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Celestron powerseeker 70AZ 3x focus


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What barlow and eye piece would be best for seeing jupiter and saturn? I also focused on the moon well with a 20mm eye piece, but could'nt get any closer focus at all through the 20mm and 3x barlow (that came with the scope). Im pretty new to this so any helpful advice would be great, thanks!20201025_234935.thumb.jpg.4e6a2e27751d4a120085a40f90a8ffae.jpg

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Hi

Great to see you got the Moon.

What eyepieces do you have?

The magnification is the telescope focal length / the eyepiece focal length

700/20 = x35

With the barlow (700*3)/20 = x105

Often a smaller sharp image is easier to observe then a bigger softer blurry image.

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I have a 20mm and a 4mm eye piece, and the 3x barlow. I just ordered a 2x barlow for the 20mm eye piece, ive also tried mars but im pretty sure the 3x barlow is really bad. Couldn't see anything at a focus point, thanks for replying and the compliment!

Edited by Maxb
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Does your scope give an erect image when used in the daytime?

My LT70AZ has a plastic diagonal that is erecting and mediocre in night use so I purchased a star diagonal to use with it instead:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32881221402.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.54138306lLwVpv&algo_pvid=f5587306-8516-4db9-852f-931bbc265a13&algo_expid=f5587306-8516-4db9-852f-931bbc265a13-0&btsid=0b0a555c16039867688276822e75fb&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

Also the stock eyepieces I've never used knowing they won't be great but I already have a couple sets of decent Plossls and others. A 3x barlow would be pushing it and as you say is likely poor quality anyway and the 4mm is probably of limited use and won't be viable with a barlow. The 20mm will be usable tho as you've found, well done on the pic 🙂

You might consider buying a zoom eyepiece, something like the Svbony SV135 (7-21mm) would probably work well and isn't too pricey. I have the SV171 8-24mm and it works very nicely but is huge and heavy on this scope. A zoom paired to a reasonable barlow would cover most of your viewing needs and you could then get better single-focus eyepieces for wider field of view etc once you've determined which ones suit best for your viewing.

 

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Aww thats great thanks! I thought the prism i had was pretty bad to be honest, thanks for the link:)  yeah i found the 3x to be too much, but being very new to this i wasn't too sure but speaking to you it pretty much clears it up. A zoom eye piece sounds quite good actually, ill go check them out too. Any other things i should look out for to improve the powerseeker 70/700? And again thanks for all the help:)

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not had this one very long ( just over a week I think) as it was bought for the starsense part which works pretty well. It is pretty wobbly because of the mount and tripod, not sure you find the same. Not much can be done to improve that I expect tho will see when I've time and bits to try. Focuser was quite stiff so I slackened off the 2 screws under it just a touch to make it run a bit easier. Optically it's not bad tho other than everything being plastic lol.

The zoom I have works very well and they get good review on cloudy nights and a couple of us here have bought them. Steve (second time around) has the 7-21 and reports it to be good so likely worth getting that one zoom than buying 2-3 individual ones as a starter. Otherwise I'd look to say 10mm 18mm and 25mm in something like BST Starguider or Vixel NPL for example but those are in the £40-55 region each. Of course you can use them on a future scope if you stick with the hobby and upgrade. Don't fall for buying those eyepiece sets that Celestron and others sell, not worth the cost for what you get really.

 

Edited by DaveL59
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Yeah i was already looking at reflectors ect, i soon realised i won't get too much out of the 70,700 scope but its gained my interest in astronomy! Celestron eye pieces were pretty bad i won't lie, the scope its self is nice enough aside from the plastic haha im only part time just now so pretty much everything is on a budget.. ive been looking at the eye pieces for the future for when i can afford a more quality telescope for deep space, cant wait to see nebula and andromeda but ill need more practice too as you can tell. Thanks much needed guidance!

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ahh buckets with mirrors in them, I've a couple of those too lol Don't write the ability of this little frac off too quick tho, optically it seems not bad at all I was quite surprised but then I'm using better eyepieces than the ones it came with 🙂 I'm sure a larger aperture would out-gun my reflectors (80, 114 and 130mm) but my 3 fracs (70, 76 and 100mm) I think do just as well. Not really looking to step up to a 200mm or bigger, no room for more scopes for a start.

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Thought I'd try to focus on mars with a 4mm tonight, couldn't even see any red haze, it was like looking at a star with my own eyes to be honest haha and its 100% a terrible 3x barlow, i gave it another try and im glad i got a new one:) Yeah ill see how things go, i just need more knowledge ect first. So would you choose a refractor over a reflector? And what aperture? Im just curious   

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1 hour ago, Maxb said:

Thought I'd try to focus on mars with a 4mm tonight, couldn't even see any red haze, it was like looking at a star with my own eyes to be honest haha and its 100% a terrible 3x barlow, i gave it another try and im glad i got a new one:) Yeah ill see how things go, i just need more knowledge ect first. So would you choose a refractor over a reflector? And what aperture? Im just curious   

70mm is a bit small for Mars. You seem to be mainly interested in planets, so perhaps a Maksutov or larger refractor is in your future. 90mm is personally the smallest scope I would aim at a planet, in either a Mak or a refractor. With reflectors in the cheaper price range you need to be careful that you don't buy a Bird Jones type reflector, which tend to be of questionable quality. With a reflector you need a bigger aperture scope, say 130mm.

Edited by xvariablestarx
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Yeah i was looking at some scopes under £200, (Meade Polaris 130eq Reflector) even the 114eq, would this be too cheap or would it most likley do? I thought id be able to see mars with the 70mm but maybe not haha so to see the m31, or orion nebula with the 70mm is not possible either? Sorry i keep asking questions, ive only used my scope a few times but i really love the hobby already. Thanks for all the input and tips everyone, really appreciate it.

