Best time/objects to view with 130P in sodium light pollution area?

[vince1976]

I've had my Skywatcher 130P GOTO for a week or so now with the standard 25mm and 10m eyepeices and a x2 and x3 barlow from eBay.

On my first night with it the moon was spectacularly clear but what I've really been wanting to do is see Jupiter and Saturn.

The best I've acheived so far is seeing Jupiter as a milky white blob. (A quick google image search reveals http://astro.sps.edu/photos/objects%20in%20our%20solar%20system/Marsh%20Jup.jpg which looks pretty much like what I see in my 10ml eyepeice with the 2x barlow.)

If I want to be able to see the bands and hopefully some colour I know I'm going to have to wait for better seeing but presumably also want to stick some dates near the closest approach into my calendar.

As a beginner, what website(s) would you recommend to locate this information, ideally along with which objects might be best for viewing on any given night in the meantime (weather permitting of course)? I do hate having to ask such noob questions but Google seems to be failing me so far. I can find sites telling me where to find the planets at present but not that describe which are best to view when.

Also, if there's anyone else with a 130P or similar scope, might I ask what may be other good targets given that I live in heavy orange light pollution so DSOs are unlikely to be visible to me?

I've just modded an Xbox Live Vision camera to fill the time today so am really looking forward to finding something to introduce myself to imaging that isnt just a tiny white circle .

[rowan46]

this planetarium programme is free and will let you know what, when and where something is Stellarium

[rowan46]

sorry I posted before I finished. objects you can see with a 5 inch under lp skies are a good chunk of the m numbers and the planets

Messier Objects M1 - M10, Messier Catalog on Sea and Sky

[John]

Your scope should be showing Jupiter as much more than just a "milky white blob". My 4" scope shows a crisply defined disk and the 2 main belts on the planet plus a couple more belts and the Great Red Spot and of course the 4 moons, on nights of good seeing and when the spot and the moons are in view. The planet looks a pale cream colour to me with the belts being a pale rust tint. I use around 150x to see that sort of detail in my scope.

You may have caught the planet under poor observing conditions so have another go and see how you do.

[vince1976]

this planetarium programme is free and will let you know what, when and where something is Stellarium

Thanks - that's great for seeing what's on view at a certian date time. Nice to see there's also a portable version so I can run it at work.

I don't know why but my mind was in a website place so I wasn't thinking of programs.

[vince1976]

Your scope should be showing Jupiter as much more than just a "milky white blob". My 4" scope shows a crisply defined disk and the 2 main belts on the planet plus a couple more belts and the Great Red Spot and of course the 4 moons, on nights of good seeing and when the spot and the moons are in view. The planet looks a pale cream colour to me with the belts being a pale rust tint. I use around 150x to see that sort of detail in my scope.

You may have caught the planet under poor observing conditions so have another go and see how you do.

Thanks John - that's very useful to know. I've been wondering if I should be seeing more from my setup. I've only tried Jupiter twice so far.

First time was in good conditions at 65x in a 10mm EP, because my barlows hadn't arrived yet. Moons pin sharp and Jupiter was a tiny disk what looked creamy white but it was too small and bright to see any belts. The edge of the disk wasn't perfictly crisp though, despite the moons seeming so.

2nd time was poor seeing - I could focus it to a disk but the moons weren't pin sharp like the first time and air currents kept shimmering the image hence it seeming more like a blob than a disk.

[vince1976]

sorry I posted before I finished. objects you can see with a 5 inch under lp skies are a good chunk of the m numbers and the planets

Messier Objects M1 - M10, Messier Catalog on Sea and Sky

Thanks - I've got a Skywatcher LP filter on the way so it's good to know I may be able to see a good selection. There's relatively little visible to the naked eye here so I thought I'd be quite restricted.

[Flaxinator]

Hi, I have a 130, and using the 10mm ep you should be able to see two visible cloud bands.

Paul

[cyborg421]

What you can see depends very much on the seeing and even if it looks "clear" there may be high cloud which will affect what you see. If you persevere you will be rewarded.

