A frustrating night

[Jimtheslim]

Having got home after midnight from work I could see Jupiter, Mars and Saturn in the moonless sky. So I couldn't resist getting the 10" dob out for a look. Looking at Jupiter first I decided the seeing conditions were not as good as I hoped. Turning to Mars I shouldn't have bothered, just a blurry red disc that wouldn't go anywhere near focus. I didn't want to look at Saturn for fear of being disappointed, but I did...and I was. Just a yellowish smudge with no detail whatsoever at any magnification. I then had a look for a few DSO's with no luck before deciding that perhaps my garden isn't as dark as I had hoped and returning inside, minus 2 hours that I could have spent sleeping. 

I understand that being closer to the horizon Saturn never gets high enough for great seeing. But I was wondering if it will ever be observable in my 10" relfector? Does anyone in the north of the UK get decent views of Saturn with a similar f4/7 scope?

As for the DSO's I think a Telrad and a long overdue drive to the countryside is in order, otherwise I think I might have spent a small fortune on looking at a slightly larger image of Jupiter!

[Peco4321]

I too was frustrated last night, it may be pleasantly warm but the skies are just not dark enough. Like you, a dark site is calling. 

[Knighty2112]

Jupiter was reasonable earlier on in the evening, but got worse later on. Mars for the last few nights has just been dancing around like crazy, with only a slight hint of the darker patches on its surface. Saturn did hold up OK surprisingly for the last few nights. Even though it danced around a little too the view was pretty sharp, way better than Mars for sure. 

For the next few months I'm going to concentrate on planetary and lunar viewing only, as the nights really don't get dark enough for DSO's really, although some globular clusters are still good targets. 

[Jimtheslim]

55 minutes ago, Knighty2112 said:

Jupiter was reasonable earlier on in the evening, but got worse later on. Mars for the last few nights has just been dancing around like crazy, with only a slight hint of the darker patches on its surface. Saturn did hold up OK surprisingly for the last few nights. Even though it danced around a little too the view was pretty sharp, way better than Mars for sure. 

For the next few months I'm going to concentrate on planetary and lunar viewing only, as the nights really don't get dark enough for DSO's really, although some globular clusters are still good targets. 

what scope/setup were you using for Saturn?

[Knighty2112]

3 minutes ago, Jimtheslim said:

what scope/setup were you using for Saturn?

Used both my Skywatcher Startravel 120 frac, and also my newly acquired Celestron C6N reflector. Got good views of Saturn through both of them. 

[Jimtheslim]

I was viewing between half 12 and 1am so hopefully as the month progresses I can view it at its highest at a more sensible hour

 

[Piero]

Maybe this is not applicable to your case, but Newton telescopes (in particular but generally all telescopes) require perfect collimation and cooling to work properly at medium/high powers. There are a few very good guides about collimation if this is a concern. Look for that one by Moonshane, a must read to me. If the telescope is not properly collimated or cooled, there is no chance you will get nice views for planetary targets or double stars.

On the other hand, if the seeing is bad but transparency is okay, there are plenty of targets for your Dob 10" out there right now. Just check Virgo, Coma, Leo, Ursa Major, and Canes Venatici on Stellarium or whatever atlas you prefer

Good Luck!

Piero

[Knighty2112]

What magnification were you trying to use when you viewed Saturn? I was using a max of 144 & 166 on my frac and reflector respectively. Couldn't get much more than that really, so if you pushed further than that then that might have been your problem perhaps. 

[Jimtheslim]

4 hours ago, Knighty2112 said:

What magnification were you trying to use when you viewed Saturn? I was using a max of 144 & 166 on my frac and reflector respectively. Couldn't get much more than that really, so if you pushed further than that then that might have been your problem perhaps.

96x on Jupiter, Mars and Saturn. Jupiter was bright, but not nearly as clear as I have seen it on other nights. Mars and Saturn were just mushy blobs of colour.

As for collimation I think it's pretty good. It's a pretty new scope which I have only used half a dozen times since receiving it and collimating with a Cheshire. Will have another look at this tomorrow, however doing a star test last night had nice little concentric donuts as you went under and over focus.

Saturn had occasional glimpses of better focus where you could just make out the gap between the disc and the rings, but this was fleeting and nowhere near as clear as I have seen it in my frac