Not as good as I would like too

[CedrikG]

Hi everyone ! Few info to help you find out my problem.
Scope : XT10 Classic Dobsonian Orion
Eye piece : Orion Planetary 6MM fully multi-coated ( cause me some problem but work good ) // Orion Sirius plossl 25MM multi coated (work fine) // 2x Barlow // 3.5x cheap eye piece (dont like it, bad detail)

I have 2 question. I wanted an abordable scope for watching deep space and I am very happy with my Dobsonian. Everything is fine when I am watching from 10x+, That said when I am watching with my 6x I cannot see any detail on Saturn's disk and I barely see the main band of gaz and eye on Jupiter ...

There are 2 reason why I can't see much detail.

o Main reason is it's way to bright. I was expecting it ... my scope is better for deep space than planet.
o Second reason is it is blurry sometimes. My first few nights with my 6x I was like oh my god ! It was so blurry. its not because of dew, but as the planet move in my view, it change height and width and size then get a bit blurry then become just fine. At first I thought my eye piece was wrong, then after 3 bad night, I had some incredible sharp view no matter where it was in the field of view.

Question :

o For the main problem, the brightness, are there some filter's I can buy so that details pop out ?
o For the sharpness, Am I right to think that it is just because its summer so its warm, humid, sun's up way longer ... condition are just less than ideal and some day will be better than others. Unfortunately I received this scope just as summer began so I am expecting better performance in winter.

o Oh and a third question, what should I expect to see if I buy a solar filter. Any good detail of the sun or it will still be too bright.

My first night out, our summer is terrible temperature were still cold
 

[xtreemchaos]

hi mate, get yourself out to a nice darksite you have a cracker of a scope in the right place it will show you just about everything. clear skys. charl.

[Joe12345]

I have an 8" scope and planets definitely aren't too bright. A 10 inch might be different though. Through my scope I can't see the difference in colour between saturns rings so you might only just be able to see it. The blurring and wobbling around is to do with bad seeing, meaning that the atmosphere is too turbulent. Try again another night and it might be better. At the moment Jupiter is very low down so the light has to go through more atmosphere.

I bought solar film which covers the small hole in the dust cap at the front of my scope. When I look at the sun I can see an orange ball with a few black on.

[John]

Seeing detail on the planets takes time. Your eye kind of trains itself as you view and adjusts to the brightness and contrast. After 30 minutes or more I find I start to see more and subtle details that did not show through initially. You have already picked out Jupiters Great Red Spot and it's main atmospheric belts. Spend more time observing it and gradually you will be able to pick out more details. The Great Red Spot is not always visible though as it rotates around Jupiters disk and will be on the other side of it quite often. Saturns surface features are much less distinct than Jupiters and a couple of subtle cloud bands around the equatorial area are often all that is visible even with large scopes.

Your 6mm eyepiece gives 200x with your scope which is a good magnification to use on both Jupiter and Saturn. Saturn can sometimes benefit from a bit more if the seeing conditions are nice and steady. I'd not bother with the barlow lens or the 3.5mm eyepiece at all.

Some folks do use coloured filters to try and tease out the details on the planets a little more easily and companies such as Tele Vue have dedicated planetary filters. Personally I don't find filters help me so I observe the planets without filters even with my 12" dobsonian.

With experience you will gradually see some more planetary details but don't expect them to be really "in your face" or like the images / photos you see posted up. Visual astronomy is all a lot more subtle than that

[laudropb]

Jupiter is now very low in the sky and it is difficult to see much detail. You will have to wait until winter when it. Will be higher and much more suitable for viewing. Did you see any of the 4 large moons ?

[ronin]

Parts of this do not make sense.

You are not starting from 6x magnification. That requires a 200mm eyepiece, neither are you at 10x since that needs a 120mm eyepiece.

If you mean a 6mm eyepiece and a 10mm eyepiece that is different and they produce respectively 200x and 120x magnification.

If you are using either a 6mm or a 10mm with one of the barlows then I suspect that either the barlow is junk or the magnification is too high, or both.

The scope is f/4.8, and the Sirius plossls will I half suggest be unable to handle a scope that fast. I used to have a Sirius plossl, I gave it away.

A reasonable 10mm in your scope should be OK on Saturn, likely able to get to 150x easily - an 8mm eyepiece.

If there is a lack of detail it may be collimation, a fast scope is more critical of good collimation, and that will lose detail. But a scope of 10" is not big for planets many people use 14", 16" and I have read of 22" ones being used happily on planets. In the "extreme" hubble has imaged Jupiter and Hubble is 2.7 meters in diameter. One awful aspect is that when Mars appears the 10" may actually be on the small side to view that.

I would suggest that you need to check the collimation of the scope, the supplied cap may not be accurate enough, also read up on collimating fast scopes as what you see is slightly different to collimating a slower scope. Also look at better eyepieces that are able to handle a fast scope - you could try an 8mm TV plossl as they seem rated to f/4.

A visual solar filter, ND5 seems to be the term, should take out sufficent light. You will get a white/grey or yellow/orange image depending on the film used. You will not see prominences, they require a Ha solar scope.

[RT65CB-SWL]

As Jupiter & Saturn are low in the sky, the photons are travelling through a lot of dust, moisture and other stuff in the Earth's atmosphere before it reaches your eye. Also give your eyes chance to become dark adapted and the 'scope chance to cool down.

At f/4.8 it maybe a bit too fast with some of your eyepieces. I too would check the collimation of your 'scope.

[CedrikG]

Jupiter is now very low in the sky and it is difficult to see much detail. You will have to wait until winter when it. Will be higher and much more suitable for viewing. Did you see any of the 4 large moons ?

Yes i've had the chance to observe it for the last 4 month and rarely missed my chance on good weather. I see the moon very well. That said since one week jupiter is not visible no more in my area, Saturn took its place i got a very good view on it its cool.

John : I think you are right man ... When I was out for a longer period of time looking at it I could see the other bend. Those using 14 inch scope do not use any filter ?

Xtreem : Thanks man

[xtreemchaos]

CedrikG- thats a cool pic of you and your scope you look well happy and your welcome.  clear skys.  charl.