Jupiter is almost featureless!

[Herzy]

Alright, last night I was so excited to see the almighty Jupiter for the first time through my 90mm MAK. When it finally reached the horizon I was disappointed.

My instrument is focused considering the fact that the moons are pinpoint dots, so that's not the issue. I tried using a variety of my eyepieces to see if magnification was the trick but it just appeared as a bigger, dimmer, blob. 

I just got the telescope so I have a hard time believing it's problems with the optics... Any ideas?

[dweller25]

At the moment Jupiter will not be at it's highest until around 3am when you will get the best views.

If you observed before midnight the low altitude would diminish the details

 

[John]

As above.

I needed to wait until the early hours to get a decent view of Jupiter a few nights back even though it rose above the horizon a few hours before that.

Also, your mak will need sometime to cool to the outside temperature even though it's aperture is relatively small. At least 30 mins I'd have thought.

 

[Herzy]

Thanks for the replies! I'll try later on when Jupiter isn't so close to the horizon and I'll also let the scope cool off a bit before viewing. I'll update you once that's done!

[Chris]

I'll third the above. Jupiter and everything else looks a mess low down on the horizon, this is because you are looking through a thick slab of atmosphere compared to higher up. You need to wait for it to rise higher in the sky, and also allow tube currents to settle as your scope cools.

I used to own a 90mm Mak years ago, I remember Jupiter showing at least two distinct light caremel coloured weather bands. I've not long had my 127mm Mak and viewing Jupiter low down I could see blurry bands, but then after an hour once the scope had cooled and Jupiter had climbed, I could see about 5 bands plus the great red spot jutting out of one of the main bands

 

[Mak the Night]

Jupiter can sometimes look good at low elevations during twilight.  Last July around 22:00 BST I saw a setting Jupiter (approx 100° W, Leo) at around an 11° elevation/altitude and was quite surprised at the detail that I could see with a 130mm Newtonian at 135x magnification. Jupiter can be a bit susceptible to atmospheric conditions though and can often look fuzzy and featureless. I was viewing the Moon/Jupiter conjunction the other night with it high in the sky at around 03:00 GMT and it's the clearest I've seen Jupiter for a while. 

[Mafisen]

Hello everyone. I'm new here and new at stargazing and I have  similar question as the OP. I got a Skywatcher Mercury 705 for Christmas. It's my first telescope. I live in Sweden and this morning, whilst still dark (around 7am), I took it out in the backyard to watch Jupiter in the southwestern sky. I saw 4 of the moons and I haven't seen that before so that was incredibly cool. I was left a little bit disappointed though, as I had hoped to see some bands at least, but all I saw was a bright white disc.

Maybe that's all I can reasonably expect from a scope with 70mm aperture? I used a 7.5mm Super Plössl eyepiece and a 2x Barlow, giving me a magnification of 133x (max for my telescope is 140x).

 

So, is this what I can ever expect to see of Jupiter or do the same advice you've given to the OP apply to me? I know I didn't give it time to cool down as I wanted to get a look in before taking the kids to school. But after that? This has got me thinking of getting a filter or two for planetary and lunar observations. Start with something that reduces glare from the moon and the big guy perhaps?

 

Any help is greatly appreciated.

[John]

As has been said, when Jupiter is higher in the sky and your eye is a little practiced you should see at least the 2 main cloud bands. You might not see a lot more with a 70mm aperture to be honest but the longer you spend observing it , the more you will see. A "quick look" generally shows rather a plain disk.

 

[Mafisen]

Thank you John. I will go again tonight and take my time. 

[MountainSkies]

Are you using an electronic before going outside?

the light will stain your eyes, causing bad viewing. 

with a 127mm scope, you can usually see about three bands depending on the night IF you do not use an electronic before viewing. I will put in a few pictures as soon as my new astrophotographers camera comes in, as the one I have now is not good quality, and is also broken. 

 

Hope this helps!

[MountainSkies]

Forgot to mention that more pollution cases worse views!

[BGazing]

Some of the best views of Saturn I had last year were mid August, when Saturn was not more than 20-25 degrees over the horizon, and still somewhat bathed in dusk light. The 'boil' did not start before it descended below 20 degrees, so I would, from my limited experience, consider that one can try low altitudes, but should not be surprised if the seeing is horrid, since there is so much atmosphere in-between.