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Some Questions i have

aeut

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aeut

aeut

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Hello there,

I am new to the forum, and a somewhat new to telescopes. I have a telescope with a 700mm focal length. I also have some questions to ask. First, I want to be able to see Jupiter and its moons, but the image comes out a bit blurry when I look in. I see it, and I am able to see a moon and there is kind of a bright disk covering it. Is there any way i'd be able to see it better and what eyepiece should i use to see it? My second question, can moonlight effect how I see stars and planets? And what programs should I use to process images to make them better? Finally, last but not least, what are some general tips for viewing planets?

I'm sorry I asked so many questions, i've recently trying to get my account working and over time i've got a few questions for it. I'm just a new astronomer and was wondering if any experts could help me out.

Thank you very much!

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Craig20264

Craig20264

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Hi, and welcome.

If you give us a bit more information, scope aperture, type what eyepieces you have etc. It will be easier for someone to guide you along in your quest. I wouldn't worry too much about processing software for the moment. Just get the basics all working and then move onto the more demanding stuff.

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brantuk

brantuk

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The blurryness you get when viewing Jupiter is highly likely to be either the "seeing" (i.e. the effect of the atmosphere), or you could be looking at it too low in the sky (nearer the horizon than the zenith). It's unlikely to be you doing anything wrong.

If you look at it later in the evening when it gains some height you'll be looking through less atmosphere and it will blur less. If the seeing isn't too good however, it may appear to wobble or "boil" in the eyepiece. The sky needs to be not only "clear" but the "transparency" needs to be good for best views.

If you use too much magnification - then you will also magnify the impurities in the sky and it will appear "grainy". Hth :)

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aeut

aeut

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Hi, and welcome.

If you give us a bit more information, scope aperture, type what eyepieces you have etc. It will be easier for someone to guide you along in your quest. I wouldn't worry too much about processing software for the moment. Just get the basics all working and then move onto the more demanding stuff.

For the aperture, this is probably wrong, but i think it is 70mm. My eyepieces are 9mm, 25mm, and 32mm

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aeut

aeut

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Hi, and welcome.

If you give us a bit more information, scope aperture, type what eyepieces you have etc. It will be easier for someone to guide you along in your quest. I wouldn't worry too much about processing software for the moment. Just get the basics all working and then move onto the more demanding stuff.

I'm sorry, the aperture seems to be 2.8", rather than 70mm. 

They will be a small sticker on the scope giving briefly the specification, equally they usuall plaster all over the tube the name of the scope.

What make is it ?

The Telescope is a Meade Digital Electronic Telescope DS-70 (2.8") with a 700 focal length.

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Dave In Vermont

Dave In Vermont

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70mm is the same as saying 2.8 inches. And if the focal-length (FL) is 700mm, which is 10X the size of the lens - 70mm (2.8"), then your telescope is what we would call a 70mm F10. The 'F' meaning the focal-length.

So you've told us you have three eyepieces, which we tend to abbreviate to 'EP' or ep, and your EP's have focal-lengths of 9mm, 25mm, and 32mm. To find the magnifying-power of the eyepieces, you would divide the focal-length of the telescope - 700mm - by the focal-length of the eyepieces. Like this: 700mm ÷ 9mm = 77.7X , 700mm ÷ 25mm = 28X, and 700mm ÷ 32 = 21.87X.

There's the basic math to understanding a telescope!

All the best,

Dave

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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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You might consider getting a higher magnification EP for planetary use. In general, I calculate the maximum magnification of a scope in good conditions as double the apererture in mm - thus your aperture is 70mm, maximum practical magnification is roughly x140.

Using the maths that Dave explains above, a 5mm EP would give x140 magnification in your scope.

Another alternative to increasing your range of magnifications would be a x2 Barlow. This will effectively double the magnification of each of the EPs you already have.

As you get more experienced in viewing the planets, you might also consider getting some coloured filters. By blocking out certain colours, they can enhance other colours or contrast. For a telescope with a small aperture like yours, however, you will get best effects with light coloured filters, and you will probably want to avoid filter kits which often include dark filters.

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baggywrinkle

baggywrinkle

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As someone has said above, the rough rule of thumb for small scopes is 2x the apterure in mm, so for yours a theoretical 140.

However that would be on a good night of clear atmosphere, good seeing.

Best to start with the lowewst power eye piece, in your case 32mm and then the next lowest number. If the seeing is bad then you will start to get blurry images or soft images. That will be the limit of veiwing for the night. It is not always about magnification, clarity of image is important. Your eyes also learn to see.

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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Your other questions concerned the moon and photography.

The moon does indeed prevent us from observing faint targets because the background sky is too bright to allow the contrast needed. Planets are least affected and double stars can be observed as well.

Photography. Alas, this has absolutely nothing to do with daylight photography and does not just involve putting a camera on the back of the scope and taking a shot. We use mounts which not only track the sky very accurately but track it in such a way that the orientation of the target does not rotate slowly on the camera's chip. It's a complicated and expensive game but you can make a better start without a scope. Just use your caera lens on a fixed tripod. The subject is too large for a full explanation here but be aware that a deep sky photographic budget ranges from maybe 1500 dollars up to - literally anything. (My neighbour a few miles away, with the help of public funding, runs an instrument which cost six million euros...)

Olly

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