt-style cases by StarDust Covers are made from a specialized plastic that will not off-gas or stick.

When you're traveling you will want an additional level of protection for your eyepieces and we recommend soft-sided cases designed by Explore Scientific and Tele Vue: Explore Scientific or Tele Vue.

Keeping telescope eyepieces clean does need to be done with care. Be sure to use cleaning fluid that's meant for the delicate coatings on lenses and soft, lint-free brushes and cloths. Never apply cleaning fluid directly to your optics (unless you have a waterproof model); instead, put some fluid onto a soft, lint-free cloth and rub gently. A Lens Pen is great to have on hand for a quick dusting and removing the occasional spot or watermark, while a Air Blower helps gently remove dust and dirt.

Cleaning fluid and cleaning kits offer you a number of different tools all in one package. With the Apertura 20 piece Cleaning Kit offering the most value, with Celestron's Cleaning Kit coming in next. Remember, be gentle and only do as much as absolutely necessary to keep dust, fingerprints and eyelash marks from building up on your optics, and always blow or brush off loose particles before cleaning the optical surface with a cloth or other cleaning accessory that requires pressure on the glass to do its job. Even the most careful cleaning with top-notch products will, over time, erode your coatings, so be gentle and clean as little as possible. This holds true for optics of any type…camera lenses, binoculars, telescope mirrors, you name it.

Recommended Telescope Eyepieces

Members of our customer service team recommend eyepieces to amateur astronomers of all levels each and every day, and we take their needs into consideration before making those recommendations. For instance, Tele Vue makes some of the best eyepieces in the world, hands down, but they wouldn’t be our first recommendation for customers that have budgetary constraints or beginner telescopes. Luckily, there are several eyepiece brands and lines within those brands that will give excellent results for telescopes and amateur astronomers of all kinds, and through personal experience and tons of feedback, we know which those are!

In no particular order, here are High Point’s recommended eyepieces:

Tele Vue Ethos 100-110 Degree Eyepieces

Comments
● Highly corrected across the entire 100/110 degree field of view on all scopes
● Excellent contrast, clarity
● Images are brighter than other Tele Vue eyepieces
● 15mm of eye relief on these eyepieces is good given their amazingly wide field of view

Other Considerations
● This is a high-end eyepiece and may be price prohibitive for some
● Ethos eyepieces are heavy and need a good focuser to support them
● The eye relief may be too short for those who wear glasses while observing

Tele Vue Delos 72 Degree Eyepieces

Comments
● 20mm eye relief that can be adjusted with the built-in eye guard
● Fantastic contrast and clarity while still maintaining a 72-degree field of view
● Basically an Ethos with better eye relief and a smaller field of view

Tele Vue Nagler 82 Degree Eyepieces

Comments
● Game changers in 1980 and still hold up incredibly well to those that have followed in their wake
● Widest range of top-quality eyepieces, from 3.5mm to 31mm
● Known for having flat fields and high contrast as well as great clarity
● Backed by Tele Vue’s excellent quality control

Explore Scientific 82 Degree Eyepieces

Comments
● All focal lengths are waterproof/argon purged
● Excellent apparent field of view at 82-degrees
● Great contrast and very well corrected
● This series has a good selection of focal lengths to choose from
● No undercut, which makes swapping eyepieces fairly easy
● Great price for a waterproof, 82-degree eyepiece

Other Considerations
● Eye relief on some focal lengths may be too short for eyeglass wearers

Explore Scientific 68 Degree Eyepieces

Comments
● All focal lengths are waterproof/argon purged
● Really sharp and clear across the entire field of view

Other Considerations
● Limited to medium/low focal length ranges

Baader Morpheus 76 Degree Eyepieces

Comments
● High Contrast, true colors equal high color fidelity
● Great edge correction
● 76-degree field of view is very comfortable
● A ton of eye relief - great for those who wear eyeglasses

Other Considerations
● Generous eye relief may affect proper head placement
● Not a true 2” eyepiece, but that is arguably not a problem given the focal lengths

