Barlow lenses are an essential part of any telescope accessory collection. Invented in 1834 by Peter Barlow, the Barlow lens increases the magnification of your telescope. For example, the most popular Barlow lens is the 2x Barlow lens. By using a 2x Barlow lens you’re cutting the effective focal length of your eyepiece in half. For example, if you’re using a 20mm eyepiece with a 2x Barlow lens you’ll effectively cut the focal length to 10mm, thereby doubling the magnification of whatever telescope you decide to use.
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Barlow lens focal extenders are great telescope accessories because they essentially double the magnification range of your eyepiece assortment. For example, if you have eyepieces with focal lengths of 40mm, 25mm and 10mm in your collection and you add a 2x Barlow lens, then you’ll effectively widen your collection range to 40mm, 25mm, 20mm, 12.5mm, 10mm and 5mm. Adding a Barlow focal extender lens is a great way to increase your eyepiece magnification range while saving money!
Barlow lenses are easy to use; all you need to do is take the eyepiece you want to use, insert it into your Barlow lens and tighten the set screw. You then insert your eyepiece and Barlow lens combination into the focuser or diagonal of your telescope. Barlow lenses come in 1.25" and 2" formats. The 1.25" Barlow lens is the most common, however, the 2" Barlow lens is becoming more and more popular because it allows more light to enter through the eyepiece.
If you don't have a Barlow lens you should seriously consider adding one to your telescope accessory collection!
Explore Scientific has a reputation for producing high-quality equipment, and their Barlow lenses are no exception. The Explore Scientific 2x Focal Extender for 1.25” focuser barrels, eyepieces, and filters has four multi-coated elements to eliminate chromatic and spherical aberrations and features blackened lens edges to increase contrast.
Looking for a little more magnification? Try the Celestron X-Cel LX 3X Barlow Lens for 1.25” focuser barrels, eyepieces, and filters. Besides increasing the magnification by 3x, this impressive Barlow features three fully multi-coated elements, a twist-up eye guard, and an impressive 60 degree field of view.