Product Description
This 82° 28mm Astro-Tech UWA eyepiece is an excellent low/medium power ultra wide field eyepiece with an outstanding price.
Many observers feel that a 82° field eyepiece like this Astro-Tech hits the "sweet spot" between the affordable, but "looking down a tube" view of conventional 45°-50° field eyepieces, and the full-immersion, but very expensive, observing experience of an ultra-wide field premium 82° or 100° eyepiece.
The optical designers used the latest computer design programs to optimize its performance. Its seven element/four group design uses low dispersion and high refractive index lenses and full multicoatings for high contrast, high resolution, and flat field images across a very wide 82° field of view. The lens edges have been blackened to improve contrast. The eyepieces are parfocal within the UWA series.
The 2" 28mm Astro-Tech is designed for the serious deep space explorer - no matter what your telescope type. For example, the 28mm Explore Scientific will give you a 1.15 degree field at 71x with the 2000mm focal length of either a big 17.5" f/4.5 Dobsonian or an 8" f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain. That's almost two lunar diameters and is ideal for observing emission and reflection nebulas and nebula remnants.
A 10" f/4.5 Dobsonian reflector will have a full 2.01° field at 40x with this eyepiece, able to encompass all of the Pleiades in one field. Even an 8" f/10 catadioptric will have a field almost one and a half lunar diameters across, able to encompass the full Moon with room to spare, the Orion Nebula, and many globular clusters, as well.
At 18mm, the eye relief is good, although eyeglass wearers might still see a somewhat vignetted image. This isn't as much a problem as you might think, as the 82° field of view is so wide that even non-eyeglass wearers have trouble seeing the whole field at once. This is an eyepiece that shows you a "lost in space" view of space for a true full-immersion observing experience. With its unconstricted view, your eye relaxes, allowing you to easily use the "averted vision" technique to study faint details across a huge field of view.
The eyepiece has a soft fold-down rubber eyecup and comes with dust covers for both ends of the eyepiece.
Tech Details
| Barrel Size | 2" |
|---|---|
| Eye Relief | 18mm |
| Field of view | 82 |
| Focal Length | 28mm |
| Number of optical elements | 7 |
| Weight | 24 ounces |
| Warranty | 1 year |
Reviews
While some more experienced observers may critique tougher and prefer other excellent offerings, this eyepeice is great!
Looking at a low power eyepiece in the 82° FOV range. I don't think you can get anything better than the AT 28mm without spending 3-4 times the cost.
Thank you to Astronomics for bringing us great equipment at great prices. (Posted on 6/7/2022)