Baader 8-24 Zoom Eyepiece

Comments
● In our opinion, the best zoom eyepiece on the market
● Aberration-free and sharp throughout the entire focal range
● Minimal re-focusing between each focal stop range
● Included focal stop range markings are easy to see at night

Other Considerations
● The price is higher compared to other zoom’s, but we think the Baader is worth it
● Field of view gets smaller at higher powers, but that is expected with all zoom’s

Celestron X-Cel LX Eyepieces

Comments
● For the money, these perform considerably better than expected
● High contrast, good build quality, blackened edges
● Better correction towards the edge of field than standard Plossl eyepieces
● Large focal length range

Apertura Super Wide Angle Eyepieces

Comments
● 68 degree at a great price
● Decent eye relief across the entire range
● Great all purpose eyepieces, better than stock Plossl eyepieces that are generally included with most telescopes

Other Considerations
● For seasoned observers, longer focal length versions will be lacking in edge correction
● 10mm version difficult to use with glasses
● Contrast isn’t as high as top eyepieces but is still good for the price

Aspects of an Eyepiece

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Apparent FOV

The apparent field of view (AFOV) of your eyepiece is measured in degrees, and denotes how large the field of view is as it appears to our eye. For reference, a singular, bare human eye has an approximate 150° field of view. The larger the AFOV of an eyepiece, such as 80° or 100°, the more enveloping and captivating the sensation will be during observations. A simple way to think about AFOV is to consider the size of a TV screen: the larger the screen, the more immersive the experience.

True field of view (TFOV) differs from AFOV, as it refers to the angular diameter of the “chunk” of the night sky being observed based on your system’s magnification and your eyepiece’s AFOV. Different telescope/eyepiece combinations will yield different TFOVs, helping you determine what’s available for viewing based on the angular size of the objects within the night sky. The Moon, for instance, has an angular diameter of 0.5 °. If you wish to view the entire disk of the Moon, your calculated TFOV will need to be larger than 0.5°.

TFOV is measured in degrees, arcminutes, or arcseconds, and can be calculated with the following equation: TFOV = AFOV ÷ Magnification. For example, a 2039 mm focal length telescope coupled with a 7mm 82° AFOV eyepiece will yield a TFOV of 0.28 degrees. About half of the Moon's disc will be presented within your eyepiece with this telescope/eyepiece combination.

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Eye Relief

Eye relief refers to the distance your eye must sit from the eyepiece in order to view the full field of view. It’s an important factor in determining the overall comfort of your nights under the stars, especially during extended viewing sessions. Short eye relief (<15mm) can oftentimes feel too crowded, requiring you to press your eye close to the eyepiece. Too long of eye relief, on the other hand, and you might find yourself bobbing and weaving to find the image. Comfortable eye relief is a matter of personal taste, though most will find eyepieces with 10-20mm easy to use. Eyeglass wearers will appreciate a longer (more than 15mm) eye relief if they like to keep their glasses on while observing.

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Barrel Size

The barrel of an eyepiece is the section that slides into the focuser or diagonal, and it generally comes in one of two sizes: 1.25" or 2". Choosing the right size will not only depend on the diameter of your telescope’s focuser, but it will also depend on the type of viewing experience you're looking to achieve and the field of view you’re aiming for. Each size comes with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, making it an important aspect to consider when selecting the right eyepiece.

1.25” barrels are the most common and widely used. This can be accredited to their compatibility with nearly all telescopes, as most telescopes come standard with a 2” to 1.25” adapter out of the box. Also, 1.25” eyepieces are highly cost effective thanks to their small, compact build. Typically shorter in focal length, these eyepieces are well suited for viewing the night sky at higher magnifications, making them optimized for observing our solar system wonders.

2” barrels, on the other hand, are capable of harnessing a long focal length without a sacrifice in field width. This is made possible by the increased physical size, giving way to a wider field of view for stunning, expansive sights on a host of celestial objects. Though generally more costly than 1.25” eyepieces and not recommended for use with 1.25” focusers due to performance inefficiency, many view the larger form factor of 2” eyepieces as a worthwhile investment based on the extended field of vision!

