1st view of jupiter.

[rob_c]

hi all had my 1st view of jupiter tonight with my new scope which is skywatcher 150p.i was happy with the view as it was a 1st but i was hoping the plant would have looked a little bigger the only eyepieces i got with my scope was meade ma 12mm, super 25 wide angle long eye relief lens.

could anyone point me in the right direction as to what lens would be good.please be gentle as im a newbie

thanks in advance

rob

[Kwizxi]

I've been looking at Jupiter tonight too, but only with my bins. My back door (stable door) is broken so I have to climb over it to get out there. Not doing that with my gear!

Hurrah for autumn eh?

[Skybrowser]

Try and save a few bob up for a decent barlow lens. TAL x3 barlow I've got brings Jupiter up a treat.

[John]

I'm finding 150x - 180x brings out the finest detail and contrast in Jupiter at the moment. It's not a planet that benefits from really high powers - you get a larger disk, yes, but often see less detail. With your 150P you need an eyepiece focal length in the 4mm-5mm range to get the above so I guess a 3x barlow would work with your 12mm eyepiece although the MA design is not the best and a 3x barlow might not deliver satisfactory results because of that. Maybe a 5mm eyepiece then ? - the TMB Planetary clones are pretty good for their cost.

[James]

I'll second John on this - for me it's a 10mm eyepiece giving 165x that consistently brings out the best balance of detail and size and brightness of Jupiter in the eyepiece. It's tempting to put on as much magnification as possible but this is definitely a case of just a little less giving more.

James