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Interstellar_Explorer

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John

John

Posted
Posted

I started out with a scope very similar to that in specification. With some practice I did manage to see the following:

- Lots of detail on the Moon.

- Jupiter's two main cloud belts, 4 brightest moons and occasionally and when I was more skilled, one or two more cloud belts. I didn't see the Great Red Spot though despite trying a lot.

- Saturn's ring system and brightest moon Titan. I could not see the Cassini division in the rings though.

- Some details on Mars when it was at opposition, ie: as near as it gets to Earth. This will next be in October 2020 so until then just expect a pale pink tiny spot.

- I managed to split double stars down to around 2.5 arc seconds and there are plenty of those in the sky.

- I managed to see a few of the brighter deep sky objects as faint patches of light. No particular detail in most apart from the Orion Nebula which had some shape and form to it. Open star clusters looked nice and there are quite a few of those to search out.

- I projected the Sun onto card to see sunspots and very memorably a transit of Venus. Never look directly at the Sun though !!!!

This scope got me started. Planets will look very small though - even Jupiter. The maximum useful magnification will be 100x - 120x. Often something more like 30x - 60x will give nicer views.

I think that is a realistic description of what you can see with a 60mm refractor :smiley:

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Mr Spock

Mr Spock

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Posted
9 hours ago, John said:

I think that is a realistic description of what you can see with a 60mm refractor

Having owned a 60mm f15 refractor back in the 70's, I agree entirely. Especially the comment about double stars. It was this scope which got me interested - there are hundreds within its range.

Don't try to push the magnification (always a tempation), the image will get vey dark. Treat x120 as the absolute magnification on the very best nights. A decent 8mm eyepiece, such as the BST Starguider, will give you x88 - just about right I would have thought.

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Interstellar_Explorer

Interstellar_Explorer

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12 hours ago, John said:

I started out with a scope very similar to that in specification. With some practice I did manage to see the following:

- Lots of detail on the Moon.

- Jupiter's two main cloud belts, 4 brightest moons and occasionally and when I was more skilled, one or two more cloud belts. I didn't see the Great Red Spot though despite trying a lot.

- Saturn's ring system and brightest moon Titan. I could not see the Cassini division in the rings though.

- Some details on Mars when it was at opposition, ie: as near as it gets to Earth. This will next be in October 2020 so until then just expect a pale pink tiny spot.

- I managed to split double stars down to around 2.5 arc seconds and there are plenty of those in the sky.

- I managed to see a few of the brighter deep sky objects as faint patches of light. No particular detail in most apart from the Orion Nebula which had some shape and form to it. Open star clusters looked nice and there are quite a few of those to search out.

- I projected the Sun onto card to see sunspots and very memorably a transit of Venus. Never look directly at the Sun though !!!!

This scope got me started. Planets will look very small though - even Jupiter. The maximum useful magnification will be 100x - 120x. Often something more like 30x - 60x will give nicer views.

I think that is a realistic description of what you can see with a 60mm refractor :smiley:

Wow! You spend so much time to write that just to answer my silly question! Thank you so much!

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Interstellar_Explorer

Interstellar_Explorer

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4 hours ago, Lockie said:

+1 for what John said. He has it covered. 

Just out of curiosity, what were your other choices?

Hi! my other choices were a seben 76/700 star commander telescope, a national geographic 76/700 telescope, and a zennox 76/700 telescope! (Yes, everything is 76/700 lol)

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Interstellar_Explorer

Interstellar_Explorer

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3 hours ago, Mr Spock said:

Having owned a 60mm f15 refractor back in the 70's, I agree entirely. Especially the comment about double stars. It was this scope which got me interested - there are hundreds within its range.

Don't try to push the magnification (always a tempation), the image will get vey dark. Treat x120 as the absolute magnification on the very best nights. A decent 8mm eyepiece, such as the BST Starguider, will give you x88 - just about right I would have thought.

OK thank you very much!

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Gabby76

Gabby76

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Posted

Hello IE, here is a small chart that is a bit of a handy guide to let you know what can be seen with 50mm-80mm refractors. 

Have fun with the telescope and enjoy the views :)

Object: 50mm refractor : 80mm Refractor
Lunar Craters: 1500+ : 5000+
Phases of Mercury: Y : Y
Phases of Venus: Y : Y
Mars Polar Caps: N : Y
Mars Surface Markings: N : Y
Jupiter Belts/ Zones/ GRS: N : Y
Galilean Moons: Y : Y
Saturn Rings: Y : Y
Cassini Division: N : Y
Saturn Moons: 3 : 6
Uranus/ Neptune Visible: Y : Y
Uranus/ Neptune as a Disk: N : Y
Asteroids (10 Brightest): 3 : 10
Messier Objects: 77 : 110
Split Sirius A/B: N : Y
Split Epsilon Lyrae: N : Y
Split Trapezium in M42: N : Y
Horsehead Nebula visible: N : Y
See Form Of M27 (Dumbbell Nebula: N : Y
See Form Of M97 (Owl Nebula): N : Y

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R26 oldtimer

R26 oldtimer

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Posted

Hello Interstellar explorer and welcome! For a low budget, the best bang for your buck would be a second hand scope. If you will strech your budget to 130-150€ you might find a worthwhile scope that will show you more, plus it will return most of the money you'll pay for it when you later upgrade. You can search SGL's ads, although the shipping will be a good part of your budget, or check the local Greek astronomy forum Astrovox.(Admins, please advise if suggesting another local forum in this case violates SGL's rules, and I will edit this post accordingly.)

