Optical reference
Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian: aperture, focal length and eyepiece fit
What the Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian measures, the magnification and true field each eyepiece produces in it, and the barrel, mount payload and camera adapter that fit.
Published specifications
Eyepiece ladder
2 pairings| Pairing | Magnification | True field |
|---|---|---|
| Celestron Omni 6mm Plossl in the Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian | 200x | 0.25 deg |
| Celestron Omni 15mm Plossl in the Orion SkyQuest XT6 Classic Dobsonian | 80x | 0.62 deg |
The XT6 is a 150 mm f/8 Dobsonian, a slow 6 in that is gentle on eyepieces and shows sharp lunar and planetary detail. Its 1200 mm focal length gives comfortable medium power with common eyepieces.
Because magnification is the telescope's 1200 mm focal length divided by the eyepiece focal length, a 25 mm eyepiece gives 48x here and a 10 mm eyepiece gives 120x. The highest useful magnification is about 300x (roughly twice the aperture in millimetres), beyond which the image dims and softens without showing more detail.
The focuser takes 1.25 in eyepieces, so use 1.25 in eyepieces; a long low-power 2 in eyepiece will not fit this focuser.