Neptune

[Columbo]

Hello there,

Just a few quick queries, I appreciate any replies! I am currently attempting to observe Neptune with a SW 200p Dob and 6mm (x200 bst) eyepiece. Conditions have been good, but I don't seem to be able to find Neptune, is the telescope and eyepiece sufficient? I read that they are. Oh and yes I am pointing the telescope in the correct direction. Can light pollution affect observation of Neptune? Oh, finally, will a 5mm eyepiece work nicely in the SW 200p Dob?

Thank you in advance!

[Superdavo]

The scope should be enough to show it, even when the Moon is up. I found it with my old 150p. The trouble is, that even if you see it, you may not know it. In the 150, it looked little more than an average star, and I only managed to identify it due to a close conjunction with Venus.

David

[ScottS]

Does Neptune, although small, have a bluey tinge to it? Haven't seen it myself yet, but would like to know in advance what I'm looking for.

[Phil Fargaze]

I found it a couple of nights ago with my 9.25 at 267x. It was a bit mild here so the atmosphere was very turbulent. At first glance it can be star like, but the blue colour could give it away, a closer glance should reveal a definite disc, if the conditions allow. I tend to get the current F.O.V in a planetarium programme and compare it with the eye piece view to get a match.

The sky looks good tonight, so I`m off to try and grab another go!

[andrew63]

This is a good finder chart - scroll about half way down - good map for uranus also. I sure sign method, other than seeing the actual disk is to note it movement against the background stars over a few days period. Good luck !

Home | Free Star Charts

andrew

[mdstuart]

I saw it the other day...just looks like an odd colour star....bluish rather than the normal white or orange....

at over 200x it just shows a small disk....just...

mark

[DrRobin]

I found Neptune three times in the last week with a C11 and 25mm eyepiece (about 110x). It had a blue tint and you could see it had a disc. On the first night my GOTO didn't align very well, I found a distinctive star nearby and Neptune was due south do it was relatively easy to find. I used a planetarium software program to identify the star.

Uranus is an easier object, this looks blue white and is a bit brighter. Have a go at this first and then try Neptune?

Robin

[Phil Fargaze]

Although tonight looked promising it was very murky to the south east and I couldn`t really locate it before it passes behind a tree.

[todd8137]

I saw this a few nights ago and imaged it all be it small ,but its a great blue color at the ep .not that easy to find manualy but well worth a look

Pat

[AndyWB]

I found it the other week - my notes describe it as a 'fat dot' at x160 - too big to be a star, too small to call a disc, you know? Definite bluey tinge to it. Pushed magnification to x260 which made it very dim - almost planetary nebula like.

Saw Uranus last night - definitely easier...

[Stu]

Yep, agreed.

Got both of them last night at x230 in the 4".

Neptune looked bluish, but different colour to a star. Much as described above, too big to be a star but not really showing much of a disk. At 2.4 arc secs it's not surprising!

Uranus was easily identified as a disk, but had little or no colour to my eye, just looked a kind of offish/dirty grey to me. This one was a first for me, hadn't found it before. That completes the major planets for me, only took 13 years!

Stu

[cosmosboy]

well i do not have a telescope . but recently i got celestron sky master 15x70 . by this i was able to find it ( like a faint white star ) . for that u need a good star chart . but i found it with the help of stellarium . currently it resides in aquarius , near 7.75 magnitude star HIP 110439 . MY way is , open stellarium , with the help of search box find neptune , it will show the position with a mark , then zoom that position a bit , u will see neptune as a tiny dot of light or a faint star . observe its location and nearby ralatively bright stars and find a way to recognise it among many stars . go to out side , use your bino or telescope to find it out , as u saw it in stellarium .