Kevin Busarow | Oberwerk

Upcoming Annular Solar Eclipse

Annular Eclipse: October 14th 2023

Are you ready for the next solar eclipse? On October 14th, an annular solar eclipse will be viewable from a swath from Oregon through Texas. The rest of the USA will experience a partial eclipse. An annular eclipse means that the Moon is at or near its farthest point from Earth. Therefore it’s smaller, and won’t totally obscure the Sun. This creates an amazingly bright ring around the moon called the annulus.

In the map below, you can see the path the annular solar eclipse will take. Check out Great American Eclipse for more details if you would like to plan a trip to view this amazing event.

Map showing path of annular eclipse. By Great American Eclipse. — The path of the annular solar eclipse over North America. Credits: ©2021 Great American Eclipse, LLC.

Nothing beats seeing a solar event like this with your own eyes, but it’s no different than looking directly at the sun. Viewing an eclipse with the naked eye can severely damage the eyes. Fortunately, there are ways to safely observe an annular eclipse.

An annular eclilpse — A photograph of an annular eclipse. With the proper equipment, you’ll be able to capture your own image of the annular eclipse.

Solar Filters for Binoculars

To safely view the annular eclipse with binoculars, you’ll need a pair of solar filters. While some create Oberwerk customers have created custom-made solar filters, we offer a more elegant solution. Oberwerk carries Seymour solar filters, which are custom fit for all Oberwerk binoculars (42mm and larger). Seymour Helios thin-film has a consistent yellow-orange solar image, with higher contrast than competitor’s filters. For binoculars capable of magnifications greater than 25x (our XL Series), we also offer Seymour Premium Glass filters, for highest possible resolution. The filters snugly fit over the objective end of the binocular so the sunlight is safely filtered before it enters the binocular. Most sizes are still in stock, but they’re selling out quickly!

Seymour Solar Filters — Seymour Solar filters. Get the perfect fit for all your Oberwerk binoculars.

Check out the products below to get ready for your annular eclipse watch party. Get a digiscoping adapter for photography and a beverage/eyepiece tray to keep organized.

Binomania reviews the 8×32 SE and 12×50 SE.

Our friends at Binomania recently got their hands on two of our new SE (Special Edition) models- the 8×32 and 12×50. The following reviews are in Italian, but you can turn on closed captioning and select your language.

Neil English Reviews the Oberwerk 8×42 Sport ED

Neil English was so impressed with our new SE Series Porro prism binoculars that he wanted to check out one of our roof prism models. We sent the 8×42 Sport ED, here is his review.

See You at NEAF 2023?

NEAF (Northeast Astronomy Forum), held at Rockland Community College in Suffern, NY, is the world’s largest astronomy convention. Oberwerk normally exhibits there every year, but the event has been cancelled for the last 3 years due to Covid. It’s finally back on for the weekend of Apr. 15th. We’ll be there demoing every binocular in the Oberwerk product line, as well as our various tripods and mounts. We’re not bringing any inventory to sell, but we can relay orders to our office in Dayton, OH, and those will ship the following week (no sales tax, free shipping). We’ll be giving away our beloved Oberwerk pens, as well as Oberwerk eyepatches for telescope users- because telescopes are for one-eyed pirates 😉
Our booth location is 123-127, look for the banner below. Stop by and say hello!

Neil English Reviews the new Oberwerk 8×32 SE (Special Edition)

Dr. Neil English is the author of seven books in amateur and professional astronomy. His new book, Choosing and Using Binoculars: A Guide for Stargazers, Birders and Outdoor Enthusiasts will be published later this year. When Neil heard the announcement of the Oberwerk SE Series, he asked to be placed on the pre-order list for an 8×32 SE so he could do a product review, and we obliged. It didn’t take long for him to form an opinion, and here’s the link to the full review on his website. It’s not a quick read, so if you’re in a hurry, (spoiler alert) here’s the summary- “It goes without saying that this product gets my highest possible recommendation.“

Astronomy Magazine Names Oberwerk BT-127XL-SD a 2022 Star Product

Astronomy Magazine has awarded the Oberwerk BT-127XL-SD as a “2022 Star Product”. “Welcome to the 12th annual Star Products awards. This year, as in the past, we scoured the market in search of the 35 best new and unique astro products. Our winners this year, presented in no particular order, offer a mix for newbie and veteran hobbyists alike. #19. Oberwerk recently introduced the BT-127XL-SD, the largest member of its binocular telescope family. The glossy white binoscope pairs two identical 127mm apochromatic refractors. Each has a fully-coated three element objective lens made of FCD100 and FK-61 glass to eliminate false color. Despite the size of the large objective lenses and prism assemblies, the BT-127XL-SD weighs only 24.5 lbs (11 kg). It comes with two 14mm eyepieces and a heavy-duty case with wheels for easy transport. A mount is sold separately.”

Introducing ROAMER (Ridiculously-Over-engineered Accurate Measure of Eye Relief)

If you don’t wear glasses, eyepiece eye relief is usually not a concern. Even if you do need corrective lenses for farsightedness or nearsightedness, our binoculars usually have enough range in their focusers to compensate for your correction, allowing you to observe with glasses off. But if your glasses are correcting for astigmatism, you’ll probably get sharper views by keeping your glasses on- in which case eye relief will be an important specification. If it’s too short, you won’t be able to see the entire field of view when wearing glasses. There’s always been a difference between binocular manufacturer’s eye relief specification and actual usable eye relief. Whether it’s space taken up by whatever style eyecup is utilized, or a recess from the top of the eyepiece to the actual lens, manufacturer’s eye relief specifications have always been exaggerated to some degree- until now. Introducing ROAMER (Ridiculously Over-engineered Accurate Measure of Eye Relief), which Oberwerk will now use to provide precise usable eye relief specifications for every Oberwerk binocular. Note that these new specifications will make Oberwerk binoculars appear to have less eye relief than binoculars from other brands. But that’s not the case- our eyepieces are no worse than others in this regard, and they’re often better- but at least you’ll have accurate information from now on.

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Astronomy Magazine reviews the Oberwerk 20×65 ED Deluxe

Check out Oberwerk’s 20×65 ED Deluxe Binoculars in Astronomy Magazine’s September, 2022 issue. “Explore the sky with Oberwerk’s 20×65 ED Deluxe binoculars.”

Inspired by the legendary Takahashi 22×60 Fluorite, which was discontinued about 15 years ago. According to Astronomy Magazine, these binoculars are “ideal for any astronomer.” Check out our outstanding user reviews.

BT-127XL-SD In-Depth Review

The binocular aficionados at Binomania.it have published the most comprehensive review to date for our flagship BT-127XL-SD binocular telescope. You can read the written review here. It’s in Italian, but most browsers will translate to English. There is also a 15-minute YouTube review. It’s also in Italian, but has English subtitles. As always, the video quality is excellent, and the scenery is breath-taking. This review very clearly shows the remarkable absence of CA (Chromatic Aberration) due to the BT-127XL-SD’s apochromatic triplet objectives. If you’re considering a larger-than-100mm binocular telescope, this video review is well-worth your time.

Binomania Reviews The BT-82XL-ED (with video)

The binocular enthusiasts at Binomania (Italy) just reviewed the Oberwerk BT-82XL-ED, complete with a 16-minute video. The video is in Italian, but has English subtitles.