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5" Reflector, what to realistically expect?

EnglishNightHawk

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EnglishNightHawk

EnglishNightHawk

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Hi everyone!

I'm upgrading from a 76mm Celestron Firstscope mini dob to a Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ, I can clearly see Jupiter and the Galilean moons in my current telescope but without any detail at all. With good weather conditions and the right eyepiece, will I be able to see much if any detail on Jupiter/Saturn/Mars?

Any info would be appreciated.  :smiley:

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RT65CB-SWL

RT65CB-SWL

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Hi EnglishNightHawk,

Congratulations on your [possible/pending] upgrade.

Jupiter & Saturn! You should be able to see a marked difference in what you see.

Mars being half the size of Earth and a little bigger than the Moon, (actual size, not visual), may struggle, as it it is still tiny, even though it is closer. This years closet oppostion, (March/April 2014), was a bit of a disapointment for me. During July 2003 Mars made its closest opposition and at the time I only used to have my Ranger, [70mm refractor], and I did manage to observe the north polar ice cap and surface detail. This year, I used my C6/SCT as well. I was lucky if I did see any surface detail at all, (though this may have been due to a recent Sahara dust storm that had left debris in the Earth's atmosphere and it was low down). In the Ranger, all I saw was a pale pink/red disc/disk and no polar cap in either 'scope using a 6mm Radian & 3-6mm Naglar zoom eyepiece, (c/w Baader neomydium filter). Anyway here is a link to a thread I posted ... http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/213512-mars-8th9th-april-2014-or-my-first-planetary-astro-photo/ on 9th April. I did ask one of my work colleagues if he had any success, with his SkyWatcher 200P dob. He 'forgot' about it'  :cussing: (he was doing early starts, so I suppose I should forgive him). To be realistic, to see any detail of Mars, I would suggest that a 200mm reflector is the minimum. Other SGL members may suggest something different altogether.

Venus is also a 'good' target and you should get a good view of its phases, and possibly Mercury, if you know where to look. Remember, as Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, always treat with caution! :icon_salut:

The Moon. No contest! Good to excellent in any 'scope or binoculars.

Good luck and clear skies.

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nightfisher

nightfisher

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With the 127 scope, you should be able to see equatorial bands and grea red spot on jupiter and if a moon is transiting the planet you should be able to see the shadow of the moon on the planet and with saturn you should be able to see the rings, maybe on a very good night see the cassini division and a couple of the brighter moons of saturn 

Mars is a tricky planet, so not going to comment on that one

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ronin

ronin

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The 127 should show a lot more, although I am a bit puzzled why you did not see bamds on Jupiter, I see bands with a 70mm and it has a short focal length. It isn't a big image but there are bands.

The 127 will show up more of the fainter objects, you could make yourself a list of clusters to try for. Never sure what nebula to go for, certainly M42 and try M45.

Don't go made on magnification, I tend to suggest a max magnification the same as the diameter in mm. Assuming that then you will get Saturn and Jupiter. Mars is not really in view at present and Mars is generally difficult. Mars comes round at about every 2 years and every 2 years there re cries of anguish and dispair, that happen to coincide with the appearance of Mars.

If you have the 127 in a years or so then try Mars and simply accept whatever you manage to get.

Not sure of the eyepieces you have, but I suspect the Firstscope is one of the fast ones and that may have been the problem with detail on Jupiter. Scopes do not produce a flat image as seen in the books, it is curved and the eyepiece needs to be able to handle this curvature.

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ

I suspect it is of a 'bird jones design'.

If a telescope has a focal length of 1000mm the tube length must be give or take 1000mm long.

Anything significantly shorter means it is going to have some form of barlow built into the focuser unit.

It will I expect be greater on views than your 76mm and perhaps you got it for a very good price second hand.

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Charic

Charic

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Hi everyone!

I'm upgrading from a 76mm Celestron Firstscope mini dob to a Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ, I can clearly see Jupiter and the Galilean moons in my current telescope but without any detail at all. With good weather conditions and the right eyepiece, will I be able to see much if any detail on Jupiter/Saturn/Mars?

Any info would be appreciated.  :smiley:

  Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ          *****  NO   -     DONT   DO    IT  ****

Not all telescope specifications are equal in their task of providing a good final image. I own a Celestron Powerseeker 127 EQ. Im surprised they're still up for sale? 

I used mine, and on the first night realised this is not for me, especially all the adjustments,  locking and unlocking, and tube rotations, to keep the eyepiece in a reasonable position, just  to just see and manually follow the target. No no, not good.

