Need help!

[waynesmith]

Hi im really new to astronomy and this is my first telescope which ive had just over a week its a - skywatcher 127 sync scan telescope. Ive noticed that when i tried to use my barlow x2 and 10 mil looking at jupiter i struggled to get a clear image is this because ive pushed my telescope past its magnification limit or that the eye pieces im using are not very good quailty ?

[ronin]

Simple:Far too much magnification.

Stop being greedy.

Throw the barlow away, use NOTHING smaller then the 10mm.

Get a better 10mm.

[steppenwolf]

The 'seeing' can have a dramatic effect on the view through the eyepiece and the higher the magnification, the worse the shimmering view becomes. The standard eyepieces and Barlow lens that ship with these instruments are not fantastic quality although the 25mm eyepiece is normally fine. Ronin's suggestion of getting a better quality 10mm eyepiece makes sense.

Seeing (extract from Wikipedia)

Astronomical seeing refers to the blurring and twinkling of astronomical objects such as stars caused by turbulent mixing in the Earth's atmosphere varying the optical refractive index. The astronomical seeing conditions on a given night at a given location describe how much the Earth's atmosphere perturbs the images of stars as seen through a telescope.

[waynesmith]

Thanks for the help ive probably got a thousand other questions that il need help with so if i drive you insane with them i apologise peeps :-) .

[umadog]

Seeing, indeed, can have a very dramatic effect. Be prepared to play with the power to find the sweet-spot.

[waynesmith]

What eye pieces would you recommend il put them on my Christmas list. I've noticed possals are roughly 30 pounds and ideas what there like? My price range is no more than 40 pounds each

[waynesmith]

Or and if I'm going to change the 2x balow what could I replace it with ? Ps thanks for the help. And sefen I think I understand what you mean it's not just low level cloud that can cause issues high alitiutude atmospheric conditions can play a big factor too

[brantuk]

A Tal 2x Barlow at around £35-£40 is very good value for money. FLO do them. Have a skim around Astro Buy/Sell - you may get a good one second hand for a bit less. But work out what magnification you are getting and whether it exceeds the scope.

Magnification = focal length / eyepiece size (all in mm). So for eg if fl = 1500 and eyepiece = 10mm then magnification is 1500/10=150x. If you stick around 150x-200x then you should get good views in good seeing.

If you add a 2x barlow that doubles the focal length (or halves the eyepiece size) and that would give you 1500/5 = 300x magnification which is probably way too much in normal UK seeing conditions

[waynesmith]

Cheers brant the focal length is 1500 mil so that makes sense to me what you put il use the 25 I got with the scope and the x2 Balow and il have a look at x2 and the site you mentioned

[brantuk]

You're very welcome - 1500/25 = 60x and with a 2x barlow would double it to 120x