neptune imaging issues

[Some Dude With A Mak- Cass]

so i got out my celestron sky prodigy mak-cass and took a look at neptune, but i only saw a little point of light. it had a definite bluish tint, but it did NOT look like a planet. is this just normal or is something wrong? i didn't get a picture of it, i was going to try but i forgot. any tips?

[Dave In Vermont]

Neptune requires rather high magnification to be revealed as a disk. Without knowing knowing the aperture of your telescope, I can't say how much to try, but try gradually increasing the X. If no disk, or the view gets 'soft' - don't worry about it.

Neptune can be a bear in this way. Try Uranus yet? It's much easier to view it as a disk (planet). They are both in the same neighborhood currently.

Enjoy!

Dave

[Demonperformer]

Which skyprodigy scope is it that you have?

To give you some sort of idea, here is an image I took of Neptune (with Triton) through an 8" scope (it's the dot that moves from top to bottom). Not a lot of disk, even with that.

[Pete Presland]

As above Neptune is a very tough target, its makes Uranus look very rewarding. I know somebody with a 445mm aperture Dob, who when images Neptune there is not a huge amount to see. 

What aperture scope and camera are you using? Also I sure you got the planet?

[Some Dude With A Mak- Cass]

8 hours ago, Demonperformer said:

Which skyprodigy scope is it that you have?

To give you some sort of idea, here is an image I took of Neptune (with Triton) through an 8" scope (it's the dot that moves from top to bottom). Not a lot of disk, even with that.

i have the sky prodigy 90 mak-cass. its got a 5 inch aperture, so given the above images i think a vibrant blue dot is all i can expect.

 

7 hours ago, Pete Presland said:

As above Neptune is a very tough target, its makes Uranus look very rewarding. I know somebody with a 445mm aperture Dob, who when images Neptune there is not a huge amount to see. 

What aperture scope and camera are you using? Also I sure you got the planet?

I'm certain i got the planet. it was right in the viewfinder, and the GOTO systems are very accurate so far. for camera, i don't have a good one yet. i was going to try holding my iPhone camera up to the eyepiece. I've seen it done, even though it sounds ridiculous. it was freezing cold and i really underdressed, so there wasn't really much time. if it had been a bit warmer i would have taken a shot. also, there was some light pollution. not as much as at my house, but still more than i would like. neptune wasn't directly in the polluted part of the horizon, but it was on he edge. that might have had an affect. I'm going to a dark sky park for the leonids on the 17th, ill see if i can get a shot of neptune then.. even as a little point of light it was awesome to see.

[Cornelius Varley]

What eyepiece did you use ?

ps 90mm = 3.5"

[Dave In Vermont]

Yes - 90mm = 3.54" and this scope is F/13.9. It's been discontinued in the US, and replaced by the Celestron NexStar series.

Looks to be a nice, little Mak! But Neptune will likely only present itself as a bright icy-blue 'star.' Do note the colour it shows - I find it to be unique.

Best -

Dave

 

 

[John]

To give a sense of scale, Neptunes apparent disk is a small as the gap between the pairs of stars in the famous "double double" Epsilon Lyrae. Really tiny !

It's still looks very small even at 400x magnification with my 12" dobsonian.

 

[Some Dude With A Mak- Cass]

20 hours ago, Cornelius Varley said:

What eyepiece did you use ?

ps 90mm = 3.5"

let me check here... it came with a 25mm and a 9mm, and i haven't bought more yet. i tried them both, but of course the 25 had the better image for a celestial object.

 

20 hours ago, Dave In Vermont said:

Yes - 90mm = 3.54" and this scope is F/13.9. It's been discontinued in the US, and replaced by the Celestron NexStar series.

Looks to be a nice, little Mak! But Neptune will likely only present itself as a bright icy-blue 'star.' Do note the colour it shows - I find it to be unique.

Best -

Dave

 

 

an icy blue "star" is exactly what i saw. glad to know its hard to get much better than that w/out doubling my aperture.

[John]

With Neptune you seem to need 150x or so to see it as a distinct disk. Try Uranus - it's disk is twice as large as Neptunes is (still small of course !).