First View of Saturn / Mars 200p

[stevetynant]

I had planned to spend last night stargazing with my mate and a few beers but there was a realy fine mist in the air even though the sky looked clear so gave up on that (and it was absolutely freezing to be honest) - disappointed I couldn't resist coming back out at about 12 to get a quick look at th Orion Nebula which still fascinates me then called it a night and will try again tonight - conditions look set fair hopefully.

Then having a sleepless night -5.30 am I thought - right lets get up and try for Saturn. Set the scope up and had a cup of tea while it colled down and went back outside - first of all Mars was right in front of me and while I can't say it looked anything more than a slighly light orange bright circle in the sky I have now got my first real observation - but next up I found Saturn which I've been dying to see since I got the scope- Completely unmistakeable its my 3rd real wow moment with the scope so far after Jupiter and M42. I'll say it once again - wow.

I can't say I could make out the Casini division in the ring - now whether that happens when the seeing conditions are not quite right or the lens is just not up to the task I'm not sure but I am still so glad I made the effort.

Whilst I had Saturn in view a bright white object shot accross the FOV of the planet - when I looked up I couldn't see anything and there were no airplanes near at all (it was pretty much silent outside aswel save for some cat howling like a werewolf which was pretty creepy at that time of the morning) - so I'm guessing some kind of satelite - strangely enough after abut 15 minutes exactly the same thing happened - so twice in one night and still nothing visible to the naked eye?

The one disappointment I had was the new Baader Hyperion 8mm eyepiece I used was not as sharp as I had hoped for but - perhaps seeing conditions not optimum? - I'm not sure and I'm and I'm not giving up on it yet anyway.

So there we are- tired, cold but hugely pleased- I'm going back to bed for a few hours before I try again later on this evening - not sure what'll be on tonights shopping list but just enjoying each and everynight with my new scope so far (200p Dob)

Steve

[paul schofield]

Sounds like you had a great night all together, even if cold. Have the same scope as you but still to try Saturn. I am wondering if it will be an improvement on my 130p in size. I know what you mean with the eyepiece disappointment, I cannot seem to get Jupiter clear in my TMB Planetary 5mm, was thinking it may be collimation, or too much power.

The sky at night review claims very impressive views of Saturn with this scope, but maybe it was tested at a really dark site ? Were you also using the 8mm to look at Mars ? as thats another early morning target I want to see. Happy gazing.

[stevetynant]

H Paul - yes I used the 8mm on both - Saturn is still amazing but to be honest despite spending @£90 on the Hyperion I thought the view was sharper with the 25mm that came with the scope and the 2x Barlow I got from FLO for under £30.

Early days I guess - as for seeing the polar caps on Mars - no chance for me at the moment - I do have some light pollution where I live but the night was still and clear (and not too cold at 6am strangely enough) whether thats a guarantee of good seeing conditions I don't know but eventually I'll find my way to a real dark site and then I'll know for sure.

[stevetynant]

I am wondering if it will be an improvement on my 130p in size. .

Paul - I'm not sure if this will help or not because the 200p is the only scopeI've had so I've nothing to compare it to but my sister in law went to the stargazing live event in Deri which is a few miles Norty of me and she said her and her boys had a look at Jupiter with loads of different telescopes at the event but she can't say that it looked any differentt at all to the scope she had in her back garden which is a small refractor if I remember.

I wonder whether the difference in magnification is purely down to the eye pieces and the focal length (not sure what the 130p is)but the larger aperture you have means that more Deep sky objects like Nebula are available to you because of the greater light capturing.

Can you tell I'm a complete newb to this aswel?

[mdstuart]

I have the 8mm hyp and its pretty good compard to the numerous eyepieces I have bought. I think sharpness has a lot to do with magnification. So with a 25mm or even barlowed at 12.5mm the image will look sharper than using an 8mm.

The higher the power the more "fuzzy" an object appears and you do not necessarily get more detail..apart from those special still nights or during moments of good seeing when the 8mm will pick up detail not visible at lower power..

So give it time and compare the hyp with another 8mm cheapp plossl etc if you can to check this.

Mark

[stevetynant]

thanks Mark - appreciate the thoughts

I've got a 32mm panaview on order with FLO but could be a while before I get it - hopefully I will notice the step up in quality with that

- thats a hugely impressive viewing list you have there aswel - well done:icon_salut:

[RikM]

I find planetary views very variable night to night. Collimation and local seeing play a huge part in this. The heat rising from some of the roof tops round me destroys any sharpness in the view.

[paul schofield]

Yes as you say, a lot depends on the seeing conditions. I believe the Panaview 32mm should be in stock at FLO around April. I was trying to get one myself but ended up ordering a Sky-watcher Aero ED 2 SWA 30mm after receiving advice from a SGL member.

Happy gazing all.

[stevetynant]

Although I want it now I'm holding out for a while having already blown my initial budget by @ 50% and counting

[Zachariah]

I think image sharpness is down to seeing conditions more then anything. A few weeks ago I managed to get some really good views of Jupiter with my Tal1 refkector at 160x, I could see the two main bands and some others clearly. Since then I havnt managed anything like that even with my new Skyliner 150.

[paul schofield]

Thats it then I am putting it down to seeing conditions. I am sure it (Jupiter) will improve. I will try with my 9.7mm plossl and maybe tal x 2, see if that makes a difference. Yes Steve I know its so easy to blow a budget in this hobby, I started out looking for an 2 inch e.p. in the £60-£70 range and ended up forking out £130 so 50% added there too. Clear skies.

[idbvideo]

Just on the difference between a 130P and 200P and image size. The way I understand it is that the focal length and eypiece magnificaiton determines the overall magnification. Since the 130P is 650mm focal length and the 200P us 1000mm focal length, there should be a difference in magnification overall as well as the increase in light collection.

I am hopefully getting a 200P with goto mount in March, if the bonus turns up hehe :-)

[paul schofield]

I believe the 200p explorer is 1000mm. So even more for the Dob which is 1200mm, anyway I am sure all will become clearer in the coming months. Still a new toy to me and will be until I know everything about it and its capabilities. Happy gazing all..