Hi,

There are two new non-surgical procedures out which will eliminate most eye
problems with the exception of Presbyopia. One of them, called CRT is
already out but it's not permanent. The other, called Corneaplasty, uses the
same principle but in addition, uses enzymes to "permanently" reshape the
cornea. I wrote "permanently" because the nature of the treatment makes it
reversible. This is the one I'm waiting for - it is still not approved by
the FDA.

In the meantime, I use very small, close to the face, Schott glass,
multicoated Zeiss eyeglasses. You'll need to sign a waiver because the glass
is not impact resistant and OSHA doesn't like that. They work very well.

I tried contact lenses, which I still use for other activities, but they
don't work very well for me. Astigmatism is corrected by the use of Toric
lenses and they are dependent on exact placement and orientation for
correction. All contact lenses move around some when you blink your eyes and
this results in a momentary loss of correction while the lens finds its
place again. Although not a problem at all during normal wear, I find this
annoying at the eyepiece.

Lastly, as you shorten the focal length of the eyepiece you will reach a
point at which the exit pupil will be small enough to void your astigmatism.
At that point you wont need correction. I did a test where I made a number
of artificial stars using a bright red LED where I varied the pinhole
diameter in 1mm increments. I tested my right eye in a pitch black walk-in
closet, varying the pinhole diameters until I could see a perfect star
pattern with a single diffraction ring. It turns out that in my case the
exit pupil has to be 1mm or less without glasses.With glasses I can see a
perfect pattern all the way up to 3mm (highest I tested). Armed with this
information I went to the telescope and sure enough, I don't need my glasses
for my 7mm Nagler, which happens to be the shortest focal length and the
only short eye relief eyepiece I own.

Hope this helps.

Take Care,

JAS