Thanks to everyone who responded about this issue.
We purchased a Vixon LV 5mm eyepiece and tried it out last night on
Saturn in suburban San Jose, using a ETX 105. It has long eye relief as
suggested by several posters. It's not a wide series eyepiece - it's
45-degree AFOV - because some posters also suggested a wide field
eyepiece might be more difficult for the elderly and kids to engage the
object. The Vixon also has a rubber eyeguard. We chose the highest power
because it afforded the most magnified view of Saturn possible.
What a difference. The kids' 85 year old grandmother sat on the bench
looking at it for minutes at a time, raving about the color and
sharpness of Saturn. She actually found it pleasurable and comfortable
to see and came back several times to see it again. It wasn't some dull
blob as before. She had no problem finding the object as before. The
reaction was immediate.
As a side note, I had expected the eyepiece to be too powerful for the
scope, since it's almost 300x and 200x is usually the recommended max,
but it turned out it was a sweet combination. Sharp, well-corrected,
even illumination. We could see ring features and surface bands, even
though the exit pupil size of the eyepiece is roughly 0.36mm and the
fovea of the eye works best at 1-2mm. I would recommend this eyepiece.
The seeing was good for San Jose last night BTW, but not exceptional, so
for a 4-inch we all were blown away.
Thank you again for all of your suggestions. You helped make an elderly
lady very happy last night. :-)
Lynne Jolitz
Jim Van Nuland wrote:
> Lynne Jolitz wrote:
> > Can I get some suggestions for appropriate eyepieces for
> > the elderly (80+). I found that eye relief is difficult,
>
> Jay and others have addressed the matter of eyepiece designs and eye
> relief.
>
> > but also perhaps earlier cataract surgery (removal)
> > makes a difference in terms of nighttime myopia or
> > in simply resolving detail?
>
> I will go out on a limb here, and assume that your surgery included
> replacing the natural lens with an implant. If this is the case, the
> surgery is not a major problem.
>
> Day or night myopia can be compensated by re-focusing the
> telescope. If you are looking into someone else's scope, ask to
> re-focus for your own vision.
>
> Careful focus is also important in seeing faint objects as well as
> for seeing detail.
>
> Seeing faint objects is more a matter of the sensitively of the
> retina, so I doubt that the surgery is a factor.
>
> > It's very frustrating when everyone else sees the object. If it
> > matters, the scope is an ETX 105.
>
> Indeed! It's one of those "age-related" matters (I'm 71). My usual
> observing companions are children, (I do school star parties), so I'm
> usually the last to pick out a bright planet, even though I'd found it
> earlier in the telescope.
>
> Clear Skies!
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Received on Tue Mar 04 11:53:24 2008