Hyperion - defining a new level of affordable quality - at least for me

Hy*pe*ri*on [ hi per ean] - A small moon of Saturn. A titan in Greek mythology. An incredible eyepiece.

OK, that’s my definition – and I have to admit I know next to nothing about Greek mythology, a little more about the moons of Saturn, but as moons go Hyperion is no Titan, and quite a bit more about eyepieces.

And yes, I’m willing to admit right from the start that eyepices seem to be one of those topics where the science and technology doesn’t always mesh with the opinion of users. There seems to be a personal element involved. So I guess what I’m trying to say is I got my third Hyperion eyepiece from Alpine Astronomical and I have to tell you, it’s love at first sight – not only with the 5mm, 68-degree Hyperion I just got, but with the 3.5mm and the 8-24mm zoom I have written about earlier.

What has me ecstatic today is a wonderful morning session I just had with my star chair arrangement, the Orion 80ED, and the three Hyperion eyepieces. And what impressed me most was the Double-Double. The seeing was good – perhaps excellent. That’s important. And there was no wind, which is also important given the fact that I’m mounting all this on a parallelogram mount meant to hold binoculars using 20X or perhaps 30X tops. But with my three eyepieces the power ranged from 24X to 171X, with the 5mm delivering a comfortable high power of 120X. (I consider 171X to be pushing this little scope beyond what you can reasonably expect of it - but it was working just fine this morning.)

Using the p-mount means that when I get an object in view and focus it, there’s a 5-7 second delay as it quiets down. Obvious little or no wind helps. Using this arrangement I was able to split the Double-Double with both the 5mm and the 3.5mm. With the 5mm they were “split by a hair,” and with the 3.5 there was “a tiny gap.” (These are the terms – with pictures – that Sissy Haas uses in her book, “Double Stars for Small Telescopes".)

But here’s what amazed me.

With both the 5mm and the 3.5mm I let the stars drift into view and a minute or two later let them drift out theother side – and the splits were maintained from one edge of the eyepice to the other. I don’t know about you, but for me that says something special about edge sharpness. I’m used to most eyepices giving up something near the edges. But not these. I can’t remember seeing across-the-field sharpness like this with anything except my Naglers – which I sold because I decided equipment I wanted for my public programs ahd higher prioirty. The Hyperions right now are less than half the price of the Naglers and while I understand this price may rise – because of the changing relationship of the dollar to the Euro – they are for me a good buy at anything reasonably near their current price which is about $140 shipped for the fixed value eyepieces.

What else do I like? This isn’t a detailed review. I didn’t try to evaluate every aspect of the eypeices as I used them. But no negatives jumped out at me. I like the eyecups, Ilike the eye relief, I like the contrast, I didn’t have trouble positioning my eye for an ideal view. So I think the company line is accurate. Here’s how Alpine describes the fixed focal length Hyperion’s on their web site:

As a visual eyepiece, we have found the Hyperions deliver superb sharpness and color fidelity across their 68° wide, flat-field, even in fast telescopes. In our own comparisons to our personal favorites, the Pentax XL, the Hyperions matched the Pentax in every regard, and at just over 1/3 the price! From their superb on-axis and off-axis sharpness, to their pitch-black high contrast field, the Hyperions really work. Viewing through a Hyperion is notably comfortable and relaxing, due to their forgiving eye-position, 20mm of eye-relief, extra-large eyelens, and an optical design that is free of annoying 'kidney-beaning' and blackouts.

OK, I would not gush quite so much – especially since I didn’t look closely at the various criteria referenced – but the bottom line is, I’m a believer. The ones I have received have lived up to their hype.

One telling point. I observed for about 90 minutes this morning. I spent quality time with several old favorites, including M11, M57, M27, and Jupiter, Then with the twilight overtaking all but the brightest stars I switched to Mizar whileusing the 5mm and was thrilled with the clean diffraction rings around both elements – I don’t mean Mizar and Alcor, but Mizar and its closer companion. So when I went to pack up I handled these three eyepieces with special care, giving them much more attention than I usually do. In fact, I’m usually casual well past a fault, with equipment in general. As my wife lgenerously puts it, maintenance isn’t Greg's strong point.” But these little dudes are inspiring.

In fact, I have all the eyepieces I want. I have my needs covered with the zoom and these two high-powered ones. But I’m damned tempted to buy one of their ew SCOPOS 30mm and 35mm 2" eyepieces. That would be a vote of confidence in Baader Planetarium which designs and makes these.The 35 mm, assumed it lives up to its hype and specs, would give me an incredible 4 degree field at 17X on the 80ED. The exit pupil would be 4.7mm which I could handle. The main drawback is at 38 ounces this is going to cause me balance problems. Switching from this to any of the other eyepiece would require repositioning the scope in its cradle, or doing something for balance. Still . . . a sharp 4-degree field in the sharp 80ED with reasonable exit pupil . . . very tempting. And the price at 179 plus shipping is manageable. Mind you – I have no connection with Baader or Alpine. I pay the going price and take my chances – which, frankly, is how I think it should be if you’re going to write about something. (That’s the old “objective” newspaper man in me.)

But even without this addition, I’m just real pleased that the Hyperions are giving me a personal observing package I can feel really good about. These and some other selected item have a new soft case they go in so I can keep selected gear separated from the various eyepices and filters I have assigned to the variety of scopes I use in my public observing programs. I love doing those public programs, and the folks who visit get to use all the equipment, including the Obsession 15-inch. But I have established a gentle fence around the Hyperions. As I said – eyepices tend to be a personal thing and these are mine – period ;-)