Houdini Eyepiece Specifications

Eyepiece Focal Length mm AFOV ° Field Stop mm Layout Eye Relief mm Weight g Diameter mm Height mm Barrel Barrel Length mm Focal Point mm Flatness diopter Angular Magnification Distortion
Houdini 30 30 80 42.0 8 / 6 20 / 15 580 64.5 140 2" 38 +2 < 0.7 < 3%
Houdini 20 20 86 30.0 8 / 6 20 / 15 570 64 140 2" 35 +2 < 0.7 < 2%
Houdini 12 12 86 18.0 9 / 7 19 / 15 330 51 121 1.25" 34 -0.5 < 0.5 < 3%
Houdini 9 9 86 13.5 9 / 6 19 / 15 300 48.5 127 1.25" 31 -0.5 < 0.5 < 2%
Houdini 7 7 86 10.5 9 / 6 19 / 15 290 47 129 1.25" 30 -0.5 < 0.5 < 2%

 

AFOV = Apparent Field of View

Layout: Number of Elements / Number of Groups

Eye Relief: Theoretical Eye Relief (center of field, to glass) / Effective Eye Relief (edge of field, to body)

Diameter: Maximum diameter of the aluminum body - the rubber grips add around 1 mm to the diameter

Height: Includes the height of the eyecup

Barrel: Standard size 2" = 50.8 mm or 1.25" = 31.75 mm

Focal Point: Position of the focal plane with respect to the barrel. Positive values are above and negative values are below the top of the barrel

Houdini Eyepiece Performance

The following graph illustrates the performance of the Houdini eyepieces in an f/4 Newtonian telescope. Spot diagrams with 3,000 rays are shown for the center, halfway point, and near the edge of the field.

The spot diagrams have been strongly magnified to make them easier to see. At the center of the field, a spot diameter smaller than 2 arcminutes is considered nearly perfect. Near the edge of the field, a spot diameter smaller than 10 arcminutes is considered very good, while 5 arcminutes is excellent. The top left shows reference circles of 2' and 5'.

There is no trace of coma remaining in the Houdini spot diagrams. Some spherical aberration and lateral color remain, which are visible only on very bright objects, such as a magnitude 1 star or Jupiter, near the edge of the field. These aberrations are not visible in a typical deep-sky field that does not contain such bright objects. As a result, the field appears essentially sharp from edge to edge.