There is no comparison to my Skyliner, even using any one of my Eyepieces does not improve the image  quality produced from 127EQ telescope. Collimation is factory set. Its possible to self collimate just with your eye alone, as the mirror is not parabolic, its not critical on this type of telescope. Its a short tube, correcting lens, Bird-Jones telescope? You cannot Laser collimate the secondary mirror with the additional lens  fixed in place, but you could try and check the primary mirrors collimation (  the pre-fixed corrector lens acts  like a Barlow ) but the primary mirror is not centre spotted, so you can't even Laser-Barlow, unless you strip the telescope and add your own spot. Ive done this, still no improvements though!

This telescope is great for Moon, for a child and has a correcting eyepiece for daylight terrestrial use, but nothing more.

Pity you don't live in Scotland UK, you could just have mine,  I  could have a bit more space in my shed?

If you can spare some more $  get yourself at a minimum, a 6" Dobsonian like the Skywatcher or the 8" Skywatcher like my Skyliner. You will regret owning a Powerseeker 127EQ, you wont regret the 8" Skyliner.

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EnglishNightHawk

EnglishNightHawk

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I got a very good deal on it 2nd hand, from a reputable company. So if it's not the most amazing telescope in the world i'm not going to be too worried about it, I'm picking it up today but apparently the shipping box is completely annihilated! Let's hope it's in one piece with no missing parts, 1st world problems right?  :rolleyes:

I will let everyone knows how it goes, really appreciate you all taking the time to give a decent opinion! 

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Charic

Charic

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I'm not going to gloat on it, everyone has different views ( excuse the pun) with telescopes. The 127 is just not for me. Like I said, I would have gladly given you my scope if you were this side of the Atlantic?

If it betters what you already have, then thats a fantastic result, especially at the lower price you paid. 

The 127EQ was my 1st real telescope, but compared to the Skyliner, I`m very one-sided now.

I hope it all turns out well for you.

I mentioned the lens which is situated at the bottom of the focuser tube, its really not designed to be removed   when setting up the telescope, so just follow the instructions in the manual and you will be just fine. Making a collimation tool ( cap ) from an old 35mm film cassette is all you'll need, or just punch a small hole in the focuser dust cap of about 1-2 mm, and tape over when not needed as a collimating  tool?

http://www.celestron.com/c3/images/files/downloads/PowerSeeker_127eq_21049.pdf

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EnglishNightHawk

EnglishNightHawk

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Unfortunately it is missing the counterweights and some bolts for the EQ mount, nothing that I can't sort out easily. I did take it outside for some terrestrial viewing, going from a 76mm reflector it's pretty awesome so far. Looking forward to putting some time in with it.

Thanks for all the replies!  :smiley:

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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Hope you did you get it at a price to reflect that it is incomplete.

Might be able to fabricate a counter weight to add to the counter weight bar?

I saw one post were an empty small drinks bottle had been filled with sand

In fact they had made a new equatorial based head for their telescope off to find the post.

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Charic

Charic

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My weights sat at the full extent of the balance bar, so if the end bolt is still attached, a large over sized washer should keep the barbell weights in place. Too dark and wet to go out into my shed and weigh the weights just now, to give you some idea how much  weight you need?

Thats a good price, the same unit is still selling here in uk for £199.99?

I got mine for £70, but that included £40 worth of new  quality Books, so I did alright, but I wish I had tested it prior to purchase.   I was happy at first with my new toy, but no regrets with my upgrade.

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

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Some people just don't like reflectors. But I do. Yes, they can be more work to operate/use than a refractor, and they have a learning-curve regards proper collimation, but for cost of aperture (how many dollars per inch), they can't be beat. So get ready to learn new things!

Enjoy your new scope,

Dave

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EnglishNightHawk

EnglishNightHawk

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Thanks for all the info, really like the link about DIY mounts! I think it's going to need about 5 pounds of counterweight (not sure), which I already have. I thought about putting a washer on the bottom to hold the weight at the end of the bar, but I will need to use a hose clamp or something above them to stop them shifting. Also if the weight is right at the end of the counterweight rod, you must have perfect weight on the end because you can't adjust it up or down to compensate like you would with the supplied counterweights that screw on.

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happy-kat

happy-kat

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I love Google

Future upgrade to power the mount on a sturdy base.

http://jjbunn.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/replacing-a-celestron-powerseeker-127eq-tripod-with-something-more-sturdy/

Home brew tweaks

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=27116

And more ideas

http://www.astronomyforum.net/celestron-telescope-forums/98045-improvements-celestron-powerseeker-127-eq.html

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EnglishNightHawk

EnglishNightHawk

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I have checked a couple of stores here and I am having a hard time finding a threaded bar that is the right kind of thread, I am having the same issues with some of the other bolts too. Does anyone know what kind of threads my Celestron Powerseeker 127EQ mount needs? If I could find a threaded bar with a couple of wing nuts that would be the perfect solution, then I just need a couple other bolts and i'm good to put it all together. 

Really appreciate the help!  :smiley:

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