ep's and filters

[leemanley]

which combination of ep's and filters would you recommend for viewing Jupiter ? I'm sat here waiting for the cloud to go away. Again.......

[John]

I don't use a filter myself. The best magnification that I've found for Jupiter with my 120mm and 152mm scopes over the past few nights is 150x - 180x. I think your scope has a focal length of 1000mm so that would be something around a 6mm eyepiece.

[hemihaggis]

yep . as above poster says high power for planets like jupiter , 10mm and below . i dont bother with filters foir planets , watch out for jupiters moons too

[umadog]

Some do use coloured filters for planetary viewing. Others say not much is gained by this. You could try and see for yourself. Personally, I've not bothered: it seems too much hassle.

Jupiter doesn't take magnification terribly well. Probably because of the relatively low contrast of the surface features. On virtually every night the highest magnification you can use will be limited by the seeing and not the scope. Your local seeing conditions will determine what is a "good" night. Around here the seeing is generally bad, as it is in the UK. If I get a 210x night then I'm happy. With a 5" you may get better results closer to 150x, but experiment. If you have good optics you may well get it to 250x on the rare exceptional nights. If the views don't look good the back off the power a little. Also, make sure the scope is cooled down!

Some of the best seeing happens when the transparency is bad and the sky is hazy. Presumably the air is still on these nights so haze builds up. The stillness translates into steady seeing. I was observing Jupiter last night with cloudy haze slowly building up. 210x looked great and 260x pretty usable. Just as Jupiter was being smothered by cloud I found myself observing the moons at 420x! It was rather wonderful to see Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa as perfect, still, little disks of different sizes. Callisto and Europa obviously had different surface brightnesses. I don't know when I'll next be lucky enough to see that. Moral of the story: don't ignore those unpromising-looking hazy nights, they may surprise you!

[ronin]

I would go with something to give 120x and if that is OK boost up a bit to 150x.

[assasincz]

I use SW 6mm 66° EP with my 114/900, so I get 150x magnification. Occasionally, when seeing conditions allow it, I use barlowed 10mm so I get 180x magnification and still a reasonably sharp image. At this magnification, moons' discs are nicely apparent, too.

As for the filters, I sometimes find standard grey moon filter useful to reduce Jupiter's glare, which helps me with spotting details outside NEB and SEB. Furthermore, blue#80A filter is terrific for distinguishing GRS and border shapes of main atmospheric belts as it boosts contrast of reddish details. But as other commentaries go, filters are not miraculous.

[leemanley]

thankyou all for your replies, I ended up using an 8mm last night, with great results, all 4 moons fully visible, could actually define some of the belts on the surface ! Tonight looks like it is going to be the best night for viewing since I bought the scope, it's stood there in the garden cooling down, will share my redults, have a good night all !