Slightly dissapointed

[Jimmy D]

Hey guys, new to this so any help will be great!!

I purchased a new 10" Dobsonian Skywatcher, until tonight i have only been able to use it on the moon.

Earlier tonight i took it out to the garden to have a look at mars, i tried both eyepieces both the 25 and 10 mil but at best all i could see was a 2 or 3 ml spot at best, was very very small and as such impossible to see detail. I diddnt expect the hubble but expected at least a little bit more from a scope of this size. Do i need better EP? Or anything else i can do for a better look?

Thank you from a complete beginner.

[Doc]

Maybe but try first a higher magnification. Detail will only be visible during periods of good seeing and using at least x200.

Wait till Mars is high in the sky and with a 10" scope you will definitely see detail.

[Beyond_Vision]

You will also need to make sure the scope is well collimated

Regards

Kevin

[Cornelius Varley]

That is about the size you will get with your telescope / eyepice combination.

http://www.12dstring.me.uk/fov.htm will give you some idea of the size of eyepiece required for a larger image. Atmospheric conditions can dictate the maximum magnification. Yout 250 should be able to achieve 300x max. The 10mm eyepiece gave you a magnification of 120x so you have plenty to spare.

Peter

Peter

[Chris H]

I use a 10 inch scope and at x100 Mars is just as you describe a small orange blob with little or no detail. Add my x2 barlow and now your talking much better sized image, still a little small though, with detail such as polar caps clearly visible. Add the x3 barlow, if seeing is good enough, and Mars really comes alive lots of surface colour visible as well as both poles.

Earth is moving away from Mars now at quite a pace over Feb Mars will begin to look smaller.

[John]

You need to keep at it - the details come and go due to atmospheric disturbances so you really just get glimpes of the details. Over time your eye and brain get better at assimilating these glimpeses and resolving the details. Your scope does need to be properly cooled (I'd say 45-60 mins) and in good collimation to see the details. Mars is a challenge - you have to work at it !.

[Jimmy D]

Thanks guys for the advice so far, so would you advise me buying a barlow? if i had a budget of lets say £100 or so, what would be best for my scope for seeing planets and for also moving on to dso when i get some experience (bearing in mind as from tonight at mars i have only seen the moon) a barlow or new EP. Thanks.

[pvaz]

What you experienced on Mars is normal. The planet is very small and I find 240x is the best mag I have for it.

Now that I have my eyes trained I can spot the polar cap easily at 120x with good seeing conditions. I know it sounds strange but with some experience you are more patiente and you manage to get small pockets of seeing where detail looks sharper. Your eyes start noticing detail better too, I use sketching as a means to train the eye as it makes me pay more attention.

The barlow will be useful, but don't be too cheap or it will make a nice paper weight as my 1st barlow. The tal 2x is regarded as good and costs 35£, the orion shorty costs a bit more bit is said to be better. So is the Celestron Ultima.

You should use your gear a bit more before committing to buy EPs. I think the hardest thing for a beginner is to identify what EPs focal lenghts (mm) he's gonna use the most. For that those beginner EP kits are handy as they give you all the choices you need to experiment at will before deciding which quality EPs to buy, but with a fast scope I don't know how pleased you'll be with one of those.

I'll tell you what conclusions I reached after experimenting. This is what I can't live without:

A 30 to 35mm EP for large DSOs.

A 16 to 12mm EP for small DSOs.

A 10 to 8 mm for planets, double stars and very small DSOs.

A 7 to 5mm for high mags on planets, double stars when seeing conditions allow.

[The Warthog]

Mars is almost always dissapointing. At 230x last night, I was able to make out very little detail, although I could get an occasional view of the polar cap. I will need more time, and warmer temperatures, to get a really good study of Mars this time aroung.

[brantuk]

A decent 2x barlow with the 10mm will give you 240x magnification which ought you give you some detail.

However - the optical quality of your eyepieces will have an effect and the supplied ones tend to be average at best. It's worth spending a bob or two on decent ep's and barlows to get the best from your scope.

Good colimation is also essential and good colimator (like the hotech laser) is a sound investment.

[dreamliner]

Those were exactly my feelings when I first looked at mars. I have the 8" dob and the only thing I could see through the standard EP's provided was a tiny disc shaped star with light orange glow. And you know how disappointing it felt

So now I have ordered a 6mm EP to get x200 magnification but I really doubt that it will help a lot. Now thinking of getting a barlow

[John]

...So now I have ordered a 6mm EP to get x200 magnification but I really doubt that it will help a lot. Now thinking of getting a barlow

x200 will be fine and about as much as you acan usefully use most nights. I've been able to see some nice details on Mars (after spending quite a bit of time at the eyepiece) with my 4" refractor at 186x.

[russ]

As John says, 200x is a good power for use on the majority of nights. There will still be nights where even 200 is too much and other nights, all be it fewer, that will take more. Also depends how high the object is in the sky. Mars is very high and on good nights will take a lot of magnication. But Jupiter, which has been hugging the horizon for the last few years, struggles to take 200x, sometimes only 120-130x.

Good news is we are heading into planetary nirvana now. Both Jupiter and Saturn (rings closed at present) will improve dramatically in the next year.

Russ

[DarkerSky]

You need to keep at it - the details come and go due to atmospheric disturbances so you really just get glimpes of the details. Over time your eye and brain get better at assimilating these glimpeses and resolving the details. Your scope does need to be properly cooled (I'd say 45-60 mins) and in good collimation to see the details. Mars is a challenge - you have to work at it !.

I second this. Seeing details on Mars is a skill that comes with time at the eyepiece. In my 8.5" scope I tend to grab some good detail at Mag x240 (a 9mm eyepiece with 2x Barlow). But if the atmosphere is turbulent it is very difficult to pick it up. Sometimes in about a half-hour at the eyepiece I might see vague details, but only see about 2-3 minutes of crisp detail when the air allows it.