• Three E-Lux 2" Eyepieces - 3-element fully multicoated optical design with a 56°apparent field of view
• 2" Barlow Lens - 2x A Barlow lens doubles the magnifying power of your eyepiece by doubling its effective focal length.
• Five Colored Eyepiece (Lunar & Planetary) Filters - 2", Included are Kodak Wratten #12 (deep yellow)
• 2" Mirror Diagonal - This high quality 90-degree multicoated mirror diagonal
• The Aluminum Carrying Case is sturdy and well-built and holds all of the included items in the die-cut foam interior.

Product Description
Increase your enjoyment of the universe with this complete accessory kit designed for 2" eyepiece systems. Everything you need in one convenient carry caseAmazon.com Product Description
If you've got a telescope or spotting scope equipped with a two-inch focuser, you will want to consider adding the Celestron 94305 Two-inch Eyepiece and Filter Kit. Featuring several of Celestron's high-quality accessories, this kit can be used with virtually any telescope or spotting scopes, regardless of the manufacturer, with a two-inch focuser.

Included in the kit are:

• Three E-Lux two-inch eyepieces, featuring a three-element, fully multicoated optical design with a 56-degree apparent field of view (the 40mm has a 50-degree field of view), in 26mm, 32mm, and 40mm focal lengths.
• One two-inch Barlow 2x lens. This fully multicoated lens doubles the magnifying power of your eyepiece by doubling its effective focal length and gives you a total of six power combinations.
• Five colored eyepiece (lunar and planetary) filters, including one each of the following: Kodak Wratten numbers 12 (deep yellow), 21 (orange), 25 (red), 58 (green), and 80A (blue). These two-inch filters are designed to greatly enhance your enjoyment of the solar system.
• One two-inch, 90-degree, multicoated mirror diagonal that allows you to take advantage of the wider field of view provided by two-inch eyepieces. It fits all rear cells of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes and includes an adapter to use with refractor telescopes.

The accessories are housed in a sturdy aluminum carrying case with a die-cut interior for convenient storage and protection. Each accessory is protected by Celestron's one-year limited warranty.

What's in the Box
Three E-Lux eyepieces, E-Lux Barlow lens, five lunar/planetary filters, 90-degree star diagonal, refractor adapter, and aluminum carrying case.

Celestron 94305 Two-inch Eyepiece and Filter Kit

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What are those strange filaments?

Background galaxies.

Gravity can bend light, allowing huge clusters of galaxies
to act as telescopes, and distorting images of background galaxies into elongated strands.

Almost all of the bright objects in this
Hubble Space Telescope image are galaxies in the
cluster
known as Abell 2218.

The cluster is so massive and so compact that its
gravity bends and focuses the light
from galaxies that lie behind it.

As a result,
multiple images of these background
galaxies are distorted into long faint arcs -- a simple
lensing effect analogous to viewing distant street
lamps through a glass of
wine.

The
cluster of galaxies Abell 2218 is itself about three billion
light-years away in the northern constellation of the Dragon
(Draco).

The power of this massive cluster telescope has
allowed astronomers to detect a galaxy at the distant
redshift of 5.58.

Related Skylook Posts:

• MACS 1206 A Galaxy Cluster Gravitational Len
• Abell 2744 Pandora’s Cluster of Galaxies
• M72: A Globular Cluster of Stars

• Four element Plossl optical design
• Blackened lens edges
• Multi-layer coating group on each lens
• Anodized to prevent reflection from the top eyepiece barrel

Product Description
This Omni series 6mm 1.25" Plossl eyepiece includes blackened lens edges to minimize internal reflection and maximize contrast. Every air-to-glass optical surface has a multi-layer coating group for the highest possible light transmission.

Celestron 93317 Omni Series 1.25" Eyepiece

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• Refractor telescope ideal for astronomical and terrestrial viewing
• FS Super Glide Mount offers smooth and precise operation
• Slow motion controls for fine adjustments while viewing
• Focal length: 700mm
• Objective lens: 80mm

Product Description
Galileo FS-720DX Refractor Telescope for viewing land, sea, and stars. To see or not to see, that is the question. The answer? It's simple. This astro / terrestrial telescope will take you on a journey from land to the stars with just a shift in focus. The 720 mm focal length will magnify the mountains, sea ships, planets, or the little green men on Mars, without distortion. The 2x flip barlow lens doubles the power with just a flip of a knob. Getting to know your world and the world beyond has never been easier. View this: 80 mm astronomical telescope objective lens; 720 mm focal length; 2 eyepieces (6.8 mm-16 mm zoom and 25 mm); Built-in 2x flip barlow lens; Fast-setup super-glide mount with adjusting counter weight; 30 mm / 45 degree erect image prism; Mars eye finderscope; Pre-assembled metal tripod with accessory tray; Measures approx. 13 1/4 x 5 3/4 x 33", weighs 18 lbs. Includes adjustable tube clamp, accessory tray, Galileo planetarium CD-ROM with instructional video, and limited one-year manufacturer's warranty. For outlandish savings that are out of this world... order today! Galileo FS-720DX Refractor Telescope

