Is my telescope any good

[Neil H]

Hi all silly question ,I have the Celestron powerseeker 114 is it any good that the moment I have just 2 eyepieces 32mm 4mm and x3 Barlow when looking at say Orions belt no matter what eyepiece I used with or without the Barlow it's just a small ball of light about 1mm in size ?

Am I expecting to much from this telescope I did see a photo of Saturn taken with one of these telescope but they did not say what they use in the way of eyepieces I am getting better eyepieces  and Barlow which I hope will help

Edited December 30, 2019 by Neil H

[happy-kat]

Your telescope will show you more than your eyeballs will, use it to the maximin that you can, consider what you do and don't like so if you buy another telescope you'll make a decision based on experience.

[domstar]

Your telescope gathers about the same amount of light as mine and I'm pretty satisfied. I would mainly use the 32mm eyepiece until you get the hang of it. Then you could use it with the Barlow for higher mag. I wouldn't use the 4mm at all. If you have managed to focus OK then look at the Orion Nebula and of course the moon (and the Pleiades)

It can be pretty frustrating at first but perseverance will be rewarded.

Good luck. 

[NGC 1502]

18 minutes ago, Neil H said:

when looking at say Orions belt no matter what eyepiece I used with or without the Barlow it's just a small ball of light about 1mm in size

 

Are you sure you mean Orion’s Belt ?   You should be seeing 3 bright stars, or at least 2 of them using your lowest power eyepiece ( 32mm ), plus loads of fainter stars.   You could mean the Orion nebula, that’s what many call Orion’s most famous object and fits your description better ( small ball of light ).   Make sure you are as dark adapted as possible and if you can away from direct bright lights.  Focus carefully, stars look smaller when in focus.  Take your time and look carefully, you will hopefully see much more than a ‘small ball of light’.   Please don’t expect to see visually anything like the images people have taken.

The 32mm eyepiece you have will be much more useful than the 4mm, especially if you add the 3x barlow to it.  Maybe using the barlow with the 32mm would prove more productive.

Wishing you success with observing.  Almost any telescope used within its limitations will be very useful indeed - and all telescopes have their limitations.    

Ed.

[domstar]

p.s. The stars won't get any bigger. Individual stars aren't the most interesting thing in the sky (sometimes the colour might be interesting). Clusters of them and double stars are a different story. 

[Neil H]

Hi it was a test  I wanted to look at Venus but cloud cover stop me so just picked on a single star in Orion to see what I could see , I see all these beautiful photos of stars and planets that are taken through a telescope ok probably a lot more powerful than mine , I did see a video of Saturn and it's rings ment to be taken through a Celestron powerseeker 114 it was not super detailed but you could see it and the rings turning 

So looking to that I would expect to see more than just a ball of light , 

[happy-kat]

Atmospheric conditions also play a part on whether focus is clear and sharp.

[joe aguiar]

you will see venus it may look like a half moon phase or quarter moon phase depending where its at with its orbit. It will be decent big it wont be a star. you will easily see it as a sphere/ as a planet BUT with no features. 

Saturn and Jupiter are very very easy in a 4.5" scope

ps the 4.5" size is made for the serious beginner. irs a very good start there are much worse, once you upgrade the eps that came with it it will make that scope twice as good.

looking at regular stars no matter what size scope u have and no matter what power you use still looks the same, unless its double or triplet stars then do it thay are nice to look at.

ps do you have a good book and maps? a good book is night watch which has a ton of info for anyone in the hobby BUT it also has 20 charts of things to look for and where to find them for the beginner. Togther with a plainsphere or a phone app I guess is all you need

joejaguar

[John]

Its very rare for the view though a telescope, any telescope, to rival the images that you see even if they were made using a similar scope to the one you are viewing through.

Our eyes just cannot compete with CCD imaging and post capture image processing.

 

[Neil H]

Hi John this is the video so this is not true I got this telescope on the strength of this 

 

[Mick H]

Do not know if the clip is right or not, but was taken in the Philippines. 

Are you using the stock eye pieces or did you buy the 32mm?

If stock the 32mm should be 20mm, for improved viewing use better quality eyepieces, BST Starguiders/Omni Plossl for about £50 or Revelation Astro Plössl's about £30.

I would not use the 4mm as others have mentioned, and the stock 20mm I believe is plastic.

[John]

Hmmmm......

I don't observe from the Phillipines. I put together a short Powerpoint presentation for my astro society of what I think astro targets look like with small to medium astro scopes. It seems reasonably accurate based on my observing experience and others in the society tended to agree. The darkness of your skies and your observing experience will affect how much you can see. Here is a link to the presentation:

telescopeviews.pptx

[Neil H]

Thanks John that was very educational even to see what your presentation show I will be very happy , once the better eyepieces get here I hope the views will be better than now , I did enjoy last night views and I am getting better with the EQ mount 

[x6gas]

It's also worth learning how to collimate your telescope.  You don't need expensive kit to do this but it's a skill worth having if you have a telescope with mirrors... poor collimation and / or bad focus will result in stars that are blobs rather than pin points of light...

