Reddit reviews Astromania 1.25" 4mm 58-Degree Planetary Eyepiece for Telescope
We found 5 Reddit comments about Astromania 1.25" 4mm 58-Degree Planetary Eyepiece for Telescope. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Designed primarily for planetary observation (Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn and more) but great for deep sky objects too. Comfortable eye relief averaging 16mm across the series. Threaded for standard 1.25- inch astronomy filters.Wide 58- degree Field of View (FOV) in 2.5mm to 25mm focal lengths. Equipped with an eyepiece barrel which could be rotated for adjustment and a convertible rubber ring for eyes.1.25" fully multicoated eyepieces give maximum detail and definition across the entire 58 degree field of view. High transmittance and contrast ratio with least lateral chromatic aberration and scattering phenomenon.Each eyepiece has 5 lens elements in 3 groups. Experienced observers will truly appreciate such generous eye relief at significant magnifications. Exceptional at nearly eliminating lateral color aberration and light scatter while retaining excellent sharpness, contrast and definition.Obtain higher magnification with short focal length. It could bring you a better observation experience in a comfortable situation with high-contrast imaging. A cost-effective eyepiece, you will obtain more details that you have never seen before.
Hello :-)
/u/orlet and /u/sflamel already gave great advice.
The 130mm (5") table-top telescopes are a solid choice. Every set on a tripod in this price range is horribly shaky (unless it's a tiny telescope), making focusing and tracking tedious.
For my Onesky (Outside the US: Heritage) I use the sub-$20 Ikea Bekväm as table - or simply a small camping stool and put it in the grass :-)
The OneSky is the most portable due to it's collapsible "flextube" mechanism. The others offer a bit more contrast thanks to their closed tube and smaller secondary holder - and have a better focuser. The Mini 130 is currently the cheapest AFAIK.
If $150 is your upper limit, there's basically just the Dazzle 4.5 as alternative, but it's even shorter focal-length and the resulting aperture-ratio makes it a bit less suited for planetary observations.
Also note that all telescopes have very basic accessories. For the 5" table-top you'll need at least one more eyepiece for planets. Do not push magnification. Do not get a cheap "Plössl" eyepiece or a set (the shorter ones have horribly short eye-relief).
The Onesky/Heritage/Mini/z130 aren't perfect for planets, outperform most of the telescopes in this price range though.
 
More isn't better
Forget about max. magnification. You can reach 1000x with any telescope. But the aperture and it's quality limit what's possible.
With the 5" table-tops, do not push it beyond 150-200. I have a 2.5mm eyepiece that provides me with 260x when used with the OneSky/Heritage. The higher you magnify, the dimmer and duller the image gets. I can see more structure with 200x and rarely ever use the short eyepiece.
And atmospheric seeing still limits maximum magnification anyway.
So... Magnification isn't the most important trait. A 10" telescope at 200x magnification will show more than a 4" telescope at 200x. It'll produce a brighter image and has a higher resolution.
 
Venus. Forecast: Mostly cloudy
What to expect in different telescope apertures.
As /u/sflamel wrote: Venus basically just appears as dot. You can see it's phases though.
With a very good telescope, under good conditions, and lots of patience and experience, you can see a hint of structure in it's clouds. Color filters help enhance contrast, but it's still very subtle.
Imaging techniques can help enhance details, but a decent imaging set-up is much, much more expensive. A lot of cheap sets appear with camera/phone holder, but they are not worth it.
 
A few words on these telescopes
The telescope you have mentioned are all "departmentstore grade" telescopes. Weak mount, bad accessories, small apertures. Sadly they get a lot of good reviews by beginners who simply don't know any better and are excited to see the moon and a planet as tiny dot.
The 60mm refractor has a small aperture limiting what you'll be able to see, the short 60mm travel-scope type will show a lot of chromatic aberration at high magnifications. This is the issue with short simple refractors, it's almost useless for planets.
 
More alternatives
Orion/Telescope.com regularly has the XT4.5 for under/around $180 and the xt6 for $200-220. Those are better suited for planets. Yes, the xt4.5 has a slightly smaller aperture than the 5" table-tops, but it's longer focal length has some benefits (->contrast<- smaller obstruction, less issues regarding mirror parabolization).
New, the Zhumell and Skywatcher dobsonian have much better accessories.
What area are you from? Perhaps there's something worthwhile on Craigslist.
&nbsp;
TL;DR:
&nbsp;
I hope this did not discourage you.
Clear skies!
Do not buy Celestron's cheaper Newtonian telescopes! They have really bad mirrors that they try to hide by using a "Corrector Lens" in front of the Secondary Mirror to "Correct" the bad mirror. That "Corrector Lens" though is really bad too and dosen't correct anything!
The images are really blurry even at lower magnifications and the lens makes collimation a nightmare. Both the Astromaster and Power Seeker lines have these bad Newts. The Omni XLT Family and the Celestron Cometron 114 AZ happen to have good optics. The Cometron 114 AZ might actually what you are looking for.
Here It has good optics and a decent mount. It's also in you budget. Probably should get new eyepieces though, the ones it comes with are ok, but you could do better.
Edit: Some good high power eyepieces will allow you to see the planets. One like this would be a good investment.
I like the onesky due to the portability.
My budget only allows for one more eyepiece. These are the ones I'm looking at:
[4mm] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013SBTIK0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_5OHCzbMBC9ZNR)
[6mm - is this gold line? It doesn't say... ] ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0140UAI8E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_wRHCzbG7YQV8B)
Edit: found the Orion expanse, probably a better 6mm
Both cost the same. Which do you recommend?
Your magnification options look like this:
Focal Length | Magnification | Exit Pupil | Eyepiece Options
---|---|----|----
4mm | 162.5x | 0.8mm | 4mm Astromania 58 degree ($50)
4.5mm | 144.4x | 0.9 | 4.5mm Astromania 58 degree ($50) or 4.5mm Meade HD-60 ($75)
5mm | 130x | 1mm | 5mm Agena StarGuider Dual ED ($60) or 5mm Astromania 58 degree ($50) or 5mm Celestron X-Cel LX ($73)
6mm | 108x | 1.2mm | 6mm "Gold Line" (ebay or AliExpress for ~$25 or from Amazon under various brands for $50).
Depending on how steady your atmosphere is, I would lean towards the 4 and 4.5mm eyepieces.
> 4mm 58° HR Planetary
Before I make a mistake, does this look ok?
https://www.amazon.com/Astromania-58-Degree-Planetary-Eyepiece-Telescope/dp/B013SBTIK0
Thanks