Target Planning: Calculating Magnification & Exit Pupil

The Role of Magnification

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Before you sit down with your calculator and come up with a set of eyepieces that will be perfect for your telescope, there are a couple of things to consider when it comes to magnification. The physical limits of a telescope and the sky above hinder us from increasing magnification without restriction. A good rule of thumb is to keep maximum magnification to approximately 40X or 50X for every inch of aperture up to about 300X for average seeing conditions. If you are lucky enough to observe in excellent, clear and dry skies you could push this limit to 400X or even 450X, but that is not normally the case. Why? Because you're not just magnifying the object you are looking at, you are magnifying everything between your telescope and that object. In most locations, this means a lot of pollutants, moisture, and atmospheric turbulence. Imagine zooming into a photo on your computer, the image remains sharp up until a point and then it becomes distorted and blurry. The "stuff" that gets between your telescope and your target (celestial or terrestrial) does that same thing to your view if you magnify the image beyond what the conditions can tolerate. Terrestrial viewing has so much atmosphere, heat, dust, and pollutants to deal with that magnification can rarely go beyond 60X! That is why most any spotting scope you’ll find on the market has a max magnification of 60 times as far as your eye can see. Now you know why.

PS: For years, the general rule of thumb for maximum magnification per inch of the aperture was 50X - 60X, which is higher than we stated above. Problem is, this generous guideline assumes better seeing conditions than most people have to contend with today. In our experience, this has disappointed many an amateur astronomer who found that their high magnification eyepiece didn’t come to focus 95% of the time. We are not saying that your conditions might support higher power than normal, it might. However, we will stick with our 40X - 50X up to 300X max for most people on most nights.

Now that you know the math needed, let’s use an 8" SCT example. 8" means we technically have a magnification limit of 400X, but let's say you live in the suburbs at a low elevation and the seeing conditions are just so-so. We stick with our 300X limit. For a high power eyepiece (2032/300) you could go with a 6mm or 7mm eyepiece. For a medium power eyepiece (approximately 150X) a 13mm or 14mm eyepiece would do. For a low power eyepiece (about 75X), which are great for finding and centering or observing very large and close objects like the Moon or Sun, an eyepiece between 25mm and 30mm would work well. Fill in from there as your budget allows and to support the types of objects you love to observe most.

The Role of Exit Pupil

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Exit pupil is the diameter of the beam of light that departs from the eyepiece, projecting the image to your eye. It’s an important aspect to consider when pairing your eyepiece with your telescope as it determines the brightness of your image and the comfort of your viewing experience. This term is analogous to our very own pupils, hence its name. As the pupil within our eye expands, more light is brought into our retina. This same concept is applicable to eyepiece exit pupils.

We measure the exit pupil by its diameter in millimeters, with the larger the exit pupil, the more light throughput and the overall brighter the view. In general, deep sky objects become visible with an exit pupil of 1-1.5 mm or greater with fainter and fainter targets becoming more and more visible as the exit pupil increases. A rate of 2 mm is typically considered the “sweet spot,” offering sights on a wide variety of celestial objects. Larger exit pupils are great for viewing dim, deep sky objects such as nebulae and galaxies, and offer effortless alignment with your eye’s pupil thanks to the size. Smaller exit pupils, on the other hand, are ideal for viewing bright, compact objects, such as the planets or our Moon. Since these objects are bright themselves, smaller exit pupil diameters are sufficient in resolving fine detail on Saturn’s rings, the cloud bands on Jupiter, countless lunar craters, and plenty more solar system wonders!

It’s important to keep in mind that a higher magnification will typically yield a smaller exit pupil (dimmer image), while a lower one will often result in a larger exit pupil (brighter image). Understanding the relationship between these two factors will assist you in choosing the right eyepiece for your specific observing goals.

