Skywatcher Explorer 150PL & Saturn

[Geordiemac]

Hi Folks

I had a quick look at Saturn tonight...... started with supplied super 25mm ep to align finder scope then moved onto the super 10mm, both views were great I was very happy as this is only my second viewing of this marvellous planet, using the 10mm with 2x Barlow I could get no where near the clarity I was getting with just the ep's, this is the norm when viewing Jupiter do I need to upgrade the Barlow or look into buying good quality ep's any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

George.

[dreamofsirius]

Last night i did the same,it almost looked cartoonish nice colour,i too used a super 25mm no barlow nice crisp image, tried the celestron 7mm x cel lx good size but blurry,maybe eyepiece isn't suited to that viewing.

The stronger the magnification the more light it loosers something like that.

Sorry miss read your thread.

[Russty]

I had same problem, the magnification you were using was too much for the seeing conditions and were unable to resolve the image ( i think )

[Rhys Hardwick]

I have the skywatcher 130p, and find that objects aren't as good in the barlow. This may be due to poor seeing, meaning that the maximum magnification is limited by the atmospheric conditions. It may also be the Barlow, but I've only ever used the supplied SW barlow. Would be interested to hear what other people think of it, whether an upgrade would be senisble?

[Moonshane]

240x is likely to be too much for planets on most nights. it should be OK for the moon and double stars though.

I was observing Saturn last night and with my scope the best magnification was with my 11mm plossl which gave 167x. My most used magnification for Jupiter and Saturn is between 120-150x, occasionally more but not always - depends on cooling time (more = better), declination (how high the planet is - lower = more disruption in the atmosphere), seeing conditions and collimation (in that order). I have used 300x on Mars when it's high in the sky and conditions good. Mars takes power a bit better than Saturn and a lot better than Jupiter.

At 71x I could see the Cassini division (just) and all visible detail available was there at 167x.

[Geordiemac]

Does cooling down make that much of a difference to your observing ? being new to all this I usually start observing as soon as I set the scope up. I do realise your supposed to give the scope time but if an opportunity comes along I want to take it, I quiet often set the scope up in my back garden but I am hindered by houses ( I need to find a suitable location to take the scope)

As for the Barlow maybe I need to give it a miss and try a new ep, I,m open to any suggestions as to which one would suit my needs ( my scope and for planets)

I have read several times in the lounge that people easily see the Cassini Division, sometimes with a smaller scope than mine, I have looked at Saturn on 3 occasions now and have not come close ? not sure why.

Anyway replies are always appreciated

[bod00]

Does cooling down make that much of a difference to your observing ? being new to all this I usually start observing as soon as I set the scope up. I do realise your supposed to give the scope time but if an opportunity comes along I want to take it, I quiet often set the scope up in my back garden but I am hindered by houses ( I need to find a suitable location to take the scope)

As for the Barlow maybe I need to give it a miss and try a new ep, I,m open to any suggestions as to which one would suit my needs ( my scope and for planets)

I have read several times in the lounge that people easily see the Cassini Division, sometimes with a smaller scope than mine, I have looked at Saturn on 3 occasions now and have not come close ? not sure why.

Anyway replies are always appreciated

i have the same scope and find that around 150-160x mag is the max i can get for saturn and jupiter probably around 120x is best, but generally as people have mentioned the 240x will be way too much!

I use the Starguider BST eyepeices (£47 each) and they are brilliant, a lot of people on the forum have recommended them and you can cover a good range of mags with just a few!

I currently have the 25mm good for viewing larger areas of sky, 15mm great for moon and starting to see planets and the 8mm perfect for planets and moon details, you can use a barlow with these but as with everything a good barlow is worth the money but i find that just using the eyepiece is good enough!

With Saturn its probably the fact you are using the stock eyepieces i couldn't believe the difference when i switched to the BST

Get used to the scope and get some hours using it and then think about getting a new EP but its something i would think everyone has done sooner rather than later!

Good Luck

[Moonshane]

I observe straight away at low powers, maybe 50x or so but to see Cassini Division you'll need perhaps 100x or more which needs about an hour's cooling before you'll get the best from your scope. with patience it will be visible in your scope. it's plain as day generally with my 6" f11.

cooling (and the other factors mentioned) makes more difference the higher magnification you use.

[Geordiemac]

thanks for the advice everyone think I may invest in a couple of new ep's and see what happens.

I have had decent views with supplied ep's but I guess increasing magnification and loosing image quality is a common error made by newbies.

[knobby]

+1 for cooling... Cheapest upgrade you'll ever make!

[mihaid]

I saw this website http://www.12dstring.me.uk/foveyepiece.php?aperture=150&flength=1200&barlow=5&efl=3.5&afov=68&day=3&month=9&year=2013

and was wondering whether using the 5x barlow plus 3.5mm BH would actually produce that observation including the recommended 1h cooling.

[mihaid]

I saw this website http://www.12dstring.me.uk/foveyepiece.php?aperture=150&flength=1200&barlow=5&efl=3.5&afov=68&day=3&month=9&year=2013

and was wondering whether using the 5x barlow plus 3.5mm BH would actually produce that observation including the recommended 1h cooling.

I hoped it will take you straight to the picture but You have to choose explorer 150pl in telescope. 5x barlow and 3.5mm baader hyperion choose Saturn in objects menu and submit.

[Laurie61]

I hoped it will take you straight to the picture but You have to choose explorer 150pl in telescope. 5x barlow and 3.5mm baader hyperion choose Saturn in objects menu and submit.

I have found that scopes tend to have a cruising mag where they are delivering reasonable image scale for their aperture, this is around the same magnification as the aperture in mm. So a 150mm scope would be happy at around 150X whilst giving a 1mm exit pupil. You can of course go higher on the bright targets and it will be down to the scope aperture and conditions on the night. A 150mm newt should not take too long to cool but will take longer if bought from a warm house rather than an outside building/shed.

A 5X barlow used with a 3.5mm lens would be far to high a magnification to use in practice.