I'd suggest getting used to your scope by using it on the moon at first - your scope should give really good views of the lunar surface.  Then maybe progress to looking at some double stars and other interesting things within your scope's power.  Planets require the highest magnification and to be completely honest you don't have the best scope to observe them - but you will be able to see Jupiter and the Galilean moons which is a thrill (and the moons move pretty quickly so you can see them orbit over a few nights).

Views of Saturn like in the video you posted would require excellent collimation, focus, and seeing.  I struggle to get a view that good using my 11" SCT to be honest... but you should be able to make out the planetary disc and the rings (but the Cassini division will be pushing it, I'd have thought).

All in all you have a capable starter scope that should at least allow you to determine whether the hobby is for you.

[joe aguiar]

that image can be close to what u may see BUT see how fast the planet was moving in the fov. that tells me it must of been 200x min to maybe 250x power.

it depends on your sky conditions, this is huge part

also what ep u r using

what latitude Saturn is at also plays a huge part

the Phillipines is on the southern part and right now Saturn is much much higher then we are from the mid to upper  northern latitude

iam at 42 north degrees and last year and maybe the next 2 years at least Saturn wont be in a good height in the sky to get the best views from. We in the northern parts wuill have to wait maybe 3 more years for it to be good. then we can hope for good sky conditions, and if we lets our scope cools properly, and if its well collimated and with good ep we can yes get that kinda views but right now are Saturn is gone and its not at a good postion.where the Phillipinrs is

joejaguar

Edited December 30, 2019 by joe aguiar

[Neil H]

Thanks again guys off out to go watching again

[Neil H]

Well guys I only looked at the moon and WOW very very happy  just need to fine adjust the red dot finder tomorrow

[Space Bat]

Hi Neil,

Unfortunately our eyes are the weakest link when it comes to visual Astronomy we can not see colours like a camera 🙂 however a good dark site and dark adaption your scope will give terrific views.  You just need to hone your skills and visual  awareness.  Hunt for the brighter deep sky objects Orion Nebula will blow your socks off as will Jupiter and Saturn.  

[Neil H]

Thanks spacebat  once the New eyepieces come I will be out there in the dark when ever I can 

[Timebandit]

1 hour ago, Space Bat said:

Hi Neil,

Unfortunately our eyes are the weakest link when it comes to visual Astronomy we can not see colours like a camera 🙂 however a good dark site and dark adaption your scope will give terrific views.  You just need to hone your skills and visual  awareness.  Hunt for the brighter deep sky objects Orion Nebula will blow your socks off as will Jupiter and Saturn.  

 

Hi. You can get excellent very good results from light pollution areas when viewing Luna and planetary target. Dark site  Sky's I find are not important on these types of targets. Dark Sky's are important though for DSO , especially the fainter ones

 

 

26 minutes ago, Neil H said:

Thanks spacebat  once the New eyepieces come I will be out there in the dark when ever I can 

 

You can get great results from light affected areas when doing Luna, and planetary observing.

For DSO observing then this is when Dark site Sky's really do come into there own. They make the fainter fuzzy easier to locate and pop more to the eye. Modest aperture scopes really need to be at dark site Sky's to get the best out of them with DSO

I hope this helps , and keep asking questions. By the way a great book to get you started with a modest aperture scope is "Turn left at Orion" 

 

 

 

[Neil H]

Thanks for that the book is on my list 

[Alan64]

I'm seeing the Cassini Division within that video from the Philippines; fancy that.  That alone may be justification for doubting its authenticity.  Add to that the use of a 3mm Plossl, which I've never known to exist, only a 4mm.

EDIT: Ah, in the comments below I see that the author stated that they used a Datyson 4mm, but that's not a Plossl.  Still, that's an awfully sharp image, and with a resolution usually had with larger apertures.

2nd Edit: A Datyson 4mm Plossl does exist after all.

Edited January 2, 2020 by Alan64

[John]

2 hours ago, Alan64 said:

I'm seeing the Cassini Division within that video from the Philippines; fancy that.  That alone may be justification for doubting its authenticity.  Add to that the use of a 3mm Plossl, which I've never known to exist, only a 4mm.

EDIT: Ah, in the comments below I see that the author stated that they used a Datyson 4mm, but that's not a Plossl.  Still, that's an awfully sharp image, and with a resolution usually had with larger apertures.

I agree Alan. I'm doubtfull about that video as well.

 

[Neil H]

Its a con I really don't know people have to make things up 

[joe aguiar]

neil I don't think john or alan are saying its fake but  they have a doubt.

if its a 4mm ep then that also fits into a power of 114 max power which is 225x power. its the max but since we are not at that country its hard to say if the sky conditions there can or cant support it. It could be ones those perfect nights where it could. Also remember neil as my other post says Phillpines is a lot futher south making it twice as high as we are in the north this next few years.

Also just in cae someone didn't know that video is from 2018 not 2019 so that can make some difference if Saturn again was even a bit highter then it was on 2019 down there.

I would doubt it to if he made the scopes to sell it then maybe hes hyping it more then he should. Could he have taking that video from somewhere else and make it like it was his for his channel, suure he could do that I guess but we cant prove it or say one way or another .

so hard to say, I guess you can go to his over videos and see other videos and if his gear makes sence too.

joejaguar