Planets are all white dots

[kdahl]

Hi, I am new and have tried to observe now for multiple weeks. I have got some good viewing of the moon but I have yet to see any of the other planets, they are all just over bright white dots. 

I am in a 5 bartle zone.

Heritage 150p

Bewinner 1.25" Astronomy Telescope 4 Piece Eyepiece Kit, FMC Eyepiece Kit 6MM/9MM/15MM/20mm for Telescope, FMC 68 Degree Ultra Wide Long Eye Relief Eyepiece https://a.co/d/9XPZjaK

Svbony filter kit, using a svbony UHC filter.

What am I doing wrong? Tried with the different color filters as well.

please help, about to give up 😇

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stu]

Hi,

Don’t give up! Your scope is more than capable of showing good views of the planets.

My first, and very basic question would be, which planets have you tried looking at, and are you sure you’ve got the scope properly pointing at them? You need to make sure your finder is accurately aligned, even finding bright planets can be tricky.

No offence meant, just trying to rule out the simple stuff first.

[kdahl]

43 minutes ago, Stu said:

Hi,

Don’t give up! Your scope is more than capable of showing good views of the planets.

My first, and very basic question would be, which planets have you tried looking at, and are you sure you’ve got the scope properly pointing at them? You need to make sure your finder is accurately aligned, even finding bright planets can be tricky.

No offence meant, just trying to rule out the simple stuff first.

I am using the skywalk 2 app to navigate myself, sure I can definitely be off and point at the wrong thing. To me the skywalk map is a little bit off, today for example I could clearly see Orions belt, 3 district dots with lots or room between, but in the app they where so close it looked like only 2 dots (until I zoomed in) 

Edited February 18, 2023 by kdahl

[M40]

How about looking at things slightly differently and simply prove to yourself that you are actually looking at a planet.

Mars is difficult as it's very small, so whilst its still in the night sky have a go at Jupiter and try and include it's moons in your field of view. Quite a boost spotting four of the moons. Next comes Venus, again it's very small but try and spot it when its in a phase. One of my first and favourite pictures was sticking the phone on the eyepiece and getting a phase of Venus. Once you know you have a planet, then try and improve the view with filters etc. And don't forget about M42.

All the best.

[happy-kat]

If you look at a star and focus it so it is as tight as you can then swing to Jupiter then the same eyepiece will be focused.

If there's bad seeing, transparency or  Jupiter is very low in sky then Jupiter might not resolve well.

[Stu]

23 minutes ago, kdahl said:

I am using the skywalk 2 app to navigate myself, sure I can definitely be off and point at the wrong thing. To me the skywalk map is a little bit off, today for example I could clearly see Orions belt, 3 district dots with lots or room between, but in the app they where so close it looked like only 2 dots (until I zoomed in) 

How are you actually finding things in the scope though? You need to get the finder aligned correctly, then identify the planet using the app, get the finder in it then use the lowest power eyepiece to centre it.

Which planets have you tried? Remember stars will only ever appear as tiny dots in a scope as they are so far away.

[Elbasso]

Jupiter and Saturn will be very small when observed through your 6 inch scope. But, with the right focus AND good seeing conditions, you should easily be able to make out Saturn's rings and some bands on Jupiter. 

Have a look at this awesome post so you get a better feel for what to expect. 

https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/196278-what-can-i-expect-to-see/

[Xilman]

One thing to bear in mind: the planets have relatively small angular sizes and so you need a magnification high enough to see them as anything but very small spots. To put things into perspective, Jupiter is at best 1/40 of the size of the Moon when viewed through a telescope, and Mars is significantly smaller. This may help you judge what you can expect to see through your scope.

Don't over do the magnification, though, or you will just end up with a blurry unfocusable splodge.

[michael8554]

Hi kadahl

Here's what Jupiter and some of its moons should look like with your scope and the 6mm (highest magnifiying) eyepiece:

Very small :-<

Michael

Edited February 19, 2023 by michael8554

[Elp]

If you are in fact looking at Jupiter correctly and seeing it as a white dot you will clearly see at least 1-4 of its main moons. I've seen it like this through binoculars too. It needs to be more sharply in focus to see any banding on the surface, a Barlow will also help with magnification if your optics can support it with the appropriate eyepiece and will help "dim" the brightness somewhat. Jupiter is the easiest to find and see, other planets more difficult. Saturn for example the only time I've seen it through a short FL refractor was in real term sizes around 1-2mm, but I could still make out the ring clearly.

[Elbasso]

If you stick a camera on the scope, make some pictures or a video and stack the images, you can see a lot more. 

It's basically why I started to get into astrophotography as I was often frustrated with the underwhelming experience though the eye piece.