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Hi & Help!


JamieHardcastle

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Hi everyone,

My other half bought me (us) a Celestron 130 for my birthday recently.

I have watched tutorials and done a lot of reading about collimating and various other tips since alongside several hours peering through the telescope.

I can achieve a very crisp image of the moon which is awesome. However, trying to get a decent focus on Mars/Jupiter Saturn is proving very frustrating. The only non-blurred image of any of them is a single white-point, non dissimilar to what I can see via the naked eye. 
i’ve tried both the 20mm & 10mm lenses and adjusted the focus in and out all the way.

 

Any advice would be gratefully received.

thank you, in advance.

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I am no expert but possibly that is not enough magnification.

I don't have your scope but I know in the one I do have, if the eye piece power is too low I get less detail.  So seems to make logical sense you might have the same problem. 

IF you go here

http://astronomy.tools/calculators/magnification

You can put the focal length of your scope and the mm of the eye piece to see the magnification.  If I have done yours right the magnification is 62x with the 10mm ep.  On my scope I don't get too much detail on Jupiter/Saturn/Mars below 100x and about as much detail I can get around 180-250x depending on the day.

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Yes, the mag is a bit low - you might need an eyepiece with a focal length of say 5 or 6mm.  However, Jupiter and Saturn are low, so getting much detail is harder.  You should still however see Jupiter's four Galilean moons and Saturn's rings.  Mars is a bit higher, but making out detail on that planet is trickier.  

Don't be too disappointed.  You will get better views of clusters for example.  Try the Double Cluster in Perseus - an absolute delight.  And the Pleiades is an easy target.  Orion's nebula is also coming into view now.  

Doug.

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Hi Jamie, a warm welcome from me too way down south, my advice is to get more viewing time in before you start looking at other equipment.  Often the problem with new telescope users is that you must 'learn how to see and manage your expectations', this is not easy and takes a little practice, be patient and 'the sky will reveal itself to you'.  Good luck & clear skies!

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Welcome aboard SGL Jamie. Good to have you with us.

What a great birthday gift!  Yeah, Jupiter and Saturn are not at their best right now, low in the evening murk, and detail on Mars is often illusive. But there's a massive number of other things you can chase down and enjoy: open clusters as other have said, globulars like M13 (which hasn't quite slipped out of view just yet), and one of my favourites - double stars. Mizar and Alcar in the handle of Ursa Major, Almach (Gamma Andromedae), and the most beautiful Albireo in Cygnus the swan.

If stars look like points of light and not little comets your collimation is probably okay, and I'd just enjoy the sights.

 

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