Saturn is spectacular, and so are Antares Plossl eyepieces

Due to a combination of either working, or the generally horrible N/E Ohio
weather, last night was the first time I've gotten out to see Saturn in
nearly a year. All I can say is that (being as large and close to us as
it is right now) it is absolutely stunning! If you haven't seen it yet
this year, don't miss any opportunities to do so soon!!!

Viewing was done with my home built 13.1" F/5.23 truss Dob. My standard
eyepiece fare is my 14mm, 8.8mm, and 6.7mm Meade UWA's, and they
absolutely did not dissapoint in the least (alone or coupled to my 2.5X
Powermate). The views through the 6.7mm UWA (which I often boast as my
planet-killer eyepiece, a view I share with none other than Todd Gross)
were stunning. My opinion of the UWA's is that they are exceptional
eyepieces, rivaling (and often besting) the Nagler lines.

However, on this night I also made good use of my very inexpensive 25mm,
20mm, and 15mm Antares Plossl eyepieces in conjunction with my 2.5X
Powermate and 3X Antares barlow. These are the 'premium' Antares 5
element (super) Plossl's, often (mistakenly?) referred to as Antares
Ultimas, or as Antares Ultrascopics. The Antares are outwardly (at least)
identical to Orion Ultrascopics, and are 100% parafocal with them as
well. In the past I had compaired my 15mm Antares with a 15mm Orion
Ultrascopic, and the only difference noticed (in daylight) was a slightly
different multicoating hue. Views through the scopes between the two of
them were (to my eyes, and those of a viewing friend) indistinguishable in
an extended swap test on multiple subjects, including Mars at near its
closest approach. The Antares Plossl eyepieces (all of which are
generally to be had for ~$69 US new, mine having been bought used at $45
each on Astromart) are truly exceptional bargains. When used with my 2.5X
Powermate and/or 3X Antares barlow, they gave tremendously tack sharp edge
to edge views of Saturn which were comparable to the views in the UWA's,
except only in AFOV. In fact, the eyepiece of the evening was the Antares
15mm with 2.5X Powermate (6mm effective FL, yielding 290X). Absolute
Saturn perfection, the likes of which I can't recall ever seeing better
before (with before in my case extending all the way back to 1982)! I
didn't think it possible for the budget Antares to give a better view of
Saturn than that of my 6.7mm UWA, but it did, mainly in giving a bit more
magnification and revealing more band and ring details by virtue of its
higher magnification. This combo must have hit both my exit pupil sweet
spot and the prevailing sky conditions dead on last night. In fact, I
perceived both sharpness and contrast to slightly favor the 15mm
Antrares/Powermate combo, despite the higher magnification!

Lawrence Sayre
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My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as
a moral being, with his own happiness as the moral
purpose of his life, with productive achievement as
his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.

Ayn Rand (in the appendix to 'Atlas Shrugged')
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