Getting a 'bigger' Saturn??

[roymattblack]

I have a SW 130 Goto and saw Saturn yesterday - first time - amazing. (See my other post)

HOWEVER..... It was somewhat small. I could see it clearly, and the rings, but no sign of Cassini.

The focus was razor sharp and the image was really bright.

I used a 10mm and a 2 x Barlow.

I know 'upping' the mag makes the image more dim and harder to focus, but as Saturn was so incredibly bright anyway, would a 3 x Barlow, or a 6mm eyepiece, or even more in some way, actually work?

I'd love to see Saturn a bit bigger, with a bit of Cassini if poss, without getting a bigger scope just yet - I've only had this one three months. (My first scope)

Roy.

[knobby]

Hi Roy

welcome to aperture fever ... you've been hooked, you've seen saturn and you want more !

you could try a higher power ep but the 10mm + barlow is probably near the limit for your scope. Maybe try a local club to see if you could get an idea what it looks like through a larger scope.

I have a 10" and only just recently managed to see Saturn in detail, you really are relying on good conditions and a well cooled focused scope ... and patience.

Good luck with your new scope

[paul schofield]

Saturn is still very impressive through a 130 scope, although small. I may be wrong but I think you probably need a bit more aperture to make out the Cassini Division. When I first saw Saturn through my 200p I saw a real improvement from my 130p Cassini included for the first time. A little more aperture makes all the difference for me and a nice clear sky of course. Good luck.

[Stu]

Hi

As mentioned, a well cooled scope and good collimation are necessary for good views, and also good seeing conditions.

My understanding is also that the standard 10mm ep and barlow from SW are not very good, it may be worth investing in a new ep, perhaps an BST (8mm?) which get good reviews on here and are quite inexpensive. I don't have experience with your scope but I'm sure someone who does will comment soon on what's possible with it.

Enjoy

Stu

[Andrew-77]

I got the SW 10/25/barlow set with my 200p. The 25mm is ok, but the 10mm is lousy, especially when combined with the barlow. I was staggered at the difference when I swapped it for a better quality eyepiece; everything was much, much sharper.

If I hadn't already read that the 10mm was one to replace straight away, I'd have been a little disappointed with my telescope. SW should include something a bit better, even if it means another few quid on the price.

[umadog]

You're not just making the image too faint when you magnify too much. A telescope has a fixed maximum resolution. Beyond a certain point you will start to blur the image and the instrument will yield no more detail. Probably at around 40x per inch and above you will get no more detail.

[JamesM]

I agree With Stu above regarding trying a 8 mm eyepieces with a 2x TAL barlow (£36 -@ FLo) and that will give you:

Focal Length 650mm/4mm* = x162 magnification

*(2xTal x 8mm, has the effect of halving the eyepiece's focal length)

A bit more than the x130 that you are currently getting and bear in mind that most seeing conditions only permit on average x180 to x200 magnification, so you're not far off that. Magnification is not enough on its own, the ability to capture enough light that contains the information that you wish to magnify is the key and we always want bigger scopes!

Clear skies

James

[patomlin76]

I have once spotted a faint cassini line in my SW130, on a very clear night with good seeing, I was really pushing it with 9mm x3 barlow. I don't often get the cassini lines though, more likely I'll get very subtle cloud shadowing on the disc instead. Still a wonderful sight though.

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Roy and to all, think Saturn's knocking on nearly 9 million miles away from us at the moment, so, even to see it is a feat in its self - look at the whole picture - your not really going to increase the "size" of Saturn - its only relative to the actual amount of mag you can use in any given aperture, and by doubling the size of your mirror/lens your not going to "double" the size of the disc of any planet - it just looks a little closer because the field of view shrinks in each increase of mag.

Even if you have a 20" + aperture your not going to increase the size of any planet, your just able to increase the mag relative to the focal length - and 20" + apertures tend to be "relatively" short focal lengths due to the physical size of the scope. Thats why the Mak scopes are better for planetary - not because they have large apertures - but long focal lengths (F12+) so as to be able to use "higher" mags on nights of better seeing - so this doesn't mean that if you have a large aperture - your able to "see" bigger, but the ability to increase mag above say x200 helps on only the best nights - hope that helps. Paul.

[Stu]

Cassini should get easier over the next few years as the rings open out.

Stu

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Ya Stu - any chance of a pic of your Mak, or a pointer to it - I'd love to have a look through that thing

[Stu]

Hi Paul

The big mak you mean?

If you are coming to the Peak Star Party in October I'll have it there. It's a fussy little devil at times, it needs to be properly cooled and collimated and needs good seeing conditions but it does give amazing views of the planets plus smaller dso's like M13 and M57.

BTW, I think Saturn is around 800 million miles away at the moment, makes it even clearer why it appears so small!

Cheers

Stu

[Northern Soul man]

Hi Stu - Thanks for the correction - yes getting my millions mixed up with hundreds of millions.

That's Impressive - the viewing position looks great and yes - F20 - must be fantastic, scopes I think in general are getting better and more affordable. I think even when you have the 250 up and running you'll struggle to improve on the Mak. Just as I'm typing this I've had a call from FLO saying my cpc will be delivered tomorrow.

Pity I can't get to the star party, my only mode of transport at the mo is a push bike and I find myself observing from the light polluted West Midlands - but I've been into astronomy for years and owned a few scopes but never an F20 - maybe 1 day - nice 1 Stu take care mate and clear skies. Paul.

[nightfisher]

My best view of saturn to date has been with my Tal 100rs, very small image but lots of detail still waiting to have a look at the lord of the rings with my 180 pro mak, that will be good, if work and weather give me a break

[Stu]

Thanks very much Paul. It is an amazing scope, the image scale you get with it is great. A 22 mm nagler gives x181 and 13mm Ethos gives x307. I had probably my best views of Saturn through it using a borrowed ethos a few years ago, haven't really had it out much lately.

Jules, the Mak will be great in Saturn when you get a chance to use it. I really so need to make the effort to get mine setup and used more frequently.

Stu

[Rols]

Hi Roy

welcome to aperture fever