Did I push it too far?

[mdhardy01]

Hi all newbie here

Please go easy on me it's my first post

Bought myself a sw 127 goto mak and must say have been really pleased with it.

Been reading all the posts on setting up the goto and found this forum sooo helpful.

Bought myself a Meade 4000 32mm plossle and a 12.5 as well which for orion are fantastic and also Jupiter are great.

Now for what I think was my mistake

I then bought a wo 6mm spl thinking Jupiter and especially mars would explode into view with more detail and clarity

Was hoping to see the polar caps on mars but could not even make out anything other than a red blob

Then I did the math and 250 x mag I think is too much?

So did I push it to far?

Would I be better off with a 8-9 or 10 mm ep?

And any recommendations upto £100 greatly appreciated

Many thanks

Matt

[John]

If your scope was properly cooled and collimated and, critically, the seeing conditions are good then you should be able to use around 180x on Jupiter and 220x or so on Mars. I don't think either will "explode into view with more detail and clarity" though - the improvements you see are usually much more subtle than that and need observing time at the eyepiece to train your eye to spot them.

250x is going to be too much power for much of the time to be honest. I have an ED120 refractor and find that the most useful planetary and lunar magnifications are 150x, 180x and 225x. Occasionally I can use 250x but rarely. With your scope I'd be thinking of 9mm and 7mm eyepieces with the 6mm in reserve for occasional use.

Welcome to the forum by the way !

[mdhardy01]

Thanks for the quick reply John

When I said explode into view I didn't mean I was expecting to see everything just some more detail sorry if I worded that wrong

The detail on Jupiter with the 12mm is good just quite small and was hoping for a larger view like I get when I Barlow the 12mm

But I only have the standard sw Barlow and have read that it is fairly poor so thought the 6mm would be a better choice but I think the difference is that takes the 12.5 down to 6.25 and the .25 seem to make a differenceso got me thinking I've gone too far

So a 8-9mm would be a better choice

Do you have any recommendations

Thanks

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gooseholla]

Oh, I might as well get it out of the way before someone else does... BST explorers.

[Tyr]

Matt,

I also have a 127 Mak and I recently purchased a 7mm Celestron XCel eyepiece giving me a magnification of 214x having been very impressed with the 25mm in the same range I had bought.

And I was beginning to wonder the same thing, had I pushed it a bit too far. The view of Jupiter had looked grainy on previous observing sessions in comparison to my other EP's.

I only really got a good chance to use it on the moon over the weekend and while I'm very pleased with the views I got I get the feeling I might not get to use the 7mm as often as I would like.

The view definitely improved the longer the scope had been cooling down (to be expected) and Jupiter did look better over the weekend than on previous attempts. I suspect observing conditions were more favourable.

I won't be rushing out to buy a new 9mm but I'm wondering if I would have gotten more usage out of one. I guess my experiences with the 7mm + 127 Mak are so far summed up as mixed, but it's early days and I need more time with it.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread I think

Tyr

ps for the record I have a 15mm BST and it's good although I've not tried the 8mm.

[Tyr]

By the way did your scope come with a 9/10mm eye piece? I suspect the quality won't be great but it would give you an idea of what size you could expect to see object if you were to get one with a similar focal length.

Tyr

[John]

Just a quick note on Jupiter - it does not seem to "take" high magnifications as well as Mars or Saturn. I've been observing them for many years and have consistently found that the subtle details on Jupiter are clearer when you back off the power a little, even though the planetary disk does appear smaller in the eyepiece.

On eyepiece selection,the BST Explorers seem very popular as does the more expensive Celestron X-Cell LX series. If you can tolerate having your eye close to the eyepiece and a narrower field of view, the Baader Genuine Orthoscopics deliver superb performance for their cost - you would need to spend many times what they cost to get any better optically but they are not to everyones taste. I've also heard good things about the Vixen NPL series which are even less expensive than the BST Explorers.

[Tyr]

Thanks John, that's worth knowing about Jupiter.

[mdhardy01]

Thanks John will look into the bsts and vixens

So what would you say would be the best mag to get the most from mars?

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mdhardy01]

Oh and would a lp filter give me better clarity

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[John]

Thanks John will look into the bsts and vixens

So what would you say would be the best mag to get the most from mars?

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anything from 150x upwards but you need to be guided by what the conditions will allow. In other words, there is no set answer to this !.

Mars is really challenging this opposition as it's not going to get to a large apparent diameter - it's more or less at it's largest now. In 2018 it's apparent size at opposition will be 70% larger

I don't use filters for anything other than enhancing nebulae.

[mdhardy01]

Any other recommendations on eps?matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mdhardy01]

Ok fed up now

Was going to order a 9mm bst but they don't do one

Could get a 8 mm but think that would still be too powerful

Have already got a 12 mm Meade so that's not needed

So what are my other options in either 9 or 10 mm? For my sw 127 mak

Budget upto £100

Many thanks

Matt

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[sticks]

I use an 8mm BST in my MAK127 and it is brilliant, Saturn is a knockout and the moon is like you're in orbit. That's *187 and is about as far as I can push my scope in the seeing conditions we have here. I did try a 5mm BST but it was an EP too far............ Last time I looked, Alan didn't have any 8mms in stock but give him a ring and suss when more are coming.

[mdhardy01]

Cheers sticks

Think I'll get one and maybe look at getting a 10mm something or another maybe an celestron x cel then I'll have just about everything I need until I think of something else essential of course LOL

Matt

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sticks]

IMHO 10mm is too close to the 8mm in your MAK. The 12.5mm you have should be just fine - but an 18mm BST would fill the middle ground nicely...........