Jupiter/Mars Cunjunction this morning.

[paulastro]

Out at 4.30 this morning for the conjuction.  Fabulous views until 6.40am when I packed up, closest approach being about 6.00am.  Used my Astro-Tech 102-ED with binoviewer and x2 16.8mm Orthos.  The separation was around  a quarter of a degree (half the full Moon) and it was framed nicely within the binoviewer.  It looked beautiful with Jupiter near the top of the field (diagonal view) with two satellites either side and Mars starting off near the bottom of the field below right of Jupiter and moving underneath it during the session.  In better seeing could see nice belt detail in Jupiter too. Wonderful.  Mars was a nice small disc at moments of better seeing (approx. 1/8th the size of Jupiter) but the  seeing and small size prevented me seeing any definitive albedo features.  With the naked eye it was a fine view too. 

In between watching the conjunction had marvellous views of the sun setting over Posidonius and Theophilus on the Moon, jaw-dropping detail.

Dead chuffed, what a great start to the day. 

 

[Stu]

Great report Paul! Had good views here too, although the seeing was pretty shabby to start with. Has got better as they got higher, and the sky brightened. Looking lovely still now.

Agreed, great way to start the day!

[paulastro]

Thanks Stu, I'm glad you managed to see it.  I bet it looked fabulous in your Tak, if that's what you were using.

[Stu]

1 hour ago, paulastro said:

Thanks Stu, I'm glad you managed to see it.  I bet it looked fabulous in your Tak, if that's what you were using.

Tak is about all I've got at the moment Paul. Looked good although the seeing could have been better. It got better as the sky brightened, have only just come in as the scope is atill tracking them; they are still visible when the cloud clears.

[dweller25]

Hello Paul,

I was watching the conjunction at the same time - managed to get both planets in the eyepiece at x150 - a really nice sight.

[Craig2017]

hi everyone, wondering if you could help me. I was out this morning at around 6.30, left my telescope out last night to get the temperature right but i did put a blanket over it. i was looking at Jupiter and mars with all my lenses. but i was a bit let down, i will explain. im a newbie and i have a 200p dobsonian scope. I have 4 lenses only a 9mm and 15mm celestron and a 10mm and a wide angle standard to the scope sky watcher lenses. when i was looking at the planets with all the lenses i couldn't get them in focus properly, they seemed really blury. I also saw the satellites around Jupiter but i saw 4  through the scope. could you tell me if i have a problem with the scope or is it the lenses that are the problem? also another question, we have one camera and scope shop where i live and the guy is telling me to buy some lenses off him for £100 each. i cant really afford that so can you tell me what sizes i would need to have a good view of the planets and deep space please? if you can help i would be greatful. i have been looking on this site and i know people have been saying about the bst lenses are these any good?

[dweller25]

10 minutes ago, Craig2017 said:

hi everyone, wondering if you could help me. I was out this morning at around 6.30, left my telescope out last night to get the temperature right but i did put a blanket over it. i was looking at Jupiter and mars with all my lenses. but i was a bit let down, i will explain. im a newbie and i have a 200p dobsonian scope. I have 4 lenses only a 9mm and 15mm celestron and a 10mm and a wide angle standard to the scope sky watcher lenses. when i was looking at the planets with all the lenses i couldn't get them in focus properly, they seemed really blury. I also saw the satellites around Jupiter but i saw 4  through the scope. could you tell me if i have a problem with the scope or is it the lenses that are the problem? also another question, we have one camera and scope shop where i live and the guy is telling me to buy some lenses off him for £100 each. i cant really afford that so can you tell me what sizes i would need to have a good view of the planets and deep space please? if you can help i would be greatful. i have been looking on this site and i know people have been saying about the bst lenses are these any good?

Hello Craig,

I was out his morning too with a 4" refractor and the views were blurry due to atmospheric seeing and the relatively low altitude of Jupiter and Mars.

I doubt there is anything wrong with your scope.

I would persevere with your current eyepieces (lenses) until you gain a little more experience.

[Craig2017]

ok thanks for that Dweller. 

