Baader Planetarium

Baader Hyperion Aspheric 36mm

A 36mm Baader Hyperion Aspheric: a wide-field, low-power eyepiece for the biggest objects and rich star fields, from a big-glass 72-degree low-power eyepiece at a price the premium brands cannot touch.

77/ 100

Polaris Score

Optical quality · Immersion · Comfort · Value

See the breakdown ↓

What it's for

Low power · wide fieldHigh power · narrow field

Low power · wide field. At 36mm this is a wide-field, low-power eyepiece for the biggest objects and rich star fields; it is not the eyepiece for high-power planetary detail.

Apparent Field

72°

Barrel Size

1.25" and 2"

Eye Relief

15mm

Focal Length

36mm

From$306

Lowest in 90 days

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The spacewalk

You don’t look at a field.
You look into the sky.

Every number on the spec sheet matters less than one feeling: how much sky wraps around your eye. Widen the apparent field and watch the black edge of the eyepiece slip away.

72° apparent field

At 72°, the black rim sits out at the corner of your attention rather than in front of you.

See this field in your own scope in the Simulator →

01What it's good at

What it's best at — and the trade-offs.

Best at

✓Long eye relief for such a low-power eyepiece.

✓Dual 1.25-inch/2-inch barrel.

✓At 36mm it lands squarely in low power · wide field territory, exactly where wide star fields and large objects belong.

Trade-offs

!Aspheric, not fully corrected: the outer field shows aberration in fast scopes.

!Best treated as a low-cost wide finder, not a critical-sharpness eyepiece.

!Physically large and front-heavy.

02In your telescope

One eyepiece. A different job in every scope.

An eyepiece has no magnification of its own — the telescope decides. The same eyepiece becomes 13× and 5.5° of sky in a little refractor, or 56× and a tight frame in a long SCT. Here’s what it does across common scopes.

Small apo refractor

480 mm · f/5.5

Magnification

13×

True field

5.5°

Exit pupil

6.5 mm

13× across a 5.5° field at a 6.5mm exit pupil, a bright, low-power sweep for framing the largest objects.

8-inch Dobsonian

1200 mm · f/6

Magnification

33×

True field

2.2°

Exit pupil

6.0 mm

33× across a 2.2° field at a 6mm exit pupil, a bright, low-power sweep for framing the largest objects.

12-inch Dobsonian

1500 mm · f/5

Magnification

42×

True field

1.7°

Exit pupil

7.2 mm

42× across a 1.7° field at a 7.2mm exit pupil, a bright, low-power sweep for framing the largest objects.

8-inch SCT

2032 mm · f/10

Magnification

56×

True field

1.3°

Exit pupil

3.6 mm

56× across a 1.3° field at a 3.6mm exit pupil, right in the deep-sky sweet spot, bright and easy on the eye.

Exit pupil is how wide the beam of light leaving the eyepiece is. Around 5–6 mm is bright and immersive under dark skies; push much past 6 mm and you waste light, and under light pollution a smaller exit pupil shows more contrast.

02In plain English

The numbers, in plain English.

Focal lengthLowest power

36mm

About 33x in an 8 inch f/5.9 Dobsonian and 56x in an 8 inch SCT. In the fast Dobsonian the exit pupil reaches about 6.1 mm, at the limit of what an older eye can accept, so some light is wasted and the sky background looks brighter.

Apparent fieldVery wide

72° in 2 inch mode

The 72 degree figure applies with the 2 inch barrel fitted. Swap to the supplied 1.25 inch barrel and the field drops to around 50 degrees, since the narrower barrel cannot pass the full field stop.

Eye reliefComfortable

15mm

Enough for relaxed viewing without glasses. Taking in a 72 degree field with spectacles on will mean losing the outer edge.

BarrelDual barrel

1.25" and 2" (both supplied)

Both barrels are included, so it physically fits any telescope, but only the 2 inch mode delivers the wide field that justifies buying this eyepiece. Treat a 2 inch focuser as a requirement rather than a preference.

OpticsAspheric wide-field

Multi-coatings

The aspheric element delivers a wide field with fewer elements than a premium design, keeping weight and cost down. In an f/10 SCT it performs at its best; in a fast Newtonian expect softening toward the edge.

