Is it possible?

[sgazer]

last night, there was quite high whispy cloud, but the moon seemed fairly visible so I thought I'd give it a go with my C8. I have a 2" 2x ED barlow and wanted to give it a try between the diagonal and the scope rather than after the diagonal. I believe this would give me something like 3x magnification from the barlow.

I only have a couple of standard issue eyepieces and a 6mm Meade 4000. The moon looked great with a 25mm and the barlow, so I thought I 'd try the 6mm. I slipped it in and tweaked the focus. What a sight, I could see 'tiny' craters with perfect clarity. Thinking about it shortly after.....6mm eyepiece, 3x barlow, 2000mm SCT, doesn't that make for a magnification of 1000x?! It is possible? I would have expected a blur at this mag.

[Merlin66]

The theory sounds correct.....but I agree x1000 sounds unrealistic!!

I would have thought the image would start to break down around the suggested maximum of x400 for your scope.

Sir William Herschel used single lens eyepieces (no plossls or Nagler's in those days!) on a single tilted mirror telescope some 10 foot long, and "regularly" used magnifications up to x2000 to observe double stars... how on earth he did it is beyond me.

[sgazer]

yup, it's a bit of a mystery to me too. I didn't even bother collimating the scope since I last used it 3 weeks ago with a camera and there was definately glass in the barlow as I took it out to clean it!

I wanted to try it on Mars, but by then there was too much cloud. Might give it another go at the weekend if it's clear, just to make sure I wasn't dreaming!

[barkis]

When you hit on a superb seeing period, (not too frequent in UK unfortunately), high magnification can be reached. A light fog can be an indication of steady air too.

Anyway, the main thing is the wonderful sights you scope delivered, and they are memorable. Nice one.

Ron.

[Space Bat]

Yes it is with the 1.25" fitting so should be the same for the 2" - I was doing so last night, and every night I have observed Mars - which hasn't been as often as I would like.

I like doing it this way as I will use the DFK to image using the 2X barlow. It is easier to centre by quickly plugging in the diaganol with an eyepiece and then change over to the camera.

I have to say last nights views were breathtaking....I had a quick play last night stacking - I am itching to get back to it after work and get some pic's posted.

Chris