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Trouble observing Jupiter


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17 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

Try this field of view calculator. Select your telescope and eyepiece combination from the drop down menus and your target and the calculator will then show you the size of image which would be expected with that equipment. Unfortunately, with your telescope and eyepieces you will not see Jupiter other than a small bright disc and occasionally some banding. 

Wow i have never seen this tool before! Do you happen to know how accurate the simulations are? For example i have put my telescope details in and am trying a range of EP's to see what results i could potentially get!

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3 minutes ago, Cornelius Varley said:

You can also compare the results with this one

They look pretty on point, these should help with my future EP purchases so thanks! :D (just remembered i have used that one before as it is in the links, thanks for the reminder)

 

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46 minutes ago, Woolnut said:

They look pretty on point, these should help with my future EP purchases so thanks! :D (just remembered i have used that one before as it is in the links, thanks for the reminder)

 

These simulations are useful to work out what the field of view will look like and potential apparent size of objects but in terms of the details of objects that will be visible they can't really be relied on because that is determined by a set of factors including the seeing conditions, local light pollution, optical quality, observer experience etc which the simulation can't simulate of course.

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, HEROIC MAKER said:

Is there a problem with my magnifications. I was using 20mm so the magnification was 30x. What is the range of magnification for viewing Jupiter. What is the best magnification for viewing Jupiter.

As said earlier in this thread, with your scope I think around 70x or 80x would be the optimum for viewing Jupiter. The 50mm aperture of the scope will limit the amount of magnification that can usefully be used and Jupiter usually looks better at a little less than the maximum that the scope will cope with.

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1 hour ago, John said:

These simulations are useful to work out what the field of view will look like and potential apparent size of objects but in terms of the details of objects that will be visible they can't really be relied on because that is determined by a set of factors including the seeing conditions, local light pollution, optical quality, observer experience etc which the simulation can't simulate of course

Yeah exactly, i was not expecting to be able to see Jupiter as displayed on screen thankfully! (Turn Left at Orion educated me on this :D

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21 hours ago, Grotemobile said:

As U say it has been very bad lately.  Got this about 2 months ago.  Just about make out the bands. 

Hope it gets better. I thought about buying a bigger scope. Wont bother now with results like this.

Juipter ok.png

I have tried with both a Nextimage Burst and a high quality DSLR and this image is about my recent limit too. Seeing conditions have been like soup, not helped by every recent (few) clear nights being blighted by extreme moonlight. 

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It's very important when you ask a question to read the answers as this will avoid asking the same question again that has already been answered.

You really need at least 50x magnification to see any sort of detail on Jupiter and a little more is better if you can. You need to leave your scope outside four at least 15 minutes before starting to observe and then 'stare' at the planet for maybe 10-20 minutes and detail will start to come. If you have a moon filter that might help increase contrast. I sketch planets when I can and 

My sketch below was with a bigger scope at 128x although the actual image in the telescope was about the size of a pea held at arms' length. Using these techniques you can extract as much detail as possible

20170204_115926-1.jpg

Usually I do a sketch and then compare it using https://www.calsky.com

Here's a close up comparison for my scope at the time I did my sketch. It's a reasonable match but the other smaller image below is more like the real size in the eyepiece.

tmp81673759770372.jpg

tmp15390773712450.jpg

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Photography and art are wonderful aren't they?  You can zoom in on a picture which may originally be a round dot and draw an image to whatever scale you want.  Given where this thread has gone I think both the photo and drawing may not help the OP to understand just how small an object they are going to see in the EP.  At least those EP simulators (despite perhaps over-egging the clarity of detail of the tiny dot in the circle) give the OP some real idea of exactly how big the 'dot' might appear to them.   I found Jupiter for the first time the other night - a quick peak in an 8" F6 Dobsonian with a 10mm EP and maybe I was just a little disappointed that (such a huge object although so many miles away) it wasn't apparently bigger as I thought I had a fairly big beginners telescope.  However, using those simulators I know now that I was seeing, size wise, exactly what I was supposed to see.  I am also learning how apparent magnification and EP's and focal lengths all interact and that we are all swayed by beautiful professional images and, understandably, wish we could see similar for ourselves.   If that's as good as it gets (and I know it is) then I'll live with that, think myself lucky to have what I have and revise my expectations.  When you play with the simulators the increase in apparent size from a 10" or even a 12" Dobsonian with similar EP's IMO doesn't warrant, for me at least, an upgrade just to look at planets - I'm sure more detail in what I have will be possible with better seeing and a higher position in the sky later in April.  However, when you think of how big Jupiter is relative the earth I think the size of that tiny dot just goes to demonstrate exactly how far away 588 million kilometres actually is!!!  When you look at that huge figure its amazing we see it at all!  The OP's scope is far smaller than mine, I'm sure my small Jupiter will look huge in comparison to what the OP is seeing and, as already noted, maybe they really do need to  rein in their expectations.

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35 minutes ago, JOC said:

Photography and art are wonderful aren't they?  ou can zoom in on a picture which may originally be a round dot and draw an image to whatever scale you want.  Given where this thread has gone I think both the photo and drawing may not help the OP to understand just how small an object they are going to see in the EP.  At least those EP simulators (despite perhaps over-egging the clarity of detail of the tiny dot in the circle) give the OP some real idea of exactly how big the 'dot' might appear to them.   I found Jupiter for the first time the other night - a quick peak in an 8" F6 Dobsonian with a 10mm EP and maybe I was just a little disappointed that (such a huge object although so many miles away) it wasn't apparently bigger as I thought I had a fairly big beginners telescope.  However, using those simulators I know now that I was seeing, size wise, exactly what I was supposed to see.  I am also learning how apparent magnification and EP's and focal lengths all interact and that we are all swayed by beautiful professional images and, understandably, wish we could see similar for ourselves.   If that's as good as it gets (and I know it is) then I'll live with that, think myself lucky to have what I have and revise my expectations.  When you play with the simulators the increase in apparent size from a 10" or even a 12" Dobsonian with similar EP's IMO doesn't warrant, for me at least, an upgrade just to look at planets - I'm sure more detail in what I have will be possible with better seeing and a higher position in the sky later in April.  However, when you think of how big Jupiter is relative the earth I think the size of that tiny dot just goes to demonstrate exactly how far away 588 million kilometres actually is!!!  When you look at that huge figure its amazing we see it at all!  The OP's scope is far smaller than mine, I'm sure my small Jupiter will look huge in comparison to what the OP is seeing and, as already noted, maybe they really do need to  rein in their expectations.

You should try a 2x barlow with that 10mm eyepiece, your scope can definitely handle that with ease, if the sky decides to cooperate :)

I viewed the Jupiter at 150x and 200x in 127mm aperture and it was nowhere near disappointing. In fact, I couldn't get enough of the view and wished that human body doesn't have such petty needs as sleeping and eating. 

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