[kerrylewis]

Hello Craig

I agree with David. The conditions for these two planets have been poor lately with them so low in the sky and this will make them look ‘blurry’. You are not the first observer to assume that there might be something wrong with their equipment. I’ve been checking the dawn planets for a few weeks now and only caught one good morning with anything like clear detail.

Try a target higher in the sky. Find a medium bright star and defocus. You should see a ‘doughnut ‘ which is symmetrical. If the ‘hole’ is off centre your scope needs collimating- plenty of advice here on SGL on how to do that.

I also agree with David re your eyepieces. You have a good range there to  be going on with and I would concentrate on getting used to those. With more experience you will then know if you need some different focal lengths and/or quality.

good luck

Kerry 

[paulastro]

3 hours ago, dweller25 said:

Hello Paul,

I was watching the conjunction at the same time - managed to get both planets in the eyepiece at x150 - a really nice sight.

Well done David, I'm glad there were clearly  a few more folks up and about as well as myself .

[Peter Drew]

With no pre- planning whatsoever I managed to wake up at 5.30am after a 12hour stint at the Astronomy Centre. Looking out of the window the conjunction was immediately obvious. My sole optical instrument to hand was a 8x30 monocular but it gave a very satisfying view. I noticed that the naked eye view presented a much brighter view of Jupiter relative to Mars than it did through the monocular. Very pleased to have seen the event and only half an hour loss of sleep! 

[paulastro]

Now, don't you go overdoing it Peter

[Stu]

10 hours ago, Craig2017 said:

hi everyone, wondering if you could help me. I was out this morning at around 6.30, left my telescope out last night to get the temperature right but i did put a blanket over it. i was looking at Jupiter and mars with all my lenses. but i was a bit let down, i will explain. im a newbie and i have a 200p dobsonian scope. I have 4 lenses only a 9mm and 15mm celestron and a 10mm and a wide angle standard to the scope sky watcher lenses. when i was looking at the planets with all the lenses i couldn't get them in focus properly, they seemed really blury. I also saw the satellites around Jupiter but i saw 4  through the scope. could you tell me if i have a problem with the scope or is it the lenses that are the problem? also another question, we have one camera and scope shop where i live and the guy is telling me to buy some lenses off him for £100 each. i cant really afford that so can you tell me what sizes i would need to have a good view of the planets and deep space please? if you can help i would be greatful. i have been looking on this site and i know people have been saying about the bst lenses are these any good?

I agree with the others, seeing conditions were tricky and focus was hard to nail. The planets are low and detail is hard to see. You will only see 4 moons around Jupiter anyway, the others are way too faint to see in an amateur scope.

So don't blame the scope, and don't panic buy eyepieces. Use what you have got for a while until you get used to what conditions are like and how they change i.e. What is good and what is bad.

BSTs are definitely a good value and quality option when you chose to upgrade, based purely on feedback I have read, I have not used them myself but would actually be tempted to try them sometime.

[Craig2017]

thanks for the replies everyone. here is another question for you all. should i buy a goto mount?

[goodricke1]

1 hour ago, Craig2017 said:

thanks for the replies everyone. here is another question for you all. should i buy a goto mount?

I think you should. In our cloudy climes, it will save you vital time which would otherwise be wasted by starhopping.

[F15Rules]

I managed to get a nice view of Jupiter and Mars this morning (Monday) at 07.30am, so it was getting light fast. I whipped the FS128 out and put in the Pentax Zoom on the 24mm lowest power setting, that's 43x and just 40 deg fov. 

It was a nice view with 3 moon's to the one side of Jupe, forming a tiny triangle, with another on the other side. Visually I could see just the two main belts, not much else. Mars was on the other side of the field, a tiny disk but no detail.

I also popped in my 40mm TS 69 deg Paragon for just 26x, again pleasing view but much lighter sky background.

Finally I popped in my LVV22mm 65 Deg at 27x, but in the 10 minutes or so since first view it was getting lighter all the time.

A couple of pictures attempts below, with my android phone just held over the eyepiece. If you expand the Jupiter image you can just see some of the moons..you can see from the scope pic how light it was now getting ..

Dave