Favorite eyepiece for planetary nebulae

[Muriel Dulieu]

I am planning on looking at planetary nebulae next NM with my 18”. Some of them are rather small. My highest power eyepiece is an Explore Scientific 9 mm 100° (I don’t count my Baader Hyperion Mark IV 8-24 mm 50° Zoom because the image is not as nice). I feel like I am going to need higher power. What is your favorite eyepiece for small planetaries? What do you recommend I get? 

I hope I can figure out the equatorial platform as well.

Thanks,

-Muriel

PS: My daughter sent me this picture of a planetary nebula the other day, the headphone nebula (Jones-Emberson 1). I did not think it was real at first. It looks just like her 😄

[Alex]

It's hard to get away from a 100 deg AFOV indeed. I do have a 4.7mm Ethos which is great on planets. Though somehow views with a simple 2x Barlow and 9mm WO 101 deg are more pleasing with and without the UHC on PNs, despite Ethos being closer to my 1/4.8 FR. 

--
Observing Sites, Observing Reports, About TAC linked at top of:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sf-bay-tac
 
Subscribers post to the mailing list at:
 
sf-ba...@googlegroups.com,
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sf-bay-tac+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/0FDDBE44-6F3A-4B63-8523-8BE3B981C8B5%40gmail.com.

[Richard Navarrete]

It all depends on the seeing. I’ve got 9, 7, and 5mm Naglers. I usually work my way up until the image starts to break down and then go back. I’d love to look through your 9mm 100 degree. I often find 9mm to be a sweet spot in all my scopes .

Richard

Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

On Thursday, May 28, 2026, 9:15 AM, Muriel Dulieu <mdu...@gmail.com> wrote:

 I am planning on looking at planetary nebulae next NM with my 18”. Some of them are rather small. My highest power eyepiece is an Explore Scientific 9 mm 100° (I don’t count my Baader Hyperion Mark IV 8-24 mm 50° Zoom because the image is not as nice). I feel like I am going to need higher power. What is your favorite eyepiece for small planetaries? What do you recommend I get? 

[Mark Wagner]

I agree Richard.  As high power as the seeing allows.

[Alan Agrawal]

Hi Muriel,

You are going to get a a variety of recommendations because there are a lot of good eyepiece choices out there.

If you want the last word in resolution, contrast, light throughput, and color rendition  I would say the TMB monocentrics are the very best eyepieces I have ever seen or used ( the TMBs are my personal reference set), followed very closely by the Zeiss Abbe II’s.

Also very very good are the older Pentax SMC orthos, and the Claves.

I have heard the Takahashi TOEs are superb but not looked through them yet.

If you want a wider field of view, the Baader Morpheus eyepieces ( eg in 4.5 and 6.5mm) are excellent.

These are just some of the options of course.

I would recommend buying used, you’ll save lots of money.

Best,

Alan

On May 28, 2026, at 9:15 AM, Muriel Dulieu <mdu...@gmail.com> wrote:



[Mark Wagner]

Alan,

I was always under the impression that TMB and Zeiss Abbe-Ortho were most popular for lunar and planetary.

[Jacob Ellwood]

My favorite set of eyepieces is the APM XWA. Astro-Tech sells the same line now for a good price. They are 90% of an ethos in my experience. Maybe not the best planetary, but like you and other have said, the 100° FOV is hard to get away from once you've tasted it.

Jake

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/7fcb68ad-186d-4562-bf16-489220d1ba1cn%40googlegroups.com.

[Muriel Dulieu]

Thank you everyone for the great advice. Alan, thank you for the specific and detailed brand recommendations. And I did not think to look in the used market for eyepieces but it is a great idea. 

Just to clarify, as I just realized my original post was confusing, I am interested in eyepieces to look at planetary nebulae not planets. 

Thank you,

-Muriel

PS: look at this one, NGC 2371-2, it looks like a Napoleon candy (the Belgian people out there know what I am talking about). 

On May 28, 2026, at 12:32 PM, Jacob Ellwood <ellwoo...@gmail.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/CAB6vkrCod4HBUCU6RoDnGoUxtZhChv0cDzxC4e6obFf5KYhYCg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Alan Agrawal]

Hi Mark,

Your statement is correct, the eyepieces I listed are all excellent for lunar and planetary viewing, and popular with that crowd.

