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View of jupiter tonight


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I've just had my scope out for the first time tonight as I had a clear view of Jupiter. I have a Celestron 130eq with the supplied 20mm and 10mm lenses. I managed to get a view of Jupiter with I'm assuming what was 4 moons on a diagonal line through it?? However, I've been left unimpressed with what I saw. Without changing the scope (I don't have the funds yet or know what I want either) how can I maximise my viewing experience? Barlow lens or other lenses? What can I realistically achieve with this scope?

Thank you.

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I don't know about where you are but while it looked quite clear tonight, conditions weren't really that good tonight here. Jupiter not really giving up much detail for me either. It's also still a bit low, you should wait until it gets higher and try again.

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Planetary observing takes some practice. You need to give your eye a chance to "train" itself to pick out the subtle details. You won't see all the planet has to offer initially but with practice and time at the eyepiece (hours not minutes !) you will see more, conditions allowing. You can make sure your scope is cooled and in good collimation and that will help.

You say it's your first time out - give it more time. Keep observing - it's not really a hobby of "quick wins".

I've been observing Jupiter for 30+ years. Tonight my ED120 refractor with a Pentax XW eyepiece at 180x was showing the 4 moons, a nice crisp disk and around 5 belts, some with unleven texture along their edges. I was observing for around 90 minutes before the finer details started to emerge more clearly. The Great Red Spot (which is very pale at the moment) is on the other side of the planet right now.

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Was just out before it clouded over here in the Peak District. Seeing was very poor. Jupiter was a hazy mess. You need a better night and preferably waIt until Jupiter is higher in the sky (less dense air to look through). Jupiter is also very bright. Sometimes a moon filter will help resolve some detail.

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Up in Washington, it was pretty good. Clear, and once Jupiter was fairly high, around 10:30pm it was fairly still, with lots of cloud detail showing. Admittedly I have a larger scope than the original poster, but a clear view very much depends on the local weather and atmospheric conditions. I felt the same way when I got my scope, and thought an 8 inch would give me a pretty good view. Well it does, but only when the conditions are in favour.

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A nice view of Jupiter in my Skylight f13 tonight (100mm achromat refractor)- using a 15mm ED BST ed explorer on a televue 2.5 power mate for x216 and getting grey colouration at the poles, the broad southern equatorial belt and three-(ish) belts in the north, the broader of which (southern?) showing distinct irregularity and bulges. The whole thing is slightly crisper with better colour at x162 (using a 20mm GSO with the powermate). Pretty cold though :). I find that I see more every night that I'm out...practice, I guess, as John said, you get more out the more you put in.

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I got some decent views, but I was still getting that atmospheric wobble as it was a little too low in the sky. With all the fireworks going off and the resultant smoke/smog filling the sky I had to pack up at 8 o'clock as the seeing conditions were getting noticeably worse.

I agree with all the comments on here, a little practice to get more detail out and also when it's higher in the sky and good seeing conditions you will certainly see much more.

I actually managed uranus for the first time ever last night, but that also wobbled a lot and is very very faint. Here's hoping for some real clear skies soon!

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I had my 200mm out early at 6pm to cool and by 10pm the view of Jupiter was reasonable, but it was still low enough in the sky to be showing atmospheric refraction. Best view was with a 6mm ortho and no coma corrector. At about 10.30pm, I suddenly lost all detail, probably due to dew somewhere, but wispy clouds were also starting to form. I brought the scope in a little later and the tube was covered in frost.

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I started out with the same scope, was totally hooked after the very first time and that was observing Jupiter. I later discovered that I had been lucky and seeing was particularly good on that evening. Stick at it there are some wonderful sights to see.

Dave

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The 10mm eyepiece supplied with a lot of scopes tends to be a bit poor plus the 65X it gives is a bit low for Jupiter in a 130mm scope. Look for a good budget eyepiece of around 6 - 7mm. Other than that it's atmospheric conditions and patience that are the main factors in seeing planetary detail.

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I have a TAL-1 with a 4.3" mirror, and I have to say that I had my best view of Jupiter the other night at around 02:30am. It was almost due south and around 70 degrees up, and for the first time I caught a glimps of the red spot! I was at 9.7mm + a 2x Barlow giving 165x mag. I can't wait for Saturn to get round this way, that should be an awesome sight to behold!

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Thank guys for your comments. Will definitely start to get out more.

thats a good plan but still a shame your first impression was less than expected. It was an average seeing night on Monday in the southeast though the cloud rolled in about 1130 when I had finished. You have a good scope in my opinion (I have nearly the same :laugh: ). Can you imagine what Isaac Newton would have accomplished with the equipment you now have?!!! ( all possible as a result of his engineering of course!! ). Having said that, hopefully you're not expecting Hubble quality images and can accept its limitations. I've had my 130P for two months and really enjoying the challenge. And that's just what it is, a challenge: to find objects, understand the equipment, get a blinking clear night! Sure I look at the scope size and think I could have gone much vbigger or more expensive but suppose I get greater satisfaction in getting it to work as best I can.

Now, some practical advice: my factory 25mm is a nice eyepiece and the 10mm is ok. I would look into getting a fancy Barlow first thing, but if you can afford to also get another eyepiece in addition so much the better. I went for a 12mm plus the Barlow. Lately I am using the 12mm on its own quite a bit and the Barlow comes out less often. In future maybe get a 5 or 6mm so that you can get max realistic mag out of your scope, but wait till youve got more flying time under your belt. A nice magazine might help as well because they have monthly suggestions of things to observe and many times they will give an indication what certain apertures will achieve. I am also learning that its best to go for objects near your zenith so you are getting least resistance from our atmosphere. Just a thought: are you letting your scope cool off for at least an hour before use? I take the cover off the end but leave it pointing horizontally when not in use to prevent dew. I also do not leave EPs out in the cold but keep them in my pockets or covered up.

Happy hunting!

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