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jupiter question


matt88

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Hi all, I have a question regarding Jupiter.

I had a chance to have a brief look at Jupiter tonight with my sky watcher evostar 90 refractor telescope and I have to say I am slightly disappointed with what I saw.

It seemed to be quite bright through my scope and I was only able to make out 2 cloud bands faintly. The highest magnification I used was only 90x as I only have two eyepieces at the moment but I have ordered another so I will be able to get a higher mag.

I am not sure if the reason it is so bright is because there is a fair bit of light pollution in my area and my telescope is picking up stray light from it possibly.

To give you a rough idea of what I saw, it was similar to this but not quite as bright or large.

http://www.compadre.org/Informal/images/features/Jupitmoons12-20-072.jpg

so my question to you.... Is this the sort if view I should expect to see through a telescope like mine or is there any way I could get to see more detail and less brightness by using a filter maybe ?

anyway thanks for reading and I hope someone can offer me some advice :D

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thats the view i got through my webcam tonight ! don`t know what was happening but the view through the 20mm eyepiece was alot better, fairly sharp i could see the Moons and easy a couple of bands but i have had better views in the past, i`m using a 6" sct 1500mm focal length so was about 75x mag

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i could only just make out a couple of bands tonight despite it being nice and bright. viewing wasn't at it's best and i couldn't push the magnification too high, infact i got better views using the clestron 25mm that came with the c80ed and a 2 X barlow than in a 8mm televue

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Hi Matt,

Although Jupiter is bright its features are very subtle, you need to spend time looking at it. Detail does jump out at you when your used to the brightness and the atmosphere steadies enough. Detail is overwhelming in my 10" sct!!!! I could see quite a bit of detail in my Borg 77ed the other week but seeing does play a big part in what you can actually see...HTH

Alan:)

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I am using a sky watcher evostar 90 refractor telescope. It is only a basic starter scope but i know sky watcher are a reputable brand that are said to make good quaility scopes. It should keep me going for a little while. I have ordered a moon filter and anouther eyepeice so i am looking forward to doing some observing of the moon with it.

here is the scope if your interested

Sky-Watcher EVOSTAR-90 (AZ3)90mm (3.5") f/900 REFRACTOR

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just keep trying, sometimes planets can give better views than other times, usually down to the atmoshphere at the time. Jupiter is low at the mo so it wont be as easy as it will be in a few years when it will be higher. Try to observe later at might too, the air is usually more calm.

Jupiter is a bit tough in a smaller scope as the contrast between the orange and cream areas is not high, so you struggle to see the details, a bigger aperture helps a lot (sorry!)

The phase of venus will be is easier to see, as will saturns rings when it re emerges from solar conjunction (xmas time i think without checking)

If you time jupiter right you can watch the shadow transits of its moons easily, theyre fun.

regarding one of your original questions, you will dim the brighteness by magnifying more, but you will need a good night for this (still and calm, possibly a hint of mist), and a good quality eyepiece. Televue plossls and Edmund RKE's are cheap and pretty good for plantets in my experience.

good luck

chris

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I have ordered a moon filter and anouther eyepeice so i am looking forward to doing some observing of the moon with it.

I found the Moon filter useful for observing Jupiter. As you said, it's really bright, uncomfortably so sometimes. The Moon filter does for Jupiter what it does for the Moon - dulls the glare and brings out contrast (in my experience anyway). It may make it a bit more comfortable at the eyepiece for you to have the sustained observing you need with Jupiter to pick up details.

Just go to the eyepiece with no expectations and you won't be disappointed. Observe over a few nighs, if you can, and you'll begin to notice subtle changes in colour.

Clear skies.:D

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Apart from the 2 main equatorial bands, the other details on Jupiter are quite subtle and certainly don't jump out at you in a small to medium aperture scope, especially with the way the planet is positioned in the sky this year.

With planetary details I definately find it's a case of " the more you look, the more you see". Recently I've been spending whole sessions on Jupiter (2-3 hours) and by the end of the session I find my eyes are picking out the subtle details much more easily. "Patience is a virtue" as they say, with this game.....

John

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I too was observing Jupiter last night at the same time, and the seeing conditions were quite awful, I could not get a decent image at all. I think you must have been experiencing the same bad sky conditions.

The scope you have will give very nice planetary views, I've been using mainly 80 and 60mm refractors for the past couple of months, and had some very nice views.

Stick with it, and you will be rewarded with some very nice views.

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Matt,

I have an evostar 90 and have looked through more expensive scopes and the image hasn't been much better. I have put it down to seeing conditions with Jupiter down low at the moment. Maybe I need to put more time into observing Jupiter... (I spend maybe 20 minuntes on it in a session.)

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hard to see much more than 3 gas bands with a 90 mm scope, my daughters 114 celestron newt, wont show much more than that, great red spot should be visable when on show. if the view was over bright in a 90 mm scope, almost certainly not enough power, try a barlow lens or higher power eyepiece and the brightness will drop the size will increase and the detail a bit more easy to see i think.

Neil phillips lunar and planetary images

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