Collimation

[Stargazerkelly1989]

Hey there. 
I’m in need of some help, I took out my 12” Dobson last night to check out Saturn and Jupiter. I found Saturn and Jupiter very hazy. I don’t know if my telescope needs collimating? Any advice or tips? 
 

thanks 

[John]

The seeing conditions were rather poor last night and these planets are low in the sky.

I don't get great views with my 12 inch dob either at the moment (normally it's as sharp as a tack) so I use my refractors to view these planets currently which seem to do better.

You can check your collimation by doing a star test on Polaris:

https://popastro.com/documents/PA_jan-mar2009_p12-13_telescopetopics_startesting.pdf

More likely than not though it's the seeing conditions and position of the planets that is the cause.

Try using lower magnifications ?

 

[Stargazerkelly1989]

Ah perfect. Yeh I’m pretty sure I have better views when planets are higher and winter skies seem to be better too. 
also. How do you clean your eyepieces? My brother put a finger smudge on one 😂😂