Lenses Help

[Gy Stargazer]

Am wanting to see planets closer up and in more detail.

Was just wondering what i can get to enhance the viewing.

I've only been able to see Saturn and Titan yet would love to see the other moons.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Scot

[Doc]

Two choices.....

A 4mm plossl eyepiece will give you X125 mag but the eye relief will be very small and a bit hard to look through.

or

A x2 barlow with your 10mm will give you x100 mag and you will retain the eye relief of your 10mm eyepiece.

[Gy Stargazer]

I've been using a x2 barlow with a 10mm lense but saturn looks very small.

(About 4 - 5 mm across)

[kniclander]

saturn will always look very small - it is about a billion miles away, after all. I think a lot of people are initially a bit disappointed at how small planets are through the scope but after a while you get used to the size and don't really notice it. A small sharp view is much much better than a big mushy one. I would stay away from short focal length plossls as they are really uncomfotable to use (I have a 6.4mm which I almost never use for that reason) and given that saturn is very bright, there is little downside to using a barlow.

[Gy Stargazer]

Does a x3 barlow make for much difference at all?

[kniclander]

well, it will make saturn 1.5 times bigger than a 2 times but I suspect you will start to lose sharpness and the view will be less appealing. spend time at the eyepiece and it is amazing what detail you will start to pick out.

[The Warthog]

Well, yes, it will give you 150x with your 10mm ep. I suspect this was supplied with your scope, right? I wouldn't try for more than 160x unles you are absolutely sure that the mirror is parabolic. Most 114mm mirrors are spherical.

What you need is good skies and more patience. You can see more of the moons of Saturn with your scope, in good conditions.

I would suggest you add a 2x Barlow and a mid price range 7 or 8mm ep with long eye relief to your kit. With an f/5 scope you should avoid cheap wide angle eps.

[John]

With regard to one of your original questions, you should be able to see more than one of Saturns moons with your scope. I can make out 3 or 4 with my 102mm refractor on a good night. Titan is the brigtest by far but there are 3 others that should be within reach of the light grasp of your scope; Rhea, Tethys and Dione. Iapetus varies in brightness but could also be visable in your scope when it's at it's brightest. I use this online Java applet to find out where 5 of the moons are at any particular time:

Saturn's Moons

More magnification is not the answer though as the moons never appear as more than pinpricks of light in small scopes. I find 140x brings out all the detail I can see with my 102mm scope.

John

[Gy Stargazer]

OK. Thanks for the advice.

Will try looking a bit closer for the other moons.

Thanks.