Brightwell Meadow 13 mm wide-field eyepiece

Specifications

Description

The Meadow 13 mm is a five-element wide-field eyepiece with a 68-degree apparent field and a 1.25 in barrel. It sits between low-power and medium-power eyepieces in most eyepiece sets, and it frames a wide range of targets without the bulk of a 2 in design.

A 13 mm eyepiece gives 54x in a 700 mm refractor, 92x in a 1,200 mm Dobsonian, and 156x in a 2,032 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain. The 15.4 mm field stop sets a true field of about 1.3 degrees in the 700 mm telescope and about 0.7 degrees in the 1,200 mm telescope. In the shorter instrument you can take in the central region of the Pleiades, while the higher power in the longer one shows more detail on the Moon and planets.

The five-element design uses a field lens and a multi-element eye lens to hold stars sharp across most of the field in telescopes slower than about f/6. In fast Newtonians, stars may soften toward the edge of the field. The lens surfaces are fully multi-coated, and the barrel interior is blackened to limit stray light.

With 16 mm of eye relief, the eyepiece suits most observers, including many who wear glasses, when the fold-down eyecup is in use. The barrel is threaded for standard 1.25 in filters, and the eyecup folds down to give room for glasses.

In a three-eyepiece set, the 13 mm fills the gap between a low-power eyepiece and a high-power one. Pairing it with a 2x Barlow lens gives 108x in a 700 mm refractor and an effective 6.5 mm focal length, which is useful for splitting close double stars.

About this configuration

The Brightwell Meadow 13 mm wide-field eyepiece is offered in several configurations, and the notes below describe what this particular one adds. This configuration comes without a case, which suits observers who keep their eyepieces in a shared foam box. No case is included, so the eyepiece ships in a simple box with its two dust caps fitted. A winged eyeguard helps you hold your eye at the right position, which makes the edge of the field easier to see.

A color ring near the top of the body marks the focal length, which helps when you swap eyepieces in the dark. This is the 2023 edition of the Meadow line, the earliest version that is still listed in the catalog. Check the barrel size in the specifications against your focuser or star diagonal before you choose a configuration.

What's in the box

• Eyepiece with fold-down rubber eyecup
• Top and bottom dust caps
• Plastic storage case
• Winged rubber eyeguard

Compatibility notes

• Fits any 1.25 in focuser, diagonal, or Barlow lens.
• The barrel accepts standard 1.25 in filters (M28.5 x 0.6 thread).
• Sharp across most of the field at f/6 and slower; softer at the edge in faster Newtonians.