Galileo FS720DX 720 x 80mm Astro Terrestial Refractor Telescope

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• 4 Element premium symmetrical optical designs
• Fully Multi-Coated
• 52° Field of View
• Blackened lens edges
• Designer Color

Product Description
If you are looking to move up to a higher quality eyepiece the Omni series provides more enhanced features in a wider selection of focal lengths. Celestron designed this series with the finer points in mind so you, the user, can benefitfrom the features that make this series unique. The Omni is a 4 -element premium symmetrical Plossl optical design. Features include blackened lens edges to minimize internal reflection and maximize contrast, multi-layer coating group oneach lens surface to maximize light transmission and contrast, and each Omni goes through a two-step anodizing process to prevent reflection from the top eyepiece barrel, unlike most other manufactures who use reflective surfaces. Threaded barrels accept 1-1/4" Celestron thread-in filters.

Celestron Omni Series 1-1/4 4MM Eyepiece

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When buying binoculars for astronomy one of the main considerations is the light gathering capability of the binoculars you are looking to buy and therefore the size of the objective lens is extremely important.

Before you start check out the range of binoculars for astronomy that are currently on the market you need to consider the distance you are looking to cover and what level of detail you are hoping to see. If you can imagine that a telescope can provide you with a significantly larger aperature (objective lens) and a wide range of magnification abilities it's understandable that for viewing over longer distances, and to see the finer details, a telescope is often a better option. However that said binoculars can prove useful, even for the serious astronomer, and are an inexpensive way to get started.

The real pro's of using binoculars for astronomy is the minimal set up time, the relatively low cost, portability and the fact that there isn't an endless list of accessories that you need to buy.

Manufacturers generally indicate whether or not their binos are suitable binoculars for astronomy but as a general guide you want to be looking for giant binoculars or binoculars with an objective lens that is 50mm or greater. 10x50's are often a popular choice for astronomy as they are reasonably comfortable to hold yet powerful enough for the basic astronomers needs.

Some manufacturers do make smaller binoculars for astronomy such as the Pentax PCF 8x40 or the higher quality Pentax DCF SP 8x43 and Olympus rate their EXPS I 8x42's as excellent astronomy binoculars. As a general rule, and particularly relating to the smaller binos, if the objective lens is 5 times or more than the magnification you can use them for astronomy.

If you are looking for a real meaty beast then the Celestron Skymaster series ranges from 15 x 70 up to 25 x 100 (which offers the power of a small telescope) and Nikon do the 10 x 70IF SP which is considerably more expensive (around £1200 versus up to £400 for a Skymaster) but you are paying for the quality of the lenses and the superior optical design (one of the leaders in it's class). The bigger you go when you are looking for binoculars for astronomy the greater the power and light gathering abilities so if you opt for a 25 x 100 (25x magnification, 100mm objective lens) you will be able to see further and view objects in greater detail than with a 7 x 35 or a 10 x 50 (for example).

Binoculars for Astronomy, quick check list:

• Fully multi-coated lenses are a must

• Waterproof binoculars are generally best if you want to prevent fogging and view in all weather conditions.

• The best astronomy binoculars come with Bak-4 Porro prisms (Bak-4 glass is high quality glass and porro prisms generally provide greater light transmission and a sharper image than their roof prism counterparts)

• Always check a binoculars suitability for astronomy

• Remember the more powerful the better and if you want a performance similar to a small telescope buy a binocular with the largest possible objective lens.

• For larger binoculars make sure you check tripod / mounting requirements.

• Quality optics is important and no more so than for astronomy. If you can afford high quality binoculars they are well worth paying for.

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• Binoculars For Astronomy – Know the Basics
• Astronomy Using Binoculars
• Choosing Binoculars For Astronomy

Most galaxies have a single nucleus -- does this galaxy have four?

The strange answer leads
astronomers
to conclude that the nucleus of the surrounding galaxy is not even visible in
this image.

The central
cloverleaf is rather light emitted from a background

quasar.

The gravitational field of the visible foreground
galaxy
breaks light
from this distant
quasar
into four distinct images.

The quasar must be
properly aligned behind the center of a massive galaxy for a
mirage like this to be evident.

The general effect is known as
gravitational lensing, and this specific case is known as the
Einstein Cross.

Stranger still, the images of the
Einstein Cross vary in relative brightness,
enhanced occasionally by the additional
gravitational microlensing
effect of specific stars in the foreground galaxy.

Related Skylook Posts:

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• Abell 2218: A Galaxy Cluster Lens
• Binary Black Hole in 3C 75