03What comes alive

The targets this eyepiece was born for.

Comes alive

The Veil Nebula

With an OIII filter the lacework wraps across the field.

Excellent

The North America Nebula

A wide, faint target that only fits at long focal length.

Comes alive

The Pleiades (M45)

The full cluster framed with room around every star.

Excellent

Milky Way star clouds

Sweeping the summer Milky Way at its richest.

Excellent

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

The full span of the galaxy and its dust lanes.

Comes alive

The Double Cluster

Both clusters with a generous star field between them.

04Role in a collection

Where it sits in your eyepiece case.

A good eyepiece collection isn’t a pile of glass — it’s two or three focal lengths that hand off from wide to tight. This is the anchor at the bottom of the ladder: the one you find and frame with. You buy it once, and it stays your low-power eyepiece for life.

36 mmThis one

Low power · wide field

Find, frame and sweep. Your widest true field and the lowest useful magnification, the eyepiece you reach for first.

Veil Nebula · Pleiades · Milky Way star clouds

13 mm

Medium power · the workhorse

Where most deep-sky objects look their best, galaxies, globulars and planetary nebulae at a comfortable scale.

M13 · Ring Nebula · most galaxies

7 mm

High power · detail

Planets, the Moon at the terminator, tight double stars and the smallest planetary nebulae. Steady-air nights only.

Jupiter · Saturn · lunar craters

04Build around it

What it pairs with.

The telescope

What it goes into

Any 1.25-inch focuser

Fits essentially every telescope made.

Fast, short scopes love this field

A fast Newtonian or refractor turns this focal length into a rich, wide sweep.

Pair it

What extends its range

A high-power eyepiece (~22mm)

Locate and frame with this one, then swap to high power for planets and small objects.

Filter it

What transforms the view

A UHC or OIII nebula filter

At low power this eyepiece frames big emission nebulae; a narrowband filter makes the Veil and North America jump out.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

77/ 100

Baader Hyperion Aspheric 36mm

Judged as a wide-field, low-power eyepiece for the biggest objects and rich star fields, it earns its score on a huge eye lens and wide field for the money, ideal for framing large deep-sky objects. The comfortable eye relief lifts it further. A wide field is what this focal length is for, and it delivers.

Optical quality

Immersion

Comfort

Value

Polaris weighs how well the eyepiece does the job it was designed for — optics, immersion, comfort and value — never list price or brand.

03Who it's for

An honest fit check.

Buy it if you

✓Observers who want a wide-field, low-power eyepiece for the biggest objects and rich star fields.

✓Anyone who observes in eyeglasses; the eye relief here is long enough to see the whole field.

✓Observers who want a comfortably wide field without paying ultra-wide prices.

Look elsewhere if you

!Anyone chasing the absolute widest field, who should look at a 100-degree eyepiece.

!Grab-and-go observers watching every gram, since this is not the lightest option.

!Planetary specialists who want the last ounce of high-power contrast from an orthoscopic.

05The numbers

Full specifications.

Optical

Focal Length36mm

Apparent Field72°

Comfort & handling

Eye Relief15mm

Fit & build

Barrel Size1.25" and 2"

Editor’s Take

Sweep it across a rich star field and the reason to own this focal length is obvious in a second. That is what the Hyperion Aspheric is for.

— The Skynocular verdict

06Alternatives

For a different goal, start here.

Wider, lower power

Baader Hyperion Aspheric 58mm

The same optics with more true field, for framing larger objects and finding your way around.

More magnification

Baader Hyperion Aspheric 22mm

The same line at higher power, for planets and the smallest deep-sky detail.

Cross-shop

Explore Scientific 68°

A natural alternative at a nearby price point, if you want to compare field and feel before committing.

→

Baader Hyperion Aspheric 36mm

You don’t look at a field.You look into the sky.

What it's best at — and the trade-offs.

One eyepiece. A different job in every scope.

The numbers, in plain English.

The targets this eyepiece was born for.

Where it sits in your eyepiece case.

What it pairs with.

How it scores, and why.

An honest fit check.

Full specifications.

For a different goal, start here.

You don’t look at a field.
You look into the sky.