To calculate exit pupil of your eyepiece/telescope combination, use either of the two equations: Exit Pupil = Telescope Aperture (mm) ÷ Magnification or Exit Pupil = Eyepiece Focal Length ÷ Telescope Focal Ratio. Check out this table to help you determine the best objects to view based on your calculated exit pupil!

Eyepiece Types

Plössl

The most ubiquitous eyepiece design you'll come across and for good reason. The Plossl is a good all-around eyepiece design, is well suited for generic use and is relatively inexpensive to make. This is why many telescopes come standard with at least one Plossl eyepiece. This doublet design has an apparent field of view of 50-degrees or wider but can suffer from short eye relief making them difficult to use for some eyeglass wearers.

Wide Angle

A generic classification attached to a huge number of specialized designs produced by companies such as Celestron, Explore Scientific and Apertura. Typically anything with more than 5 lens elements and an apparent field of view larger than 80 degrees could be dubbed a "wide" eyepiece design, but there are also 68- and 72- degree eyepieces that have been designated as "Wide" as well. You'll find wide eyepieces covering a large number of brand names.

Zoom

An eyepiece with a variable focal length. Zoom eyepieces are well suited for outreach use, terrestrial observing and solar observing thanks to the convenience of a range of magnifications without requiring a physical change of eyepiece. In instances where you need to quickly reduce and increase magnification repeatedly, zoom eyepieces will save you from having to switch out eyepieces in rapid succession.

Caring for Your Eyepieces

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Once you've selected your eyepieces and are investing in those great views, you want to keep them clean and safe. Screw-top bolt style cases are the easiest way to add the first layer of protection to your eyepieces. Eyepiece bolt-style cases by StarDust Covers are made from a specialized plastic that will not off-gas or stick.

When you're traveling you will want an additional level of protection for your eyepieces and we recommend soft-sided cases designed by Explore Scientific and Tele Vue: Explore Scientific or Tele Vue.

Keeping telescope eyepieces clean does need to be done with care. Be sure to use cleaning fluid that's meant for the delicate coatings on lenses and soft, lint-free brushes and cloths. Never apply cleaning fluid directly to your optics (unless you have a waterproof model); instead, put some fluid onto a soft, lint-free cloth and rub gently. A LensPen is great to have on hand for a quick dusting and removing the occasional spot or watermark, while an Air Blower helps gently remove dust and dirt.

Cleaning fluid and cleaning kits offer you a number of different tools all in one package. With the Apertura 20 piece Cleaning Kit offering the most value, with Celestron's Cleaning Kit coming in next. Remember, be gentle and only do as much as absolutely necessary to keep dust, fingerprints and eyelash marks from building up on your optics, and always blow or brush off loose particles before cleaning the optical surface with a cloth or other cleaning accessory that requires pressure on the glass to do its job. Even the most careful cleaning with top-notch products will, over time, erode your coatings, so be gentle and clean as little as possible. This holds true for optics of any type…camera lenses, binoculars, telescope mirrors, you name it.

Our Top Recommendations

Tele Vue Ethos 100-110 Degree Eyepieces

With the use of flat finished baffles and ultra low reflectance from high-efficiency coatings tuned to the composition of each element of the Ethos eyepiece, the contrast is maximized and offers amateur astronomers ideal and Tele Vue quality views. Also, these innovative Ethos eyepieces are over 50% larger than the 82° field, broadening a viewer's perspective. And the Tele Vue Ethos eyepieces get better! The optical design allows these Tele Vue eyepieces to deliver the true field size of a longer focal length, narrower apparent field eyepiece while still reaping the benefits of higher power and darker sky background.

The Tele Vue Ethos Eyepieces come in eight different sizes: 21mm, 17mm, 13mm, 10mm, 8mm, 6mm, 4.7mm, and 3.7mm. Here at High Point, we are happy to offer each of the sizes so that everyone can enjoy the incredible eyepieces that Tele Vue has designed, whether they are looking for low, medium, or high magnification power.