All the features that those eyepieces have are also helpful in viewing small deep sky objects.  Having fewer lenses and fewer lens groups makes subtle nebular features easier to see via providing less light loss, and makes seeing stars and stellar features, for example the faint central star in M57, easier to discern in a simple well made Orthoscopic or Plossl vs a widefield like an Ethos.  The widefield gives you that aesthetic wow of seeing the object floating in space, but the design of simpler well made eyepiece can show you more detail in the object.  Please note Muriel has been hanging out with Steve (she went straight to the top ! :), so she is likely hoping to see some things that are at the edge of visibility - you need the best eyepieces possible for that.  

The Ethos, and most well made wide field eyepieces, I do love, but they are not the last word in detail for deep sky objects.   I am not alone in my opinion, you can ask Alvin Huey, Jimi, and others who have been serious about comparing and testing eyepieces on DSOs.

Best,

Alan

On May 28, 2026, at 12:24 PM, Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

Alan,

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/7fcb68ad-186d-4562-bf16-489220d1ba1cn%40googlegroups.com.

[Alan Agrawal]



Hi Mark,

Your statement is correct, the eyepieces I listed are all excellent lunar and planetary viewing, and popular with that crowd.

All the features that those eyepieces have are also helpful in viewing small deep sky objects.  Having fewer lenses and fewer lens groups makes subtle nebular features  easier to see via providing less light loss, and makes seeing stars and stellar features, for example the faint central star in M57, easier to discern in the simple well made Orthoscopic or Plossl vs a widefield like an Ethos.  The widefield gives you that aesthetic wow of seeing the object floating in space, but the design of simpler well made eyepiece can show you more detail in the object.  Please note Muriel has been hanging out with Steve (she went straight to the top ! :), so she is likely hoping to see some things that are at the edge of visibility - you need the best eyepieces possible for that.  

The Ethos, and most well made wide field eyepieces, I do love, but they are not the last word in detail for deep sky objects. I am not alone in my opinion, you can ask Alvin Huey, Jimi, and others who have seriously compared and tested eyepieces on DSOs.

Best,

Alan 

Begin forwarded message:

[Paul Alsing]

Muriel, even better than used, is borrowed, at least for the short term! At GSSP you will be able to borrow a variety of eyepieces to evaluate their qualities for what you want them to do. Even vendors have been known to share eyepieces for use in your telescope, hoping to make a sale. I myself probably have 4 or 5 eyepieces shorter than 9mm that you can try. If you could get several eyepieces of the same, or close to the same focal length, the differences between them would probably become more apparent. 

At OSP a few years ago I borrowed a 7mm Pentax for a night from a vendor, Tom O, when Jimi and Debbie and I were running down objects in Howard's "expert" challenge list using an Obsession 18" UC, and having completed that list using that borrowed eyepiece I immediately bought it! Wonderful eyepiece IMHO.

It would be beneficial to do the A vs B vs C testing in a driven scope so you don't need to re-acquire the dim test object with each eyepiece swap, so if you got the platform working that would be a big help. Pro tip: ask Charlie and/or Randy first, and there are certainly others who know a lot about such things! The other thing would be to use the borrowed eyepieces in a borrowed driven telescope, also a distinct possibility at GSSP, since amateur astronomy guys and gals are a friendly bunch for the most part and are happy to help, and also because they, too, would like to know the answers as to "which eyepiece did it better?" We could make a party of it! A party within a party!

\Paul

---

From: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Muriel Dulieu <mdu...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2026 1:05 PM
To: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Favorite eyepiece for planetary nebulae

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/4310DBA1-EDE6-4C32-A5BD-52445A23B706%40gmail.com.

[Mark Wagner]

Thanks Alan.  You gave such a nice concice, clear and sensible explanation.

The Zeiss eyepieces to my experience in a nice AP with binoviewer, are  incomparable.  I do think they'd get more use in lunar and planetary than deep space.  I too saw no need for a 100d AFOV for planetary nebulae, and agree fewer elements increase transmission.  They are pricey though. 

[Mark Wagner]

I remembered last night that Muriel's telescope is an Obsession 18" like mine and not driven.  In that case I do agree about high power eyepieces with a wide field to not have to chase the object constantly, and have enough drift time relax and look.  I use an original 7 Nagler for high power and love it.  Is your scope driven Alan?

[Alan Agrawal]

My scope is driven.  But it’s all a matter of skill and preference,  I remember Alvin Huey used to use TMB monocentrics undriven on his Dob.   

