Unable to view planets using Celestron 130 EQ Telescope

[Sante]

Hi,

I have recently purchased a celestron 130 EQ Telescope, I have a 10 mm and 20 mm eyepiece. I tried to view a planet (I am not sure what it was whether it was Jupiter or Saturn), the problem that I have been facing is that using the supplied eyepieces I was able to focus on the star, when I tried to get closer using the focuser, I could see the star in close up but completely blurred and was able to see the cross hair of the telescope. If I adjust  the focuser I able to only have a normal view.

I am not sure whether I need to use a different eyepiece to view these planets in close up or does my Telescope need any adjustments.

Can someone please help, as I have been struggling to see a close up of a planet for a long time now and have failed .

Regards

Sante

[hobsey]

What you are actully doing is adjusting the focuser, you zoom in using different eyepieces.

[Stu]

Two points here, a star will only ever appear as a point of light, you won't get any 'closer' which ever eyepiece you use. Secondly, the focuser is not a zoom, so it was correctly adjusted when the star looked at its smallest.

I suspect you were not looking at a planet, but at a star. In the 10mm, you should at least be able to see the rings around Saturn and Jupiter's moons as tiny points of light.

Make sure your finder is aligned properly, and familiarise yourself with the position of the planets by using something like Stellarium which is a free download program

Good luck

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[Sante]

Thanks for your response, I will try as suggested.

[Stu]

Hi,

I had a quick check from your location, and I think you will need to be viewing around 4am to see Jupiter in Mumbai right now. That is assuming my app is behaving as I think it should!!

It will appear as a bright object on the East at this time. Get it in your finder first, then try the 20mm, focus and centre Jupiter and then use the 10mm as this will give your highest power. This is still only x65 magnification but will show it as a disk with its moons.

Saturn is not really visible at the moment, May next year is when it is next at its best

Stu

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[rwilkey]

Hi Sante, welcome to the forum.  The planets, like the stars, will only ever look like small dots, however, some detail can be seen with both Jupiter (equatorial belts and four moons) and Saturn (rings and largest moon Titan).  Practise with getting your focus perfect (the focuser is not a zoom as others have pointed out), and once you do, look carefully and study it for a while, more detail will come into focus as your eye adapts to what you are looking at.