Saturn w/ Celestron 130 SLT

[TAFiller]

I just bought this telescope a few months ago and I've been messing with it and love it so far. I want to get into viewing the planets clearer than I recently have. I used a 4mm Celestron lens to take a picture of Saturn (for never seeing it through a telescope before I still find the picture I have incredible to me) but I want to know if I can get closer with a different lens setup. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you. 

 

[russ]

Your 4mm Celestron is already giving you 162x magnification. Considering how low Saturn is, a lot of the time the atmosphere will not let you go higher (perhaps not even that high). You could buy a 3.2mm eyepiece to give you 200x for a larger image scale but it may not be as clear as the view you are getting at 162x. From my location most of best views come below 150x. It sounds counterintuitive to be lowering the power but you are chasing the steadiest view possible. That said your SLT 130 is certainly capable of the higher powers. And those steady nights do happen occasionally. So something like a 3.2mm BST would give you a larger view of the planets. And won't break bank either. Perhaps a 5mm or 6mm as well for the lower power, sharper views.

[TAFiller]

17 minutes ago, russ said:

Your 4mm Celestron is already giving you 162x magnification. Considering how low Saturn is, a lot of the time the atmosphere will not let you go higher (perhaps not even that high). You could buy a 3.2mm eyepiece to give you 200x for a larger image scale but it may not be as clear as the view you are getting at 162x. From my location most of best views come below 150x. It sounds counterintuitive to be lowering the power but you are chasing the steadiest view possible. That said your SLT 130 is certainly capable of the higher powers. And those steady nights do happen occasionally. So something like a 3.2mm BST would give you a larger view of the planets. And won't break bank either. Perhaps a 5mm or 6mm as well for the lower power, sharper views.

Thank you. I'll look into the 3.2 mm. It is a beginner telescope so I don't expect amazing pictures but I guess I'm hoping to get to maybe this clear of an image someday (not necessarily with this telescope).

[dweller25]

27 minutes ago, TAFiller said:

Thank you. I'll look into the 3.2 mm. It is a beginner telescope so I don't expect amazing pictures but I guess I'm hoping to get to maybe this clear of an image someday (not necessarily with this telescope).

You can see views like this in your 130SLT when Saturn gets closer to the Earth later on this year 👍

 

[TAFiller]

1 minute ago, dweller25 said:

You can see views like this in your 130SLT when Saturn gets closer to the Earth later on this year 👍

 

Ahh. I was wondering how people with this telescope were getting closer pictures but I wasn't even thinking about how close Saturn was. I'm a newbie. 😆 But I'm enjoying this telescope. 

[dweller25]

Also I would suggest you get a good quality 7mm eyepiece (x92) and a good quality 2x Barlow to go with it to give x184 which will be perfect for Saturn and you will get two magnification powers from one eyepiece.

[russ]

1 hour ago, TAFiller said:

Thank you. I'll look into the 3.2 mm. It is a beginner telescope so I don't expect amazing pictures but I guess I'm hoping to get to maybe this clear of an image someday (not necessarily with this telescope).

Don't worry, the 130 is a great scope. I bought my nephew the Skywatcher version (same scope) last year and we had some great views of Saturn and Jupiter. In the moments of steady seeing it looked sharp and no problem picking out the banding, like in your image.

Perhaps as David suggests, get a 7mm plus barlow. 

[TAFiller]

15 hours ago, dweller25 said:

Also I would suggest you get a good quality 7mm eyepiece (x92) and a good quality 2x Barlow to go with it to give x184 which will be perfect for Saturn and you will get two magnification powers from one eyepiece.

I just bought a suggested Barlow 2x but I'll have to get a 7mm. I appreciate the advice. I'm excited about my first year of photography and observation. 

[TAFiller]

14 hours ago, russ said:

Don't worry, the 130 is a great scope. I bought my nephew the Skywatcher version (same scope) last year and we had some great views of Saturn and Jupiter. In the moments of steady seeing it looked sharp and no problem picking out the banding, like in your image.

Perhaps as David suggests, get a 7mm plus barlow. 

Thank you. I can't wait for these moments to happen so my boys can see how beautiful our solar system is. 

[bosun21]

Usually the eyepieces that are supplied with beginners telescopes are not the best ( especially the higher power) So my two cents is the same in that you should get a 3.2mm BST Starguider eyepiece. This will give you a little more magnification but more importantly a clearer image. When I started out I was amazed how better everything looked with a decent eyepiece, and the BST are definitely a decent eyepiece.

[Cosmic Geoff]

If you have the budget, try using a dedicated planetary camera (+ Barlow lens) + 'lucky imaging' software. 

I can't remember if I tried imaging Saturn with my 127mm Maksutov, but I have tried it on Jupiter and got various shots showing the cloud belts and Great Red Spot quite clearly. 

Maybe it's my eyesight, but I can see a lot more on the processed images than I could visually.

Edited June 21, 2022 by Cosmic Geoff

[AstroMuni]

On 20/06/2022 at 20:24, TAFiller said:

I'm hoping to get to maybe this clear of an image someday (not necessarily with this telescope).

Remember that some of these images you are seeing have been stacked using software like Autostakkert and are not necessarily what can be seen with a single image.

[LukeSkywatcher]

On 20/06/2022 at 20:24, TAFiller said:

Thank you. I'll look into the 3.2 mm. It is a beginner telescope so I don't expect amazing pictures but I guess I'm hoping to get to maybe this clear of an image someday (not necessarily with this telescope).

That's pretty identical to my first view of Saturn, using a 90mm Celestron "first scope" refractor. I can't remember what size EP I was using.

Happy memories.

Edited June 22, 2022 by LukeSkywatcher

[DBushell1]

I took this back in 2014 with my Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ using a modified Philips SPC900 and stacked in registax.

I also took Jupiter and Mars in the months that followed.  Might have another crack at them soon not its cold and clear.

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by DBushell1