Do I need better eyepieces?

[Martin1906]

I've recently bought a skywatcher 127 synscan which came with 2 eyepieces, a 10mm and a 25mm (1.25"). I can see the moon beautifully and even had a decent magnification of Jupiter but looking at mars or Venus or beatlejuice, I can't get any decent magnification or detail. Mars was like a red pinpoint. I feel really disappointed but do I need better/stronger EP's? Am I expecting too much? I have a 2xbarlow lens but that doesn't seem to help. Can anyone help? Is there a way I can see more detail with this scope? Many thanks all.

[nightfisher]

Martin, the barlow that came with your scope is best used as a paper weight!

getting some better ep`s will be a good move, the revelation set from flo is a good choice, or individual BST explorers

you wont get any detail with stars, they are just to far away, nor willyou see any detail with venus, just phase`s

[John]

Better quality eyepieces will give better images. Mars is pretty small though - it will get a little larger by early March but will not rival Jupiter or Saturn.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Nothing wrong with your EP's per say.

Mars is incredibally small right now and very hard to observe in most scopes except really big ones or medium size ones with loads of magnification.

Venus really doesnt show any detail other then the current phase it is in (it goes through phases a bit like the Moon). Betelguese is a star and really will never be anything other then a pinpoint of light.

You have singled out 3 targets (2 planets) that simply are not much good for observing with your setup..............simply because they are very difficult to observe and just really dont show much unless you throw a tonne of magnification at them.

There are so many other objects out there that will be very rewarding with your scope/magnfication.

Spend time on Jupiter. Its amazing and soon Saturn will be high in the sky around midnight. Thats gonna blow your socks off.

[Capricorn]

Mars will probably always be small, you need a high magnification to see anything. People last year were up at the 250x mark and not getting much.

Venus is a cresent most of the time, and it is a cloud covered planet, all you will see is the top of the clouds.

Betelgeuse is a star and will always be a point, all the stars will.

Better eyepieces should give a better image however the atmosphere and conditions will determine what you can get to.

You can/will only get so much immaterial of the barlows and eyepieces you use.

[Cunhaval]

I use the same scope & got the same eps in the box.

The 25 is pretty good, the 10 is very poor, and as Jules says, the barlow is best used as a paperweight.

But to be fair, even the very best eps are not going to reveal very much detail on Mars - nowhere near as much detail as you will get when looking at Jupiter.

BSTs or TMB planetaries (or TeleVues if you're loaded ) will improve things, but I have found that the trick with a 127 Mak (or any other scope for that matter) is not to overdo the magnification. Given our atmosphere, the nights when the transparency and seeing are good enough to do that will be very few and far between.

[John]

If you don't mind the small eye lens, tight eye relief and relatively narrow field of view, orthoscopic eyepieces will show as good a view as you can get of the planets, the moon and double stars - as good as eyepieces costing hundreds of £'s. The classic "volcano top" orthoscopics can be picked up for as little as £20 each used and the superb Baader Genuine Orthoscopics for £45 or so (again used). So you can have premium planetary performance without spending big bucks.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Have a look at these images of Mars. They were taken from Hawaii with a 14" scope etc.

http://stargazerslounge.com/imaging-planetary/172133-mars-january-19-2012-rgb-ir-sets.html

Yes that IS clouds you are seeing.

These have to be the best Mars images i have ever seen.

Blew me away..,especially the top right hand one.

Enjoy

[Martin1906]

thanks all - good advice. I might well look into those different options.

One other question then - with a 5" scope like the skywatcher, apart from the moon and the planets, what other objects will be good for me to check out? Will I be able to see nebulae and andromeda for example?

Cheers all

[hemihaggis]

hi martin , your scope is a synscan , once it is aligned go into your menu and select guided tour , this will take you on a tour of what is visable in the heavens that night , depending on how much lp you have you should be able to see lots of the objects the computer finds for you ?..

best to do some research on objects to view , have a look at messier lists ,caldwell catalouge ect there are thousands of objects .

[Cunhaval]

Yes, you will be able to see nebulae, etc, though some are so big and diffuse that you won't be able to see the whole thing in one go because of the narrow field-of-view of a 127 Mak. Which is why Maks, whilst perfectly useable, are not the weapon of choice for serious DSO hunting.

For that, a good big dob wins every time.

You can even see Andromeda, but I suspect (unless you have a very, very, dark site), you will be unimpressed

Set the scope up, and take the guided tour available on one of the handset menus, but bear in mind that it's a 127 Mak, and not Hubble. Do remember that some DSOs on the tour will not be visible at all, (Skywatcher were a tad optimistic when they put some of the objects on to the handset database).

However, the ones you can see are magical, if a little dim in some cases - they don't call DSOs "faint fuzzies" for nothing!

Switch it on and enjoy

[Tiddles]

Those pictures don't help!!!! I've spent too long trying to pick out ANY detail on Mars with my 6" reflector and failed. Mars is for now (and I'm guessing will remain) a small red dot, its a disc not a point so I guess that's a start!!

Mars is low in the sky, that's not going to help, my low power stock EP seems to turn Venus into a wild coloured disco ball, again can not be helping. Last but not least, I don't think Mars likes me.

So, I either spend some money on a new EP, I've been looking at the 8mm Baader Hyperion. Its a little more than the BST's but I'm hoping that an investment in a half decent EP will stay with me. OR give up on Mars for now and enjoy the Messiers, Caldwells and all the other things out there that are sooooooooo much more rewarding.

[sticks]

Get 8mm 15mm and 25mm BSTs - you will think you have a new scope. If you are nervous about this then just get either the 15mm or 25mm and see the difference and how the scope can really perform................ I couldn't believe how new EPs made the scope SO much better. Don't expect a lot from Mars it just doesn't do the Jupiter wow factor thing. Don't believe this stuff about the 127 not being any good for DSOs it does a great job on lots of them, but not all of them due to its tightish VOF.