Edited by Maxb
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For deep sky objects, you need as much aperture as you can. You can see the Orion nebula even with the naked eye so yes your 70mm scope would see it, though it wont look like a Hubble image of course. Perhaps something like the Skywatcher Heritage 130p would be good general scope for you.

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The things that can help are being patient at the eyepiece, taking the time to let your eyes adjust and see things, and a darker sky location. Good seeing and atmospheric conditions are pot luck.

Andromeda is a massive DSO I think the core is visible and there are others in the grasp of the telescope you have. M45, M41, M42, M57 etc. 

I would suggest you sign up to the binocular sky monthly news letter, it's free and the targets in there I think you'll be able to see with your telescope. DSO are grey smudges and the smudges get bigger as the aperture of the telescope increases, if its a globular cluster then more stars resolve but in general it's not colour nebula clouds. Even a grey smudge is thrilling when you put it in context of how many millions of light years away it is.

Splitting double stars, is another area you could look at.

Have a look at the Lunar 100 and Messier 100 lists.

Stellarium is great planetarium software.

You've just started looking so much to see with your telescope.

 

 

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I more prefer a frac but that's a personal thing and you may find a reflector suits you better when you get to that stage when you want to upgrade. Having said that tho I have 3 fracs and 4 mirror-buckets lol. One of the easiest of mine to pop outside and use is the small TAL-M 80mm reflector on a pedestal and that'll happily reach x139 and give very good views. The TAL's tho do punch above their weight esp compared to the lower-cost end of the market. As suggested above tho, if planets are your main thing then a Mak may be a better choice.

I have used the LT70 on moon, jupiter, saturn and mars and found it performed pretty well but sessions were short with the recent weather. I'd have liked time to play with barlow and higher mag but cloud and rain prevented that. Seeing also hasn't been great much of the time and that doesn't help. I reckon with the 8-24mm zoom that I got up to x88 in targets and while objects were small (they always are tho exc the moon) they were sharp and pleasing. I think with quality eyepieces and a proper star diagonal you'll get more enjoyable views but the scope will always be magnification limited tho the objective lens does perform quite well considering the price. The 2 other frac's I have to compare against are a TAL100RS (100/1000mm) and a 50's vintage 3-inch (76/1100mm) both of which show better but they run at higher mag given the much longer tubes. The 3-inch has a chip across part of the lens which is blacked out which reduces its effective aperture and still performs well, so I'd not say these low-cost 70mm scopes aren't capable 🙂 There is a thread on here "what can I expect to see" which would be good to read if you've not already.

 

The other issue to overcome is your own expectations. All the planets will look small, they are after all a very long way away and on the surface we're limited in how much magnification we can use for numerous reasons, the scope being only a couple of them. As Kat says, patience, learning how to see more, adapting to dark viewing are all part of the journey. For planets you don't need to be fully dark adapted, I find I get by just fine after just a few mins but then I do adapt to seeing in the dark quite quickly.   We'll never see the level of detail that imagers display in pictures but you'll get to the stage where you can make out a lot more than a bright blob, patience, the most important tool in the kit 😉 

Edited by DaveL59
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17 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

I more prefer a frac but that's a personal thing and you may find a reflector suits you better when you get to that stage when you want to upgrade. Having said that tho I have 3 fracs and 4 mirror-buckets lol. One of the easiest of mine to pop outside and use is the small TAL-M 80mm reflector on a pedestal and that'll happily reach x139 and give very good views. The TAL's tho do punch above their weight esp compared to the lower-cost end of the market. As suggested above tho, if planets are your main thing then a Mak may be a better choice.

I have used the LT70 on moon, jupiter, saturn and mars and found it performed pretty well but sessions were short with the recent weather. I'd have liked time to play with barlow and higher mag but cloud and rain prevented that. Seeing also hasn't been great much of the time and that doesn't help. I reckon with the 8-24mm zoom that I got up to x88 in targets and while objects were small (they always are tho exc the moon) they were sharp and pleasing. I think with quality eyepieces and a proper star diagonal you'll get more enjoyable views but the scope will always be magnification limited tho the objective lens does perform quite well considering the price. The 2 other frac's I have to compare against are a TAL100RS (100/1000mm) and a 50's vintage 3-inch (76/1100mm) both of which show better but they run at higher mag given the much longer tubes. The 3-inch has a chip across part of the lens which is blacked out which reduces its effective aperture and still performs well, so I'd not say these low-cost 70mm scopes aren't capable 🙂 There is a thread on here "what can I expect to see" which would be good to read if you've not already.

 

The other issue to overcome is your own expectations. All the planets will look small, they are after all a very long way away and on the surface we're limited in how much magnification we can use for numerous reasons, the scope being only a couple of them. As Kat says, patience, learning how to see more, adapting to dark viewing are all part of the journey. For planets you don't need to be fully dark adapted, I find I get by just fine after just a few mins but then I do adapt to seeing in the dark quite quickly.   We'll never see the level of detail that imagers display in pictures but you'll get to the stage where you can make out a lot more than a bright blob, patience, the most important tool in the kit 😉 

 

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received an SVbony 7-21mm zoom today along with the diagonal and some other bits and gave it a quick test in daytime with my 70/700.

image.png.065575e188d111676b8f0433e54e679a.png

Works very nicely showing good detail on the treetops even in the dull miserable day we've had with only slight focus tweak needed through the zoom range. The 8-24 is very good too but huge and heavy by comparison. Both very solid build quality so I'd happily recommend either if you do want a step up in viewing. The 7-12 will give a range of 33-100x without a barlow, with a 2x barlow you might need to limit how far in you zoom but should work very well. No chance to test tonight as all clouds here at the mo.

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