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First time seeing Jupiter’s Moons!


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This was a big deal for me tonight! I got a great view of Jupiter and it’s for moons for the first time! Also got a good view of Saturn and its rings! I’m using a Skywatcher Evostar Pro 80mm 7.5 on an Advanced VX Mount. The most powerful eyepiece I have is a 6.9 mm. If I get a 5mm will I get a better view or should I go with a 2x Barlow?

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Hello Greg,

I have a TV 85, live in a Bortles 9 area with plenty of light pollution, and the max magnification I can get is through a 4mm TV Radian, and that's iffy at best.  Unless you live under some darker skies with the planets above 30-40 degrees in the sky, a 2x Barlow with your 6.7mm would probably be too much magnification to see much detail.

Regards,

Dan

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All ways a big deal, not just the first time. I am smiling for you as it was only a couple of years ago that I saw my first planets and danced around the garden giggling like a maniac. Good job I don’t have neighbours.

Nice set up, keep up the reporting. Remember to take note of moon positions and weather patterns on the surface. Look out for shadow transits on the surface, my first was only five days ago.

Isn’t Saturn beautiful?

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I used to find that somewhere around 3.5 to 4mm suited these scopes very well as a high power, 4mm would be a safe option. I use a 3 to 6 Nagler Zoom which works beautifully allowing you to fine tune the magnification but it's not a cheap option.

Light pollution is not an issue for planets, infact it can enhance the colour you see in the view by keeping your cones stimulated. The altitude of the planets is a big limitation currently though, and they won't get much higher for a few years. 2024 is good for Jupiter, Saturn will take longer.

However, a small scope will be quite effective at cutting through the poor seeing down low; quite a few of us are finding that a 4" scope is rivaling the planetary views of significantly larger scopes currently. That won't be the case when they reach higher altitudes but it is at the moment.

I reckon you could use bother a 5mm and a 4mm. Perhaps a 4mm Delite if budget allows, and you could always pick up a 5mm ortho much more cheaply to cover that mag aswell.

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If you're looking at jumping from 6.9mm to 5mm, I'd say get an eyepiece unless you have a high quality 10mm eyepiece, at which case I'd say get a good 2X barlow like a Celestron Ultima.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Greg, how is the observing going? Just to show that there are plenty of future planetary delights awaiting you, I got my first sight of Titan. My first moon of Saturn and I believe the largest.

I had to check with a planetarium program to be sure as it appeared to be a small slightly reddish star about two Saturn diameters to the right. I had to check as I have been caught out before by claiming to have seen a fifth moon of Jupiter and it turned out to be star in the background of similar magnitude and colour to the Galilean satellites.

Hope your having clear skies

Marvin

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On 15/07/2019 at 02:07, Marvin Jenkins said:

All ways a big deal, not just the first time. I am smiling for you as it was only a couple of years ago that I saw my first planets and danced around the garden giggling like a maniac. Good job I don’t have neighbours.

Isn’t Saturn beautiful?

Exactly how I am every time I look at Saturn and Jupiter.

And I dont care diddley what my neighbors think!!😆

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  • 2 weeks later...

Greg

Last saturday week, was out doing presentation for one of my local Joey's groups, scouts movement

Been a lot of control burn off, close to me previous few days

Due to the smoke pollution, turned everything red, when observing

That night, bands on Jupiter really stood out, and rings of Saturn as well

Very unusual viewing conditions

Where I am, Jupiter was almost overhead, just after sunset, and Scorpio was spitting Jupiter and Saturn

Rings of Saturn were also very visible

Was using 15mm wide-angle eyepiece, as gives better eye relief for 5 - 7yo's, whom observing with

I have used amber filter to view polar caps on Mars, and very stunning as well

John

 

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I’m not crazy about barlow’s, one more thing to fumble with in the dark and, rarely do I feel the need to double magnification on an already high power eyepiece. That SW 80mm sure is a versatile little scope ain’t it? easy to grab and go and they produce some great images.

Edited by Sunshine
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