4 planets in one night.

[Nikodn]

I had a great night with four planets in one night.

Out of my front bedroom window about 10 pm I saw Venus and Mercury in the north-west with my 12 x 42 binoculars in one field of view, I could also see the Crescent phase of Venus.

Out of my back bedroom window about 3 am I saw Jupiter and Saturn low in the south-east with my C70 Mini Mak spotting scope using my Celestron Omni 15 mm eyepiece giving me 50X magnification.

I could see the disk of Jupiter very bright and I would say I could only definitely see 2 of Jupiters moons.

I could see the oval disk of Saturn but I was struggling to clearly make out the rings. I thought I could see the rings of Saturn but maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I am very pleased with what I saw but is this what I can expect with a entry-level spotting scope and a Plossl eyepiece.

 

 

 

 

 

[banjaxed]

Glad you enjoyed your viewing last night but don’t expect great views with a 70mm scope. My biggest scope is 200 mm and the planets are still very small but on a good night very clear.

[JOC]

18 minutes ago, Nikodn said:

but is this what I can expect with a entry-level spotting scope and a Plossl eyepiece.

I think that's your limit - though the size of the eyepiece might be varied just a little to show a marginal difference as you don't say what size it is.

If you haven't seen it yet - look at the pictures (at the very least on the first page of this thread it might help with your expectations

 

[Alan White]

I think the limit for Jupiter and Saturn as they rise is the low elevation and subsequent atmospheric distortion to the view, not the kit you have used.

If you look left of Saturn and lower you may still catch tiny Mars as well and make the haul 5.

 

[Peter Drew]

Good observation.  5 planets if you count Earth.      😀

[Dave1]

A good 3-4" telescope can show a good amount of detail, if you practice and get your eye in. The more practice you get, the better. The more details you will see. One way to increase your observation skills is to sketch at the eyepiece. 

David

[Nikodn]

14 minutes ago, Dave1 said:

A good 3-4" telescope can show a good amount of detail, if you practice and get your eye in. The more practice you get, the better. The more details you will see. One way to increase your observation skills is to sketch at the eyepiece. 

David

Sorry but what does sketch at the eyepiece mean ??

[Nikodn]

23 minutes ago, Peter Drew said:

Good observation.  5 planets if you count Earth.      😀

Does earth count I definitely didn’t see it through my binoculars or telescope ! 😜

[John]

4 minutes ago, Nikodn said:

Sorry but what does sketch at the eyepiece mean ??

sketch = drawing of what you see

 

[Nikodn]

1 hour ago, JOC said:

I think that's your limit - though the size of the eyepiece might be varied just a little to show a marginal difference as you don't say what size it is.

If you haven't seen it yet - look at the pictures (at the very least on the first page of this thread it might help with your expectations

 

Sorry what do you mean by - well the size of the eyepiece might be varied just a little to show a marginal difference as you don’t say what size it is. The eyepiece was a Celestron Omni 15 mm giving me 50X magnification.

[Dave1]

38 minutes ago, Nikodn said:

Sorry but what does sketch at the eyepiece mean ??

It means to draw/sketch to paper what you can see at the eyepiece. Can be just a normal HB pencil, charcoal pencils, or colour pencils. Easier to start of basic though. You tend to see more details on the disc as you sketch. Sketch doesn't have to be fancy. 

The below is an example when the seeing was very good, even though Jupiter was below 30 degrees. Note north and south are up the written in the wrong places. That was drawn using a 80mm F15 telescope. In this photo of the sketch you can see north temperate belt, north equatorial belt, festoons coming off the north temperate belt, dark concentrations in the north temperate belt, south equatorial belt, with a dark belt within the south equatorial belt, south temperate belt, and if you look closely two white belts toward the south pole ( remember north and south are marked wrong )

David

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by Dave1

[JOC]

19 minutes ago, Nikodn said:

Sorry what do you mean by - well the size of the eyepiece might be varied just a little to show a marginal difference as you don’t say what size it is. The eyepiece was a Celestron Omni 15 mm giving me 50X magnification.

Once you have a telescope it is then the size marked on the eyepiece which changes the apparent magnification - you do have to watch that you don't try to get too close - each telescope will have a maximum magnification and you might already be at it, it is said to 50 x the apperture of the scope in inches so in theory you might (and I emphasise the 'might') be able to get x137 out of the scope.  Since magnification is focal length / EP size your 750 Focal length scope used with a 15mm plossl is giving x50 magnification.  You might therefore get something useable out of an 8mm eyepiece which would give you x93 magnification or almost double what you are currently getting

Edited May 23, 2020 by JOC

[Nikodn]

32 minutes ago, JOC said:

Once you have a telescope it is then the size marked on the eyepiece which changes the apparent magnification - you do have to watch that you don't try to get too close - each telescope will have a maximum magnification and you might already be at it, it is said to 50 x the apperture of the scope in inches so in theory you might (and I emphasise the 'might') be able to get x137 out of the scope.  Since magnification is focal length / EP size your 750 Focal length scope used with a 15mm plossl is giving x50 magnification.  You might therefore get something useable out of an 8mm eyepiece which would give you x93 magnification or almost double what you are currently getting

The zoom eyepiece that came with the C 70 has a range from 25X to 75X but the problem is once you’ve got above 50X the quality of the image started to drop off so that’s why I’ve gone up to a maximum of 50X and I think that that should be enough to keep me going at least for now. At some stage I may try a 10mm or less but don’t know how the scope will cope.

[JOC]

28 minutes ago, Nikodn said:

The zoom eyepiece that came with the C 70 has a range from 25X to 75X

A lot of people on SGL are ambivalent about zooms, some seem to rate them some say they lack quality and single mag EP's are better - it also depends on the quality/make/bit of glass on the day they were made.  If you are using the zoom that came with the scope, it may lack quality - often cheap eyepieces are bundled with telescopes and are quickly replaced.  SGL classifieds often have nice EP's for sale at less than full price and you might find that the result makes the purchase worthwhile - you can always sell it on again if not.

[maw lod qan]

Well done on 4 planets.

I'm lucky, right now the planets are placed fairly high for me here in Florida.

I had hoped to make it 6, with looking at the ground around me yesterday but our thunderstorm season denied me Venus and Mercury.

Enjoy what you do view and be patient. The more you look the more you'll see and learn to train your eyes.

Dont pass up the moon when you can view it. It has many wonders of it's own to enjoy.