Astromaster 114EQ...BLURRY!!

[AzSky]

So I just got a used Astromaster 114 eq. There is a little bit of a shake to it, but I read thats just the telescope tripod, once you leave it alone the telescopes seems to reduce its shake.

The problem is, I started viewing Saturn, and i cannot get a crisp picture for the life of me. It will not focus in on it. Is this the telescope or is there a way to fix this? If it was un collimated, would that be the issue?

Please let me know, its finally a clear night since buying it, and I can view squat! I'm pretty handy, so I'm not afraid of tweaking it, I just want to make sure i am doing it right.

[brantuk]

Hi Azsky - it depends what conditions were like for you last night. Saturn is way past it's best now and is low in the sky and looking to set around 11pm. So you'll be looking through a lot of atmosphere and won't necessarily get a good crisp view - it's likely to be quite wobbly and hazy in any scope. Looking at higher objects should yield a good crisp view as you'll be looking through the thinner parts of the atmosphere.

Try your scope on the moon - if it's crisp and sharp then the scope is ok. If not then you might have a collimation issue - but be sure you're aware of the temperature, pressure, and levels of "mugginess" and cloudiness - thin whispy clouds in the higher reaches of the atmosphere will have an effect on the view. The best "seeing" tends to be in the middle of winter on crisp, clear, and cold, dark nights - at the moment the hours of true darkness and clarity are few. Hth

[AzSky]

Hi Azsky - it depends what conditions were like for you last night. Saturn is way past it's best now and is low in the sky and looking to set around 11pm. So you'll be looking through a lot of atmosphere and won't necessarily get a good crisp view - it's likely to be quite wobbly and hazy in any scope. Looking at higher objects should yield a good crisp view as you'll be looking through the thinner parts of the atmosphere.

Try your scope on the moon - if it's crisp and sharp then the scope is ok. If not then you might have a collimation issue - but be sure you're aware of the temperature, pressure, and levels of "mugginess" and cloudiness - thin whispy clouds in the higher reaches of the atmosphere will have an effect on the view. The best "seeing" tends to be in the middle of winter on crisp, clear, and cold, dark nights - at the moment the hours of true darkness and clarity are few. Hth

Thank you very much! That probably explains it. Its been cloudy and very muggy outside, and it is low. I am also in Phoenix, so the heat im sure doesnt help. I did look into the collimation, and seems to be a bit off as well. Does that make the image blurry as well? I'll look at things higher in the sky and see if it looks better.

Thank you, I guess with being so impatient for the clouds to clear, I didnt take into consideration the conditions as a whole.

[brantuk]

You can rough check your collimation by getting a tight focus on a bright star - get it as good as possible. Now turn the focus wheel inwards till it's just out of focus and you'll see some "airy" rings around the center of the eyepiece. The rings should appear concentric. Then go back to the focus position and defocus slightly outwards. Again the rings should be perfectly concentric. If they aren't concentric in either or both directions then the scope needs collimating. Hope that helps.

[bingevader]

Although, if conditions are poor the defocused image may well look like very fuzzy rings!

Magnification is the other thing to take into account on a poor night. If you over do it, you just won't reach focus.

As brantuk says, try low power on the moon, if that's okay, then all is well, if not, then you might need to look at the 'scope itself.

Cheers