lovely views of juipter

[Timbo32]

Watched jupiter for an hour thismorning and the view was lovely and steady even when it started getting light!

and it was the first time i got to try out my diy camping matt light shroud thing too!

worked a treat seemed to boost contrast a little to my eye's... well worth it!

hope these clear skies last!!

Tim

[ramstar]

First time ever with the scope out early morning (early for me around 6am). Was putting the cat out and despite the moon a number of stars were quite bright so I thought why not?

Even using the standard SWI0mm which came with the Skywatcher200 the view of Jupiter was clearer than anything I saw earlier in the year.

Is it just my imagination or are viewing conditions better early morning compared with late evening - less LP maybe?

[Moonshane]

did you see the GRS? it was pretty apparent this morning and certainly seems a lot redder than last year.

[Stu]

First time ever with the scope out early morning (early for me around 6am). Was putting the cat out and despite the moon a number of stars were quite bright so I thought why not?

Even using the standard SWI0mm which came with the Skywatcher200 the view of Jupiter was clearer than anything I saw earlier in the year.

Is it just my imagination or are viewing conditions better early morning compared with late evening - less LP maybe?

Early morning should in theory be one of the best times to observe. The heat has gone from the ground and so convection currents are at a minimum. I popped the scope out for an hour this morning and it was lovely and stable. Great views of the GRS, as Shane says, it's looking far more red than last year. Even when it was almost daylight I was still getting lovely views this morning

Stu

[Timbo32]

wish i could see the grs! just out of my reach even when barlowed!! do occationally see some banding but its fleeting! love watching the moons though!! can't wait untill i can afford a bigger scope!! its all good fun tho!!!

Clear Skies Tim

[Stu]

wish i could see the grs! just out of my reach even when barlowed!! do occationally see some banding but its fleeting! love watching the moons though!! can't wait untill i can afford a bigger scope!! its all good fun tho!!!

Clear Skies Tim

What scope do you have Tim? (Sorry, can't see your signature on my phone)

It's often best not to over do the magnification as Jupiter has quite low contrast features and they get washed out if over magnified.

You may be seeing it but not realising, it nestles into the equatorial belt but is far darker this year than last. I saw it quite easily with x130 in a little refractor yesterday (albeit a very good one!)

With a newt (if that's what you have got), cooling and collimation will be important to pull out the details.

Cheers

Stu

[cotterless45]

I use a Skywatcher UHC on Jupiter, it really takes away the bright glare and shows greater contrast.

Morning is a superb time to view without heat wobbles,

Nick.

[Timbo32]

hi Stu, i have a celestron firstscope and a lidle 70/700 frac and for e.p's i have kelner 20mm celesrtron omni plossi 12mm a celestron x2 barlow and h20 and sr4mm the last two e.p's if you can call them that! arnt great! the kelner and celestron omni plossi are o.k and they barlow up o.k too!

i do catch some detail but it seems fleeting i just put it down to being just out of reach of what i currently own, i am currently saving up for a more capable telescope

Tim

[Stu]

Hi Tim

I suspect you are right, that you are punching the limits of the scope and eyepieces you have. Low cost barlows can often degrade the image quite a lot so this will likely limit what you can achieve at higher power.

Which scope are you planning on getting?

Stu

[Timbo32]

Hi Stu, "which scope am i planning on getting"! I think i have planned on getting most of the scope's on the market at one time or another!! lol

BUT i suffer from a bad back which was operated on 18 months ago with no signs of getting better only worse!!!

SO i think i have settled on a refractor of some sort maybe one with an ed element 80mm or 100mm maybe? I think 120 would be too much for me! but i would like to do some picture's through it at some point in the future! i have been looking at the advance vx mount to mount it all on but not much on it's abilities for astrophotography!! so thats where i am at with buying a setup that will grow with me over a few years!!! i hope!!!

What do u think? is my thinking sound? any and all advice welcome stu

Tim

[Stu]

Hi Tim

I think much depends upon how seriously you want to get in to imaging, and how much visual you want to carry on doing.

For visual, something like a 150p dob would give very nice visual views, including planetary work, and should not be too heavy to cart around.

