Secondary vanes showing in eyepiece

[phantomgod_06]

When I try to observe objects in the sky through my telescope, the secondary vanes show on the object while observing through the eyepiece

[bosun21]

What telescope do you have? If focussed correctly they should be totally invisible despite theoretically still being there. Do you have a photo of your focuser with the eyepiece fitted and any extensions used?

[Louis D]

I'm wondering how far out of focus the image is.  That's the only way I can see spider vane shadows at the eyepiece.  Try racking the focuser end to end to see if you can minimize the out of focus image.  If the image gets smaller in one direction, but stops shrinking before reaching sharp focus, let us know which way that was, all the way in or all the way out.  We might be able to make suggestions on what to do next.

[Mandy D]

@phantomgod_06 what telescope do you have?

[Stu]

When in focus, you will see bright spikes around bright stars and broader, fainter ones around planets. This is as it is, all correct. If you have four vanes you will see four spikes, three vanes gives six spikes and two and single vanes give two spikes.
 

If you are out of focus then you will see the shadow of the secondary and the four vanes, so check your focus first. Stars should be at their smallest and tightest.

[phantomgod_06]

I'll answer all the questions in order:

1. I have a powerseeker 127eq.
2. The image gets smaller in the middle without the spider vanes showing but it looks like a tiny speck of light in that case. When all the way in and out the image is enlarged with the spider vanes showing.
3. (same question)
4. Yeah thats the thing, when I am in focus it looks really really small and when i try to focus more the spider vanes show.

[bosun21]

Stars will appear as small specks of light in telescopes when focus is reached. You are simply defocusing the star to make it larger which will inherintly show the spider veins. Try looking at the planets, especially Jupiter at the moment. Your telescope is also a bird jones design which if collimated correctly should show you the disc of the planet and perhaps some details.

[DirkSteele]

The focused image is when it is at is smallest.  Stars will still look like points of light regardless of magnifcation used as they are too distant to be resolved in telescopes.  Planets are also in focus when the image is smallest.  If you want a larger image of Jupiter for example, you need to use a high power (shorter focal length eyepiece).  But once again the focused image is when it is at its smallest.  As you move away from focus, the spider vanes and secondary mirror shadow will become visible.  As Stu mentioned in his post, you will see defraction spikes around stars and planets which is perfectly normally for a Newtonian scope.

[Les Ewan]

If the scope is well focused then it sounds like diffraction spikes which are quite normal for a Newtonian especially around brighter stars. I rather like them,(except the one on my 400P that always tries to conceal Rigel's companion)!

[Louis D]

The focus wheel is not to be confused with a zoom wheel.  The image is getting larger out of focus, but it is not a useful image to observe.

You might want to buy a zoom eyepiece to get started with observing if you like the idea of zooming to enlarge the image on the fly.  Once inserted in the focuser, you bring the image to focus such that it is at its smallest.  Then, you can twist the collar around the eyepiece to zoom in or out to enlarge or reduce the image size in a continuous manner.  You might need to refocus at each zoom setting because zooms tend to not be parfocal (remain in focus at all settings).

Edited November 26, 2023 by Louis D

[phantomgod_06]

Oh okay thanks a lot guys, the help is much appreciated!

[bomberbaz]

30 minutes ago, phantomgod_06 said:

Oh okay thanks a lot guys, the help is much appreciated!

My guess is your seeing something like this as others have stated but just to reiterate,  this is way out of focus.

Stars will appear as pinpoints of light, nothing more.

[phantomgod_06]

5 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

My guess is your seeing something like this as others have stated but just to reiterate,  this is way out of focus.

Stars will appear as pinpoints of light, nothing more.

Yeah that is exactly what I am seeing. Would it be the same for planets or not? When I try to observe Venus I come across the same problem

Edited November 27, 2023 by phantomgod_06

[John]

1 hour ago, phantomgod_06 said:

Yeah that is exactly what I am seeing. Would it be the same for planets or not? When I try to observe Venus I come across the same problem

The same applies to planets as well. Adjust the focus so that the planet looks as small and sharp as possible in the eyepiece. You might be surprised at how small planets look in the eyepiece, even the giants such as Jupiter and Saturn.

 

[Starfazed]

Can you get the Moon in sharp focus?

If so, using a low powered eyepiece (if you have one that came it - ie higher focal length e.g. 20mm rather than 4mm) start with that then without changing the focus or the eyepiece, move the scope to something like Jupiter (currently quite close to the Moon and very easy to see as it's so bright). You'll see a much smaller circle - and with a bit of luck up to four pinpricks of light lined up in a row next to it - its four moons. Then keeping the lens the same, move to a cluster like the Pleiades that's easy to find with the naked eye - you'll see a load of individual stars, each of which is a pinprick. And no mirror vanes.

That's what you should be seeing if your scope is perfectly focussed, at any rate.

If you move up to a higher lens and it goes out of focus, do the same again - start with the Moon in focus. If the Moon is in focus, anything else in the sky will also be, as long as you don't change the eyepiece.

[phantomgod_06]

12 hours ago, Starfazed said:

Can you get the Moon in sharp focus?

If so, using a low powered eyepiece (if you have one that came it - ie higher focal length e.g. 20mm rather than 4mm) start with that then without changing the focus or the eyepiece, move the scope to something like Jupiter (currently quite close to the Moon and very easy to see as it's so bright). You'll see a much smaller circle - and with a bit of luck up to four pinpricks of light lined up in a row next to it - its four moons. Then keeping the lens the same, move to a cluster like the Pleiades that's easy to find with the naked eye - you'll see a load of individual stars, each of which is a pinprick. And no mirror vanes.

That's what you should be seeing if your scope is perfectly focussed, at any rate.

If you move up to a higher lens and it goes out of focus, do the same again - start with the Moon in focus. If the Moon is in focus, anything else in the sky will also be, as long as you don't change the eyepiece.

Yeah I can see the moon very clearly and the craters are sharp when focused

[phantomgod_06]

16 hours ago, John said:

The same applies to planets as well. Adjust the focus so that the planet looks as small and sharp as possible in the eyepiece. You might be surprised at how small planets look in the eyepiece, even the giants such as Jupiter and Saturn.

 

Ohhhh okay thank you thank you