Jupiter viewing

[Phil1313]

Hi all,

Probably a question that most of you will have answered a thousand times so I apologies in advance!

I have had a couple of viewings of Jupiter through my celestron astromaster 130eq (one of these times being last night before cloud coverage ruined it!). I am using a 10mm eyepiece that came with the scope and a Barlow x 2 that i got with a celestron accessory pack. I can see the planet and the surrounding moons but I am not picking up a lot if any surface detail of the planet. Is this just that the scope is not capable of doing so or could it be down to other things such as being in quite a well lit town or any atmospheric issues that I may yet to be aware of!

Even seeing it as I saw it I was in awe; having spent years watching programmes and looking at images on the internet of space. So I can't complain as it was still beautiful just to be able to view it and make it seem 'real' if that makes sense!

Just wondered if there was any advice you could provide that might enhance my viewing!

Many thanks,

Phil

[Pete Presland]

hi phil, you should be able to see both equatorial belts and the GRS (great red spot) if it is on the visible side of the planet. obviously the seeing conditions play a great part in whats visible on any given night. the eyepieces/barlow supplied with scope are not the best and you may wish to upgrade in the future.

[Phil1313]

Thanks for your reply,

Wow that is great news! Didn't think I'd be able to see the GRS... That is brilliant! Would you be able to suggest lenses and a Barlow that would be good investments?

Many thanks

Phil

[Qualia]

Good seeing conditions override problems with LP, and assuming collimation is spot on, you'll also find that on average, Jupiter doesn't need much more than about 140x - 180x to get some great viewing in. If seeing around here is below average, I can tweak out a good deal of detail at 125x.

I prefer using the 10" but my 4" frac can easily make out the north and south equatorial belts, great red spot, the equatorial band and the north and south polar regions. If you stick with him, gradually, after 15 minutes or so, Jupiter reveals even more subtler markings especially in the north and south temperate belts and larger markings in the north and south tropical zones. The entire image in the eyepiece won¡t really be bigger than a large pea in the palm of your hand.

Try to view Jupiter as close to the zenith or celestial meridian as possible and bear in mind that as a general rule of thumb the brightness of an object will decline as you up the magnification. On the other hand, you might be able to see more detail by upping the power, so there isa trade-off: will increasing magnification gain more detail even though I'm making the object fainter?

Playing around with this trade-off - dependent on the evening's seeing does make a difference. Even as little as 1mm increase or decrease in the mag - about 10% to 15% difference of magnification - can be quite surprising. I don't own your scope but you'll probably find that on a decent night your sweet spot is around 140x to 170x on viewing Jupiter and you will probably only be able to push 200x plus on the most excellent of nights.

You've got a wonderful 5" telescope reaching out across the universe some 675,000,000 kilometers and I'm sure with a little practice you will be able to see the Great Red Spot, those delicate reddish-brown belts, a darker, greyer hue to the Polar regions, and so on. You'll be able to trace the movement of the Jovian moons and observe their play of shadows over Jupiter in times of transit or of their eclipses by Jupiter's own shadow. From time to time, if you want to enhance that colour of the giant maybe a light blue filter will work nicely, or a Wratten 11 or 12.

If you can, try to sit with Jupiter for a peaceful twenty or thirty minutes or so on your next observation session, ask yourself questions about what you are seeing, perhaps make a little sketch which also helps the eye to see more.

Good luck and let us know how you get along.

[Astro Imp]

Great advice as always Qualia, and written in a way that is easily understood by all.

[Phil1313]

Thank you ever so much for the reply; that is extremely helpful. I shall take note of every thing you have suggested and spend some quality time with Jupiter the next time clear skies allow! I think the idea of questioning everything and making a sketch is brilliant, not just getting sucked into the moment of finding him and expecting to see everything immediately. I will do that for sure and provide you with an update one I have done it!

Thank you again, I really appreciate the advice.

Phil

[mark bushnell]

Hi Phil

I have the same scope. I am using a 10mm eye piece that came with the scope but no barlow. I can see the 2 belts and 4 moons tonight and most nights.I am at Heathrow so it is very well lit around here. Not sure if it helps but I keep my scope set up in the shed covered over.People say about cooling the lenses or scope down?. I have found it does help a lot to stay outside for a while not looking at any light at all. I cant find any think else yet not sure how to and not sure if the scope can either.

If you find anything and know how to explain it to me please do.

Very new to all this need some help.

Rgds

Mark

[Phil1313]

Hi mark, well that sounds promising if you can see the belts, I think the cooling may play a big part. As I store mine inside and then move it out I have probably only been out there an hour at a time due to the clouds coming in. I will try sticking mine outside for an hour or so before I start using it and see if that helps. As soon as the weather improves here I am gonna spend some good time outside with it and see what details appear!

When you say can't find anything else do you mean on jupiter or other space objects? I haven't found any other objects (apart from the moon) yet either as I'm not site where to look! But I have a copy of turn left at orion arriving soon and im going to spend a lot of time just trying to get to know the sky.

On another note, how do you get on with the star pointer on the scope? I'm having trouble with mine as I read a lot of people do and I'm thinking of changing it but not sure what with! How do you find yours?

Kind regards

Phil

[Robp]

I'd also suggest using a lower magnification first.

If you have another eyepiece that came with the scope (say a 20mm or 25mm) try that first, then try it with the barlow.

Move on to the 10mm then try the 10mm with the barlow.

I find that higher magnifications are not always best, it depends on seeing conditions.

Trying out a few different combos usually finds you the sweet spot for that particular night.

Good luck!

[Phil1313]

Thanks rob will try that as well. It came with a 20mm so will start with that and work up from there if needed.

Just need the clouds to part now, I feel like I have an arsenal of ideas to try and am itching to get out there!

Kind regards

Phil

[Stargazer 2013]

I find using the 25m  much clearer then the 10mm and I use that to find things first,especially stars as when I use the 10mm it's actually too close and can't find what I am looking for .. I always syart off with the 25mm then go to 10mm as said..I still can't see the Orions belt nebulae yet though..Time will come lol..Good luck

[Fypunky]

We have been observing jupiter pretty much all last week as the moon cocked up everything else and my daughter loves jupiter, it is after all her scope!

She also has the astro 130eq, I did have to tweak the collimation when we first set it up so as mentioned check it out, with the 10mm in a barlow you should see the belts no problem and as we have learned from advise from members here is to keep looking at it and every so often you will see the belts very clear, in fact on Friday night we had about 40 mins of viewing and the view was one of the best this year.

[Joves]

Excellent reply, Qualia... I couldn't think of a single thing to add to it.

[AndyWB]

Didn't think I'd be able to see the GRS... 

You absolutely can, but it does depend very much on conditions. I saw it last year with my 5" scope, at x160 magnification (more than I could normally use), on a night with very good seeing when it was really high. It's also worth noting that it's not always that 'red' - it was a pale salmon pink colour when I saw it. Fantastic.

[Phil1313]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will have a look into the collimation as I have read that sometimes it can arrive out. I am joining the local astronomy society so I will see if they can help me with that!

Thanks Andy that is great to know! I'll start low and up the magnification as the atmosphere allows. Genuinely excited by the thought that I'd be able to see it.

Kind regards

Phil