Tele Vue Delos 72 Degree Eyepieces

Tеlе Vuе Dеlos еyеpiеcеs arе known for thеir supеrior optical quality. Thеy fеaturе a high-contrast, sharp imagе across thе еntirе fiеld of viеw, providing clеar and dеtailеd obsеrvations of cеlеstial objеcts. Thе еyеpiеcеs arе dеsignеd to minimizе optical abеrrations, such as chromatic abеrration, sphеrical abеrration, and astigmatism, еnsuring a truе and accuratе rеprеsеntation of thе night sky. Thе Dеlos sеriеs offеrs a 72-dеgrее apparеnt fiеld of viеw, which providеs an immеrsivе obsеrving еxpеriеncе. This widе fiеld is еspеcially bеnеficial for dееp-sky obsеrvations, allowing usеrs to sее morе of thе sky at oncе and making it еasiеr to locatе and track cеlеstial objеcts.

Onе of thе standout fеaturеs of thе Dеlos еyеpiеcеs is thеir gеnеrous еyе rеliеf of 20 mm. This makеs thеm еxtrеmеly comfortablе to usе, еvеn for еxtеndеd obsеrving sеssions. Thе long еyе rеliеf also makеs thеsе еyеpiеcеs suitablе for usеrs who wеar glassеs, as it allows thеm to sее thе еntirе fiеld of viеw without having to rеmovе thеir еyеwеar. Dеlos еyеpiеcеs comе with an adjustablе еyеguard that can bе еasily sеt to thе usеr's prеfеrrеd hеight. This fеaturе еnhancеs obsеrving comfort by hеlping to block out stray light and еnsuring that thе obsеrvеr's еyе is positionеd corrеctly. Thе еyеguard also includеs a locking mеchanism to kееp it sеcurеly in placе.

Televue Nagler Eyepieces

Al Nagler, of the eyepiece manufacturer Tele Vue, has designed several eyepieces, the most famous of which is the Nagler. Nagler eyepieces have 8 elements that are fully corrected for astigmatism and chromatic aberration and have a wide 82-degree field of view. The Nagler has spawned new or modified designs since its creation in 1979, including the Ethos, which offers up to 120 degrees AFOV, and it's more compact offspring, the Delos, which is a 72- degree eyepiece with a long eye relief of 20mm. While well corrected and excellently made, eyepieces containing a large number of elements are heavier than other designs. A focuser and mount that can handle the additional weight are necessary.

There are currently three different types of Nagler ultra wide-field eyepieces. The Type-4 models feature 18 mm of eye relief and are considered the best design for those astronomers who either need to wear eyeglasses or have astigmatism. The Type-5 design permits the largest true field possible, and the Type-6 models are lighter and smaller with shorter focal lengths. The Type-6 models are also parfocal and feature comfortable eye relief at 12 mm.

Explore Scientific 82 Degree Eyepieces

For the longest time, the 82-degree field of view has been the gold standard for wide-field eyepieces and is still regarded as a favorite by many amateur astronomers. They are also among the more affordable of the ultra wide-field eyepieces and have a good range of available focal lengths and moderate to generous eye relief. Explore Scientific series is a popular choice when it comes to 82-degree eyepieces and represents an unparalleled value for their price.

Thеsе еyеpiеcеs arе madе using prеcision optics, which produce sharp, clеar imagеs with еxcеllеnt contrast, allowing astronomеrs to sее intricatе fеaturеs on planеts, stars, and dееp-sky objеcts. Each has multi-coatеd lеnsеs that rеducе rеflеctions and incrеasе light transmission, rеsulting in bright and vivid viеws of astronomical phеnomеna. Low-dispеrsion glassеs havе a high rеfractivе indеx and anti-rеflеction multilayеr coatings on all air-to-glass intеrfacеs, rеsulting in maximum light transmission and contrast. Blackеnеd lеns еdgеs and intеrnal bafflеs improvе contrast whilе rеducing ghosting causеd by intеrnal rеflеctions. Gеnеrous еyе rеliеf makеs long obsеrvation pеriods morе comfortablе, dеcrеasing еyе strain and improving thе еntirе viеwing еxpеriеncе.

