NOVAStar long eye relief planetary eyepieces

Striking views at a pocket-friendly price point? Seeing is believing...

- WORDS: CHRIS GRIMMER

Many of us remember our first telescope purchase. Often it was part of a set and came with basic accessories, including a couple of eyepieces, one low power and one higher. These are great in the early days, but before long your thoughts turn to upgrades and better fields of view. If you're ready to take that step up, read on as we look at the NOVAStar long eye relief (LER) planetary eyepieces range, which claims to deliver exceptional views at a very reasonable price point.

The 'planetary' badge means that there are no low-power or particularly long focal lengths available in the LER collection, with focal lengths starting at a respectable 18mm before stepping up through the powers to a punchy 3mm. Each offers a 55° field of view, marginally wider than the typical 52° found in most Plössl eyepieces.

There isn't an option to purchase the seven eyepieces as a set in an eyepieces case; instead, we received them individually wrapped in boxes. Unpacking them, our first impressions were excellent: each eyepiece felt robust and well-constructed.

As the first nights of late summer astronomical darkness arrived, we set up our 200mm reflector and began exploring the dark skies. It immediately became apparent that a standout feature of the NOVAStar eyepieces is the exceptional sharpness each offers. Throughout the range, stars consistently appeared as distinct pinpoints of light, with a clarity often reserved for more expensive equipment. This sharpness was particularly noticeable when observing double-star targets, where the ability to distinguish between closely spaced objects is crucial.

Let's get testing