Simon

[Stevp]

Hi Vince,

Just a quick thought, are you leaving the scope to cool down for a while before looking at Jupiter? I was impatient with my first couple of nights out with a new skywatcher 150p and wasnt getting to see what I was hoping. Then i remembered reading about leaving the scope to cool properly. Next time i made sure to leave it setup for at least 30/40 mins before I tried to see anything and was immediately impressed with the difference!

[vince1976]

Thanks very much for all the advice. It's great to know what to expect from this scope.

I luckily managed to catch a break in the clouds tonight and get a decent view of Jupiter before the skies swiftly closed in again.

The moons were pin sharp and I could see two blurry dark bands with the slightest hint of colour through my new 4mm EP, which I was very happy with given the far from perfect conditions. It seems not too far off what John describes above. 10mm showed a sharper image but it was too small to distinguish the bands without a 2x barlow.

Unfortunately the skies remained clear only for a short while so I wasn't able to get my webcam fitted in time but I'm content I'll be able to get some initial footage once the weather improves for long enough to align the GOTO mount and keep Jupiter in shot.

I'll be sure to post a youtube video once I finally manage it. I'm eager to have my first (no doubt embarassing) attempt at producing a stacked image.

In case any other beginners happen across this thread looking for an answer to my 2nd question (what to view and when in a small scope with light pollution), I can't stress how highly I recommend the truly excellent book Turn Left At Orion, which I am working my way through an old copy of at the moment. It answers pretty much all my questions about what to expect in light polluted areas, what to see with a small scope and where and when to find it. There's a chapter list and preview available on Google Books.

[brucen]

As others have said - and you have now found out - you should be able to see the bands on Jupiter quite easily. This is a picture I took of the planet in November using the webcam and a 2x Barlow. The scope was about 10m from a lovely orange streetlamp at the time as I was in the front of the house to get the view. I have deleted the info now but it would have been about 2 minutes at 10 frames per second then stacked using Registax. My recent attempts have been less successful as it really does depend on the conditions at the time. Some nights when it looks very clear the results are very poor. Keep trying and I am sure you will be pleased.

[badgers]

That's a great shot for a 130 in light polluted skies.

I've not resolved that much detail on my 150P but I guess I just need to wait for that perfect night of good seeing conditions.

Sadly, I've 3 sodium lamps within 30 meters of my observing location, but as I'm observing from a balcony the LP doesn't seem too awful.

B

[brucen]

That's a great shot for a 130 in light polluted skies.

I've not resolved that much detail on my 150P but I guess I just need to wait for that perfect night of good seeing conditions.

Sadly, I've 3 sodium lamps within 30 meters of my observing location, but as I'm observing from a balcony the LP doesn't seem too awful.

B

That's why I posted this picture and not the dozens of others that I have which do not look they were taken with the same equipment. Not only must there have been have been perfect conditions that night but the focus must also have been spot on - which I have found since is more luck than judgement using a manual focuser and looking at an image on a laptop that disappears every time you touch anything! I am in the process of deciding whether to upgrade the scope or try to fit an automatic focuser to the 130P which is not designed to take one.

[vince1976]

Well I couldn't catch Jupiter tonight but managed to get mars in a position where it I wasn't blinded by streetlights so dragged out the scope and webcam.

Tonight's taught me an awful lot of things I need to research:

1. Practice aligning the GOTO mount. I kept having to use the PAE feature to correct for drift every few minutes.

2. I really need to take several AVIs with more varied exposure settings. All my captures seem either under or over exposed.

3. Wow, registax 6 has a lot of options. I just went with the defaults but I certainly need to take some time to learn it properly.

4. I may need to get hold of something a little better than my Xbox Live vision camera.

5. Don't bother with Mars in a skywatcher 130P. The results aren't entirely rewarding.

Well, I did say my first go at stacking was likely to be an embarassment but at least future results can only be an improvement.

[hemihaggis]

glad to see your getting on better with the scope and achiving some good results , a little time and practice make a big difference , dont try for to much mag ,

dont worry about mars not looking good , it is very far away just now , at the closest part of its orbit round the sun to us it is around 35 million miles away , at its farthest it is 250 m illion miles away

the next time mars will be really close is 2014 !! im sure you will have a bigger scope by then lol