On May 29, 2026, at 7:36 AM, Mark Wagner <itsmar...@gmail.com> wrote:

I remembered last night that Muriel's telescope is an Obsession 18" like mine and not driven.  In that case I do agree about high power eyepieces with a wide field to not have to chase the object constantly, and have enough drift time relax and look.  I use an original 7 Nagler for high power and love it.  Is your scope driven Alan?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/cf27bc25-8dd3-473f-b3c0-b47884e7f7d1n%40googlegroups.com.

[Pawan Singh]

Alan and others

One more question on this thread. My scope is F3.3. I was told that these old Orthos and TMBs will not work on a fast focal ratio telescope. Do the eyepieces come with a focal ratio range they work on? I have not seen that in any specifications - except on discussions on Cloudy Nights.

Pawan

[Alan Agrawal]

Hi Pawan,

Almost all eyepieces will show some mild on axis spherical aberration at f3.3 ( and fyi my own scope is a 24 f3.3).  They vary a lot on how they perform going from the center to the edge. 

Eyepieces can perform differently in fast scopes- best to test them first. Once on Jimi’s 48” f4, we compared a a 24mm Brandon ( which is an eyepiece that likes slower telescope focal ratios and has only a simple single layer antireflective coating) vs a 25mm ZAO I ortho.  Our test object was M101.   I expected the ZAO to be better of course, but the difference to be small. The level of structure and the detail in the galaxy arms with the ZAO was vastly superior to the Brandon: the ZAO crushed the Brandon - a big surprise.  Jimi was in agreement, and that single view cost him a $1000 - he bought the ZAO :)

Alan

Begin forwarded message:

From: Pawan Singh <pa...@pinger.org>
Date: May 30, 2026 at 3:12:28 PM PDT
To: "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TAC] Favorite eyepiece for planetary nebulae
Reply-To: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com

Alan and others

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/78d7f49c-ec12-4584-bb60-1070bdb6a4b8n%40googlegroups.com.

[Alvin]

I'm not surprised at all.

I have all of the ZAO-II and the 25mm ZAO-I.  However, I sold my 25 ZAO-I because I don't use it and used the funds to replace my three "lost" Delos (lost during my relocation from CA to TX)  , plus the 25mm Tak ortho.  No way I'm selling any of my ZAO-II eyepieces.  

If I really wanted to pick off any PNe details, the ZAO-II goes in my focuser.  If more juice is needed, the TMB 1.8x ED barlow also goes in my focuser with the ZAO-II.

CS,

Alvin

[Alvin]

Now I have a crossbow platform.  

And yes I did use TMB SMCs in my undriven dob.  One of the more memorable nights was at Lassem Peak parking lot with Gottlieb, Wagner and 20 others...I picked of 22 galaxies in Abell 2065 with the 4, 5 and 6mm TMB Supermonocentrics.

PS: I totally regret selling my TMBs after acquiring the ZAO-II set. 

CS,

Alvin

[Alan Agrawal]

Great to see your posts here Alvin!

Best,

Alan

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/cf113750-446a-477a-bd38-188bf715df4an%40googlegroups.com.

[Pawan Singh]

Thanks Alan and Alvin.

I am assuming these TMBs and ZAO's are only available in used market and are no longer produced. Is that correct?

Pawan

[Alan Agrawal]

Yes, sadly both are out of production.


Begin forwarded message:

From: Pawan Singh <pa...@pinger.org>
Date: June 1, 2026 at 12:35:57 PM PDT
To: "The Astronomy Connection (TAC)" <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Fw: [TAC] Favorite eyepiece for planetary nebulae
Reply-To: sf-ba...@googlegroups.com

Thanks Alan and Alvin.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/b1e804a1-c4c4-4299-97c8-e65997b16aaen%40googlegroups.com.

[Steve Gottlieb]

And expensive due to scarcity and collectors. 

-- Steve

On Jun 1, 2026, at 1:16 PM, 'Alan Agrawal' via The Astronomy Connection (TAC) <sf-ba...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/D347C9D7-FF1F-43B8-B270-3151DE62895B%40yahoo.com.

[Alvin]

Yeah, sadly expensive as heck!  I got them for 500-600 for each ZAO-II 20 years ago.  Now it is way more.  Again, I totally regret selling my TMBs.

[Dave Bullock]

Not eyepiece related but I bought a TMB-92 used about 20 years ago and it’s now my nightly driver on my pier for wide field imaging. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sf-bay-tac/29ce7673-9615-4538-91ab-0aea3836aacen%40googlegroups.com.