Celestron travel scope 70

[britto765]

Hi all ,

I was just wondering how much detail should I be able to see of Jupiter with a celestron travel scope 70 with a 15 mm plossl eyepiece and a celestron 2x Barlow?

thanks 

[Knighty2112]

11 minutes ago, britto765 said:

Hi all ,

I was just wondering how much detail should I be able to see of Jupiter with a celestron travel scope 70 with a 15 mm plossl eyepiece and a celestron 2x Barlow?

thanks 

I have this scope, but rarely use it now, but it served me well for a few years until I could upgrade to a better telescope. You should be a ble to make out the two main equatorial belts on Jupiter, and the 4 Galilaian moons too, but Unless you have really good eyesight, and an extremely clear and steady night I doubt you will see too much more. I never saw the Great Red Spot with mine. 

[britto765]

I find you can't zoom in on the planet  very much cause it goes white and fuzzy. Have you seen saturn and Mars through this scope by any chance??

[Knighty2112]

At higher magnifications it is harder to focus well, and it is more sensitive to focuser movement too. However, you have to take in to account the seeing on the night too. On a normal night in the UK the seeing is average. When it is below average then no matter how well you focus the planet will stay fuzzy and not in focus. On good nights, or more rare on exceptional nights you will be able to see Jupiter better at higher magnifications. You should be able to se Saturns rings and see that they are rings and not ears on the planet. Mars is currently quite small in the scope, but when it reaches next opposition (closest point in its orbit to the Earth) then you may be able to see some detail, but not too much. This will most likely be one of the white polar caps if extensive. 

[Knighty2112]

Oh, and you should be able to see the core of M31 too quite easily on a good night, plus quite a few globular and open clusters too. Not forgetting the glorious M42 as well. With good dark skies I'm sure you could bag even more things than what I ever did in my light polluted back garden with the scope too.   

[britto765]

 Thanks for all the helpful information you've given me there. Sounds like you seen quite a lot through this scope then , hopefully so very clear nights to get the most out of it. 

[Knighty2112]

Yep, for a small frac you can still see quite a lot with it. Only let down with it is the poor tripod you get with it. I always used a camera tripod to get a much stabler view. For the price and the fact it's very portable it good value for money.  

[britto765]

That was one of the main reasons why I bought the scope was how portable it is and I haven't found the tripod to bad atm ,early days mind. I couldn't believe it when I seen a 70 mm fefractor with a 420 mm focal length going for £400 and this scope was only £50 mad. Did you try taking any pictures through it?? 

[Knighty2112]

Just a few afocal pictures of the moon, nothing major. I doubt if you could get much more from the night sky than that with this scope but you never know! 

[britto765]

Probably is to small for pictures of most sky objects. Anything you would recommend buy for this scope to improve it?