Halden Carrick 5 mm wide-field eyepiece

Specifications

Description

The Carrick 5 mm is a seven-element wide-field eyepiece with a 60-degree apparent field and a 1.25 in barrel. It sits at the high-power end of a typical set, where the short focal length and narrow true field show the telescope's optics and the state of the atmosphere most clearly. Observers usually pair it with a telescope of long focal length, such as a 1,000 mm refractor or a 1,200 mm Dobsonian, to reach high magnifications on planets, double stars, and compact deep-sky objects.

A 5 mm eyepiece gives 200x in a 1,000 mm telescope and 240x in a 1,200 mm Dobsonian. At these powers the true field in a 1,200 mm telescope is about 0.24 degrees, which is roughly half the width of the Moon, so the target should be located at lower power first. A bright, steady image depends on the aperture and the seeing as much as on the eyepiece, and the clearest views come on nights of steady air and with instruments of good optical quality. Under good conditions, atmospheric turbulence usually limits useful magnification to about twice the aperture in millimetres, so a 100 mm refractor at 1,000 mm focal length will rarely show fine detail at 200x on a typical night.

With 9 mm of eye relief, the Carrick 5 mm asks you to hold your eye close to the lens, so it is easier to use without glasses or with the eyecup set against the brow. The 5.0 mm field stop sets the true field, and the eyepiece weighs 165 g, which keeps the load light on a diagonal. The barrel is threaded for standard 1.25 in filters, and the lenses carry multi-layer coatings on all air-glass surfaces to reduce reflections at high power. It works well as a companion to longer eyepieces in the same set.

About this configuration

All configurations of the Halden Carrick 5 mm wide-field eyepiece share the same optical design; the options change the eyecup, the case, and the finish. 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. The twist-up eyecup sets your eye at the right distance from the lens, with or without glasses.

Black anodizing is the standard finish of the Carrick line and matches most focusers. The optics in the 2024 edition match the other years; the changes concern the housing only. The true field in your telescope is roughly the apparent field divided by the magnification you reach with this eyepiece.

What's in the box

• Eyepiece with fold-down rubber eyecup
• Top and bottom dust caps
• Padded storage case

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).
• Designed for telescopes of f/6 and slower; faster instruments may show softness at the edge of the field.