EQ mounts are fairly chunky beasts which may not suit your back! I am not an imager at all, but I believe standard advice for long exposure DSO imaging is an HEQ5 or EQ6 mount with an ED80 scope but you will get much better advice from people who know what they are talking about regarding imaging!!!

Stu

[Timbo32]

Thanks stu, imaging would not be my main focus but would like to have the option! hench the advance vx mount it is the new cg5 basically just waiting to hear how good it can track really!! this is all in the future for me as i would have to save, i have been drawn to a refractor as i have both frac and reflector and the refractor seems to give pin sharp views that seem crisper and more contrasty? maybe this is different with more expensive reflectors but i can only go on what i have used which isnt a great deal really! although i have used a 6" dob before which was very good easy to use,setup it let me see deeper but still it didnt feel quite as sharp? do you find this too?

Tim

[Stu]

Hi Tim,

Dangerous territory, you'll get me taken out the back and shot by the 'dob mob' if I answer questions like that!! :-) :-)

My personal view is that the contrast and star images on a good apo refractor are wonderful, and something which I find very appealing. I observe a lot with a decent 4" refractor and know that it has nothing like the light grasp of larger instruments, but the views of clusters and widefield objects under a dark sky are lovely. I shall get myself a large (12") dob at some point but now is not the time for that for various reasons. The resolution and light gathering on the larger scopes does add another dimension to observing.

Stu

[Timbo32]

lol thanks Stu, the last thing i want is to get you in trouble with the dob mob!

Can i ask your opinion on larger refractors 4"-6" i know that the apo type would be the best... but apart from the colour fringing on the brighter objects

what are the other visual difference's when looking through the achro scope? or is it all down to the quility of the eyepeices?

Tim

[Stu]

I can only answer that based on the limited experiences I have had with achro scopes which stretches to an ST80 and a Helios 150mm f8.

At the time I'd didn't have particularly good eps, and was far less experienced. The ST80 was nice for widefield views, but as soon as you crank the power up the views degrade. For what it is, and the price, it's a nice scope but limited.

The 150mm f8 I probably never gave a chance to shine at what it is good at, which I believe is deep sky work. I used it on the Moon and Jupiter, with and without 'fringe killer' filters and could not get used to the CA or the tint of the filters. I didn't give it a chance on low magnification DSO targets where I think the contrast would begin to show it's strengths. It was a big beast as well and needed a decent mount.

I guess my views have polarised to a degree as follows: for portable/ travel observing, or widefield targets, I think an apo refractor works very well, either an ED doublet or triplet. They have the benefit of being able to ramp up the power to give quite credible planetary performance too - my 4" will take x230 on good nights.

For deep sky, I don't think you can beat a dob. The aperture available for the price is very good, and they give colour free images which are hard to beat. With a decently figured mirror, they are very good planetary scopes too, given correct cooling/collimation.

I do have a mak which is fabulous on planets and smaller DSO's. It has served me very well, though can be frustrating with dewing issues.

To summarise and answer your question, would I get an achro of between 4 and 6"? The answer is no. Others may feel differently, but if I were to get a larger frac, it would at least be an ED doublet, and if my numbers come up, a triplet :-). For any larger aperture requirements, I will get a dob.

For you, perhaps a 100ED would be a nice compromise, with a focal reducer for imaging but still reasonable aperture for visual. People can and do use 200p scopes on decent EQ mounts for imaging which would give you better visual performance, but greater challenges for auto guiding when imaging.

There is always the two scope route, 80ED with HEQ5 or EQ6 for imaging, plus a nice dob to do visual whilst the subs are rolling in :-)

Too many options as always. Hopefully some food for thought anyway.

Cheers,

Stu

[ramstar]

I only had a few minutes viewing so having looked through the binocs I brought the scope out of the shed - I assumed having been in there sleeping all night it would be sufficiently cooled. Ordinarily I would have taken the standard SW 10mm out and replaced it either with my 6mm BGO or 10mm Delos but didn't have the time to see what difference the image would have been  (I keep the standard eyepiece in the focuser just incase I trip up and drop the scope bringing it out of the shed!). Never saw the GRS - still haven't if I'm really honest with myself - for now I'll settle for good viewing of the banding.

What yesterday's viewing has done is given me more of an incentive to get up a bit earlier when the forecast is promising and have a decent hour before having to get my backside moving!