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John

John

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Posted
33 minutes ago, Gabby76 said:

Hello IE, here is a small chart that is a bit of a handy guide to let you know what can be seen with 50mm-80mm refractors. 

Have fun with the telescope and enjoy the views :)

Object: 50mm refractor : 80mm Refractor
Lunar Craters: 1500+ : 5000+
Phases of Mercury: Y : Y
Phases of Venus: Y : Y
Mars Polar Caps: N : Y
Mars Surface Markings: N : Y
Jupiter Belts/ Zones/ GRS: N : Y
Galilean Moons: Y : Y
Saturn Rings: Y : Y
Cassini Division: N : Y
Saturn Moons: 3 : 6
Uranus/ Neptune Visible: Y : Y
Uranus/ Neptune as a Disk: N : Y
Asteroids (10 Brightest): 3 : 10
Messier Objects: 77 : 110
Split Sirius A/B: N : Y
Split Epsilon Lyrae: N : Y
Split Trapezium in M42: N : Y
Horsehead Nebula visible: N : Y
See Form Of M27 (Dumbbell Nebula: N : Y
See Form Of M97 (Owl Nebula): N : Y

I think many of these will be attainable with a 60-80mm scope but a few will not particularly splitting Sirius and observing the Horsehead Nebula.

 

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Gabby76

Gabby76

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Posted

Unfortunately I was not very specific in my posting, the columns are set up as Object, seen in 50mm, seen in 80mm. 

Using a 60mm or 70mm will be some where in between. 

Skies, eyepiece exit pupil size and proper filtering also need to be taken into consideration with some targets. 

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Interstellar_Explorer

Interstellar_Explorer

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On 07/04/2019 at 23:47, Gabby76 said:

Hello IE, here is a small chart that is a bit of a handy guide to let you know what can be seen with 50mm-80mm refractors. 

Have fun with the telescope and enjoy the views :)

Object: 50mm refractor : 80mm Refractor
Lunar Craters: 1500+ : 5000+
Phases of Mercury: Y : Y
Phases of Venus: Y : Y
Mars Polar Caps: N : Y
Mars Surface Markings: N : Y
Jupiter Belts/ Zones/ GRS: N : Y
Galilean Moons: Y : Y
Saturn Rings: Y : Y
Cassini Division: N : Y
Saturn Moons: 3 : 6
Uranus/ Neptune Visible: Y : Y
Uranus/ Neptune as a Disk: N : Y
Asteroids (10 Brightest): 3 : 10
Messier Objects: 77 : 110
Split Sirius A/B: N : Y
Split Epsilon Lyrae: N : Y
Split Trapezium in M42: N : Y
Horsehead Nebula visible: N : Y
See Form Of M27 (Dumbbell Nebula: N : Y
See Form Of M97 (Owl Nebula): N : Y

Thank You Very Much!!

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Interstellar_Explorer

Interstellar_Explorer

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On 08/04/2019 at 00:07, R26 oldtimer said:

Hello Interstellar explorer and welcome! For a low budget, the best bang for your buck would be a second hand scope. If you will strech your budget to 130-150€ you might find a worthwhile scope that will show you more, plus it will return most of the money you'll pay for it when you later upgrade. You can search SGL's ads, although the shipping will be a good part of your budget, or check the local Greek astronomy forum Astrovox.(Admins, please advise if suggesting another local forum in this case violates SGL's rules, and I will edit this post accordingly.)

Ok thank you!!!

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Mr niall

Mr niall

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Posted
On 07/04/2019 at 11:55, Interstellar_Explorer said:

Hi! my other choices were a seben 76/700 star commander telescope, a national geographic 76/700 telescope, and a zennox 76/700 telescope! (Yes, everything is 76/700 lol)

You have chosen wisely ?

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sprouty

sprouty

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Posted

HI 

I'm a complete beginner and have a similar question.  I'm thinking of buying a Celestron astro fi 130mm newtonian telescope what would I expect to see and what clarity?

Can't wait to get a telescope and explore the skies.

Thanks loads

David

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John

John

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1 hour ago, sprouty said:

HI 

I'm a complete beginner and have a similar question.  I'm thinking of buying a Celestron astro fi 130mm newtonian telescope what would I expect to see and what clarity?

Can't wait to get a telescope and explore the skies.

Thanks loads

David

Hi David and welcome to the forum.

I would strongly suggest that you start a new thread about the scope you are considering. Tagging on to the end of a thread about a different scope altogether, your question is likely to be overlooked.

If you start your own thread with the make and model in the title I'm sure you will get lots of helpful replies :smiley:

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RT65CB-SWL

RT65CB-SWL

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Posted
8 hours ago, John said:

Hi David and welcome to the forum.

I would strongly suggest that you start a new thread about the scope you are considering. Tagging on to the end of a thread about a different scope altogether, your question is likely to be overlooked.

If you start your own thread with the make and model in the title I'm sure you will get lots of helpful replies :smiley:

Hi Jack... Hi David from me too! :hello2:

As @John says, start a new post/topic/thread. Hijacking/tagging an existing post/topic/thread can get confusing. Then 'we' can give specific answers to your equipment.

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