Confused newbie

[zillah]

Hello night owls, I wonder if anyone has any idea what I'm doing wrong. Been out to try and have a peek at Mars, 2 different sky map apps show it sitting at roughly 9 o'clock to the moon and there is what looks like a reddish star in the right position. The problem is when whichever eyepiece I try viewing it through, I'm just getting my scopes spider. Granted, racking the focuser does alter it's size and each eyepiece (6, 12.5, 20 & 30mm) will all have a spot where I get just a bright white point, that's all I get.

I'm using a Jessops 800-80 scope (3" mirror).

The odd bit is, I've used the same scope and eyepieces to view Saturn (small but able to see the disk and the rings as a single entity) and Jupiter (a large bright ball with the 4 moons as nights points all on a line).

[John]

If you can see the shadow of the spider and secondary, the scope is not in focus. You should see Mars as a very small pink disk, rather than a spot. It probably won't be any more than this though, even at your highest power (the 6mm eyepiece).

[oldpink]

try the moon first and find focus then try Mars

[brantuk]

With your scope the magnification is 800/6 (with a 6mm eye piece) = 133x. At this magnification you'll not see more than a bright white point source with a red'ish tinge. A 4mm eye piece would give you 200x magnification and a better chance of seeing something interesting - but with only 80mm of aperture you'll still have trouble seeing a lot of detail cos Mars is nowhere near as big as the second largest gas giant Saturn. It's like looking at a football then trying to get detail from a pebble. Hth

[rwilkey]

Hi Zillah, note that the focuser is NOT a 'zoom' so racking it in or out is only purely to achieve focus, it's the eyepieces that give the different magnifications. Once you have achieved focus, stay there for a while and stare, the more your eyes get used to looking in the eyepiece, the more you will see, patience is the key!

[Owmuchonomy]

Hi, another thought is that Arcturus is also in that general area if the sky. Just check your Apps carefully. Mars is lower in the sky and looks redder.

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[NGC 1502]

Hi, another thought is that Arcturus is also in that general area if the sky. Just check your Apps carefully. Mars is lower in the sky and looks redder.

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Hi Zillah, maybe post # 6 is what your problem is.......

Regards, Ed.

[Skipper Billy]

Should be easy to find tonight - just above the moon. Focus on the moon then nudge up. Mars is tiny though and the glare of a virtually full moon wont help.

[cotterless45]

Mars rises above the bright star Spica in Virgo . They glide fairly low in the south, Mars being very bright. However , especially in the current high pressure system, quite a tough target.

Arcturus looks whiter and is more to the east, you'll. spot the kite shape of Bootes leading from it.

You'll need in excess of x200 to get the best detail and a filter which suits you. Try a Moon filter to start with. Over the last few nights , as it's climbed higher the view has become wobbly. Probably not helped by warm air sitting around. Worth a try , but it is not half as spectacular as the opposition two years ago,

Nick.

[TwinkleTwinkle]

sorry, im confused, is mars that bright dot above the moon?

[TwinkleTwinkle]

sorry, im confused, is mars that bright dot above the moon?

[Owmuchonomy]

On the 14th it was, yes. Tonight the moon is further east, that is it rises later than Mars. See post 8 for its position relative to the two bright stars Spica and Arcturus.

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[CSM]

If the seeing is anything like it has been here in South Wales Mars will be dancing around like a dervish and you will be lucky to see any detail.

[TwinkleTwinkle]

The reason I asked is when I pressed mars on nexstar hand control it took me somewhere completely different, just black space! So unfortunately I assumed mars was just a satalite and I didn't even get a look at it because I couldn't find it on my scope oh dear !

[valleyman]

Is the problem with aligning happening on other objects . or just Mars?

The normal problems are that you have entered the date incorrectly. It should be the American system mm/dd/yyyy.

We are also in BST now so your answer to that should be "Yes" 

The mount should be level.

I assume you have done at least a 2 star alignment.

It might help us more if you can tell us how far off was the alignment

[Moonshane]

if looking at Mars at 100x or more, you might just see hints of detail but not much if any. you should see a disc though. if you are able to focus on Juoiter, the most likely reason for the spikes at quarter points around the planet is diffraction caused by the spider vanes. this is normal on bright stars, Mars, Venus and probably Jupiter too.

I have been seeing reasonable detail at 180x and above. you do need it in the field of view though

[zillah]

Thanks for the responses guys, I've been off in a sulk about it and blamed the scope for it. Went as far as having it looking over my shoulder whilst looking at new scopes online!!

[michaeldurban]

just thought of something..

it could be an actual spider...

uhmm,...

ok, forget what I just said..

[zillah]

That thought actually crossed my mind, you haven't seen the amount of spiders on my car port!

[Mr TamiyaCowboy]

Hi zillah 

i have a ST80 , its an 80mm scope with a 400mm focal ( same size lens but shorter focal )

was viewing mars last night and that is exactly what i was seeing, a nice round'ish white dot with a pink'ish red hue.

it is about right for the power of our telescopes. 

i must say i had more fun hunting around for clusters , i have also tried to look for M66 and M65 but as yet to find them.

i think these are beyond my scopes limits being short and not so big in the lens department.

[Nigele2]

I used my small 700/60 refractor back in Jan and saw Mars as a nice reddish disc.  It was a little low to the south but a good dark site.

Three days ago I used my 635/127 refractor with various EPs and couldn't get better than a reddish star.  It looked the same as Acturus apart from the colour. 

Same kit  two nights back and a 9mm EP gave a good disc.  And with a 2.4 Barlow even better.  Even appeared as a very very small disc with a 32mm EP.

As you guys said when I started out this stargazing is a bit of a patience game.  Keep playing and wait long enough and ... Viola

Still can't get M51 or M101 but as I understand it they aren't going anywhere in a hurry and hopefully nor am I 

[Nigele2]

Viola ----------------- A musical instrument appears!!!  Well if you gaze long enough all sorts of things appear 

[ekim]

Hello night owls, I wonder if anyone has any idea what I'm doing wrong. Been out to try and have a peek at Mars, 2 different sky map apps show it sitting at roughly 9 o'clock to the moon and there is what looks like a reddish star in the right position. The problem is when whichever eyepiece I try viewing it through, I'm just getting my scopes spider. Granted, racking the focuser does alter it's size and each eyepiece (6, 12.5, 20 & 30mm) will all have a spot where I get just a bright white point, that's all I get.

I'm using a Jessops 800-80 scope (3" mirror).

The odd bit is, I've used the same scope and eyepieces to view Saturn (small but able to see the disk and the rings as a single entity) and Jupiter (a large bright ball with the 4 moons as nights points all on a line).

I have the same problem although ive only looked at the moon( which is very bright I was nt expecting that and ) mars

[zillah]

Hi TamiyaCowboy. Haven't even tried (properly) to go hunting for any clusters as yet due to the lovely street light, right at the end of the garden, which is partially blocked out by a rather large conifer, that manages to block a reasonable portion of sky!

I'm going to upgrade to a Skywatcher, either the 130m, 130p or save a bit more for the 150. The annoying bit is that I could save a bit by just getting the OTA but I don't have a mount for it to live on!