Explore Scientific 68 Degree Eyepieces

Thе dеfining fеaturе of thеsе еyеpiеcеs is thе еxpansivе 68-dеgrее apparеnt fiеld of viеw. This translatеs to a widеr cеlеstial window comparеd to narrowеr еyеpiеcеs, typically in thе 40-50 dеgrее rangе. Imaginе thе diffеrеncе bеtwееn looking through a narrow kеyholе and a largе picturе window. With a 68-dеgrее еyеpiеcе, you gеt a morе immеrsivе еxpеriеncе, sееing a largеr swathе of thе night sky at oncе. This is particularly bеnеficial for obsеrving dееp-sky objеcts likе sprawling nеbulaе, faint star clustеrs, and majеstic galaxiеs. You can locatе thеsе objеcts morе еasily and takе in thеir grandеur without having to constantly rеposition thе tеlеscopе.

Taking your еxploration undеr thе night sky shouldn't bе limitеd by wеathеr conditions. Explorе Sciеntific 68 Dеgrее Eyеpiеcеs arе dеsignеd to withstand humidity and occasional moisturе. Thеy arе typically argon-purgеd or nitrogеn-fillеd. This mеans thе intеrnal air is rеplacеd with inеrt gas, which prеvеnts fogging from occurring on thе intеrnal lеns surfacеs whеn thеrе arе suddеn tеmpеraturе changеs during an obsеrving sеssion. Fogging can significantly hindеr your viеw, and with thеsе еyеpiеcеs, you can obsеrvе comfortably еvеn in humid or cold еnvironmеnts.

Baader Morpheus Eyepieces

With Baader Planetarium having served the astronomy community for over 50 years, it is no wonder they know how to produce ultra high-quality products such as the Morpheus series eyepieces below. Yielding an attractive 76º apparent field of view, generous 20 mm eye relief, and improved mechanical/optical features, the Morpheus series is a step above the rest in a vast field of telescope eyepieces.

The first feature that captures the eye is the Morpheus’ 76° apparent field of view (AFOV). This places them comfortably between wide-field and ultra-wide eyepieces, offering a sweet spot of immersion without distorting your field. Why is this specific AFOV so important? Because it delivers a panoramic, spacewalk-like visual experience that’s incredibly sharp from edge to edge. You get the sense of floating through space, yet every detail, whether it’s the wispy filaments of a nebula or the rugged terrain of the Moon, is rendered with stunning clarity. Featuring eye relief between 17.5 and 23 mm, these eyepieces provide comfortable viewing, ideal for binoviewing. The design minimizes distortion, ensuring planets and lunar features maintain their shapes across the field. The eyepieces are optimized for minimal weight and practical design, featuring M43 threads for imaging and glow-in-the-dark labeling. The Morpheus eyepieces deliver razor-sharp images, even with fast telescope optics, enhancing the stargazing experience.

Celestron X-Cel LX Eyepieces

The newly enhanced X-Cel LX eyepiece series is what you've been waiting for in a high quality eyepiece for planetary viewing. With a brand new sleek and robust design and a twist-up eye cup (guard), these eyepieces are especially designed for comfort and ease of use. They also have a wide field of view of 60 degrees and 6-element fully multi-coated optics for magnificent wide field performance. X-Cel LX eyepieces are parfocal and require little to no focusing when changing from low to high power.

Apertura Super Wide Angle Eyepieces

For those who crave a more immersive viewing journey, Apertura's super wide angle eyepieces is the perfect fit. You can view a wider sky area at once with the SWA eyepieces because of their wide apparent field of view, usually about 70 degrees. This is useful for watching huge nebulae, star clusters, or expansive Milky Way panoramas. The wider field lets you see more of the sky simultaneously. SWA superior coating helps produce brighter and more detailed images. It improves light transmission and decreases reflections. Its design guarantees comfortable use during longer observation sessions.