Eyeglasses for stargazers?

Question

Maybe I'm a star-geezer, but all my glasses suck for viewing celestial bodies because there is always some sort of aberration, reflection, colour problems, and all that.

Is there a good lens for "naked eye" gazing?

Answer 1

So am I      --- I have the same problem with glasses and SHORT eye relief eyepieces --- you want to buy eyepieces with about18mm-20mm of eye relief.

However I just usually take my glasses off and refocus the telescope---

Answer 2

good quality glasses should be all you need. discuss night-time myopia with your optometrist. there was an article on teh subject in sky & telescope not long ago.

Answer 3

Where do you buy your glasses? If you buy from Joe' s Bargain Barn, don't expect quality. I've found it worthwhile to spend top dollar for my eyeglasses. High-end opticians carry glasses from Zeiss, Rodenstock, and similar manufacturers which are in a completely different quality range.

Answer 4

I use contact lenses for astronomy when i can.  My progressive lens glasses are terrible.  For example, i can't split Mizar/Alcor.  But with contact lenses, these stars don't even seem to be close to each other. My vision is correctable to 20:18 or so. I see many more faint stars with contacts.

I do not have measurable astigmatism, which is an out-of-roundness of the eye. So i can take off my glasses and use the focuser to get things in focus.  This does not work when i'm showing stuff to beginners - as they should not have to focus every time i get a new object into view.

One of the guys at the club with astigmatism got his optometrist to make him a 1.25" lens that he pops into his focuser, and aligned with the way he looks into it, then the eyepiece. Apparently, these are also available commercially, over the internet from some astronomy dealers.  You have to know you're eye's specs.  And if your eyes differ from each other, it will only work with one.  Then you use the focus wheel for near sightedness or far sightedness, without glasses.

I do not recommend lasik eye surgery at this time. Apparently they don't correct your peripheral vision, leaving it foggy.  This means you can't do averted vision.  And, it doesn't always work.

Answer 5

You mustn't have a good optician. Any reasonable pair of glasses should not suffer from those effects.