Apertura

Apertura Panorama 16mm

A 16mm Apertura Panorama: the workhorse magnification where most galaxies, globulars and nebulae look their best, from a value 82-degree ultra-wide that delivers the big field without the premium price.

84/ 100

Polaris Score

Optical quality · Immersion · Comfort · Value

See the breakdown ↓

What it's for

Low power · wide fieldHigh power · narrow field

Medium power. At 16mm this is the workhorse magnification where most galaxies, globulars and nebulae look their best.

Apparent Field

82°

Barrel Size

1.25"

Eye Relief

15mm

Focal Length

16mm

From$179.95

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Where to buy

High Point ScientificBest price$179.95→

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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.

82° apparent field

At 82°, the edge slips into your peripheral vision, you stop looking at a field and start looking into the sky.

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

✓15mm of eye relief and a large eye lens for an easy, immersive view.

✓A true 82-degree field at a mid-range price.

✓At 16mm it lands squarely in medium power territory, exactly where most deep-sky objects look their best.

Trade-offs

!Some edge softening in fast scopes, as with most value ultra-wides.

!Heavy in the longer 2-inch focal lengths.

!On-axis it is very good but not premium-sharp.

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 30× and 2.7° of sky in a little refractor, or 127× 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

30×

True field

2.7°

Exit pupil

2.9 mm

30× across a 2.7° field at a 2.9mm exit pupil, right in the deep-sky sweet spot, bright and easy on the eye.

8-inch Dobsonian

1200 mm · f/6

Magnification

75×

True field

1.1°

Exit pupil

2.7 mm

75× across a 1.1° field at a 2.7mm exit pupil, right in the deep-sky sweet spot, bright and easy on the eye.

12-inch Dobsonian

1500 mm · f/5

Magnification

94×

True field

52′

Exit pupil

3.2 mm

94× across a 52′ field at a 3.2mm exit pupil, right in the deep-sky sweet spot, bright and easy on the eye.

8-inch SCT

2032 mm · f/10

Magnification

127×

True field

39′

Exit pupil

1.6 mm

127× across a 39′ field at a 1.6mm exit pupil, crisp medium power for galaxies, clusters and planetary nebulae.

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 lengthMid power

16mm

About 75x in an 8 inch f/5.9 Dobsonian and 127x in an 8 inch SCT. This is the most generally useful magnification range there is: bright enough for galaxies, sharp enough for clusters, and high enough to darken the sky background.

Apparent fieldVery wide

82°

Combined with a mid focal length, an 82 degree apparent field produces a genuinely large true field, so extended objects like the Double Cluster or the Andromeda Galaxy sit inside the view with space around them.

Eye reliefComfortable

15mm

Enough room to view comfortably without glasses and to hold your eye position steadily. Spectacle wearers will see the field edge cut off, which is the compromise this class of eyepiece makes for its price.

BarrelStandard

1.25"

Fits every standard focuser and diagonal. At 16 mm and 82 degrees the required field stop still fits within a 1.25 inch barrel, so nothing is being clipped.

OpticsValue wide-field

Fully multi-coated

Multi-coating across all surfaces holds contrast in a complex wide-field design where uncoated elements would scatter light. Edge sharpness at fast focal ratios is where this class gives ground to premium eyepieces.

03What comes alive

The targets this eyepiece was born for.

Comes alive

M13 globular cluster

Resolves to the core with pinpoint stars across the field.

Excellent

The Whirlpool (M51)

Two cores and a hint of the bridging spiral arm.

Comes alive

The Dumbbell Nebula (M27)

The apple-core shape framed with dark sky around it.

Excellent

M81 and M82

Both galaxies in one field, one soft, one edge-on and streaky.

Excellent

The Ring Nebula (M57)

A clean smoke ring at a comfortable scale.

Excellent

The Trapezium in Orion

Four stars split cleanly inside the glowing nebula.

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.

32 mm

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

16 mmThis one

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 (~10mm)

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

Filter it

What transforms the view

A mild broadband light-pollution filter

Lifts contrast on galaxies and clusters from the suburbs at medium power.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

84/ 100

Apertura Panorama 16mm

Judged as the workhorse magnification where most galaxies, globulars and nebulae look their best, it earns its score on a true 82-degree field at a mid-range price. The comfortable eye relief lifts it further. It is honest about being a specialist, not an all-rounder.

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 the workhorse magnification where most galaxies, globulars and nebulae look their best.

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

✓Deep-sky observers chasing the most immersive, wrap-around field they can get at this price.

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 Length16mm

Apparent Field82°

Comfort & handling

Eye Relief15mm

Fit & build

Barrel Size1.25"

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 Panorama is for.

— The Skynocular verdict

06Alternatives

For a different goal, start here.

Wider, lower power

Apertura Panorama 26mm

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

More magnification

Apertura Panorama 10mm

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

→Cross-shop

Celestron Luminos

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

→

Apertura Panorama 16mm

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.