My eyes!

[Crunchard]

Blimey, Jupiter was very bright last night! So much so that I had trouble looking at it for more than a few seconds each time using the 250PX dob. Anyone else have this problem and if so what did/do you do to get around it?

The most consistent view I had of Jupiter was through ... wait for it ... my 32mm Panaview! The plossl's were all a let down, and that includes the TV.

Did have one other issue, and that was with my TMB. Since I 'upgraded' my focuser to the Revelation dual speed the TMB won't drop in fully, so I can no longer bring it to focus. A right pain, and I need to investigate during the day.

Advice, as always, most welcome.

Cheers, Jeff

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

I had a terrible night viewing lastnight. My eyes kept tearing up with the cold. I had troubles focusing and my eyes would just relax too much and look through the image... Jupiter was super bright, to the point where i could only just make out the bands through the glare...

I had put it down to me being completely knackered after a particularly tough day at work, and lack of sleep etc... But maybe it was down to the rather good seeing/transparency everyone is saying we had, maybe jupiter was just too bright?

[John]

I find Jupiter bright at 1st but my eye adjusts after a few minutes. I'm loathed to stick any more glass in the light path (ie: filters) so I'm happy to allow my eye to adjust.

[Ags]

At first I had this problem but now my eyes seem used to Jupiter's brightness. Also, i never observe planets when dark adapted. Dark adaptation actually hinders observation as it reduces color sensitivity and I think it makes planets seem very glarey.

[twotter]

I've found Jupiter to be too bright for my eyes in the past (though last night I was using binoculars so it wasn't an issue). My solution was to use my Moon filter

[Stu]

Strangely, my eyes are quite different. With my right eye, I find jupiter too bright, and I am hardly able to see much of interest. My left eye however gives a dimmer view with little glare and allows me to resolve alot of detail so is much better

Stu

[Moonshane]

tend to use a baader neodymium filter on Jupiter and the moon above 50% illuminated. other than that I only use UHC/Oiii where needed. I do prefer the unfiltered view though to be honest, even with my 16" scope and the moon. just give it time and eventually your pupil will contract.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Strangely, my eyes are quite different. With my right eye, I find jupiter too bright, and I am hardly able to see much of interest. My left eye however gives a dimmer view with little glare and allows me to resolve alot of detail so is much better

Stu

Heh, funny you should mention that, but i recently realized that while observing, i use my right, and keep the left closed. Generally, i start easy, with a planet or the moon, then move on to DSO's.

It took me all this time to realize that by the time i'm done observing bright stuff with my right, my left will be fully adapted and ready for DSO's...

[Episkey]

Jupiter was extremely bright last night! I didn't really have problems looking at it, but it's the brightest I've seen it this month!

[Crunchard]

You know I never thought about using my Orion Ultrablock ... think I was a bit miffed about the TMB at the time!

Thanks for all the comments, some good advice and nice to know it wasn't just me.

Cheers, Jeff

[Charon]

Jeff, my best views of Jupiter so far have been with my 36mm Hyperion.

[Crunchard]

Cheers Dex, that makes me feel much better I read all these comments about using a high power EP to get good views and never get close to the descriptions the others come up with.

[umadog]

Stu's post is interesting, it suggests that some of the "too bright" complaints are really aimed at scattered light obscuring the view. This also may explain why different people say different things: different telescopes and different eyes will scatter light to different degrees. In reality, Jupiter is not all that bright and will only appear so if you are already very well dark adapted. This is what Ags is saying, and I agree.

Personally, even through a 25", I don't find Jupiter to be too bright. I do quite a lot of outreach and have shown Jupiter to many people (both experienced observers and first-timers) and nobody has complained that its brightness is overwhelming or uncomfortable (that's at both 10" and 18").

[Ags]

I did find Jupiter too bright when I first got my 100mm scope. That was because I thought that I needed dark adaptation to observe the planet. Now when I observe planets I avoid dark adaptation, and see more color and have a more comfortable view too.

[Crunchard]

Umadog - maybe my eyes were very sensitive that night ... who knows!

Ags - thanks I may nip indoors and then come back out to give that a go.

[blusky]

No 58 green filter makes the whole experience much more pleasant while bringing up the detail on the barges.

[Crunchard]

Cheers blusky, will have to see if I can get one of those