Help!

[markchrisryan]

I have a Skyquest XT8 Dobsonian, and I am using it with the Celestron 1.25" Eyepiece and Filter Accessory Kit. Bought it from telescope.com.

What I need help with is I have been observing Saturn on several accounts since I purchased my scope. It always appears as 1 color without detail. I can see the shadow on the planet from the rings, and the picture looks quite crisp. However I was expect to see some detail in the planet. All I am seeing is 1 color, the rings and the planet are both yellow. No different shades, no bands, and no white dot storms

Would this be my eyepiece kit being on the lower end? I am pretty sure my collimation is quite accurate. Any help or suggestions would be great. Thanks!

[Nexus 6]

Hi Mark,

with your dob you should definately see some slight shades of colour on Saturn, there very faint but are noticeable,bands are there but unlike with Jupiter they require a bit more effort to tease out. Any decent quality ep will help even more. Filters are an option as well.

Clear skies

Alan

[pvaz]

The bands are both above and under the rings, they look the same color as the planet with a slightly darker shade and are not that easy to spot.

[markchrisryan]

Ok, I'd say so.. It's been quite frustrating. I felt as I am missing something spectacular that I should be seeing but wasn't. The planet almost looks fake. It's still fun to observe, I actually saw a little detail in Mars tonight which I was happy to see.

I cannot wait to observe Jupiter in the fall!

[Chris H]

In your 8" scope you should see a slight amount of banding but you need to get the planet in the eyepiece and stare at it for 15 mins or so and you will begin to pick out detail after a while. I'm not sure about white spots, I think you'd be very lucky to see those with your scope but I may be wrong. Keep looking at it as the atmosphere is constantly in flux and one night you will get a real good clear view. I would not blame your ep's for this, yes there are certain specialist ep's you can get for planetary use but they may not gain you that much over what you already have. Finally if you use filters they may highlight some details on Saturn but ultimately they dim the image, I don't use any filters for planetary viewing.

[John]

I only see a couple of very low contrast bands across the planet with my 10" scope and that's more or less my experience with Saturn viewed through a range of other scopes (larger and smaller) as well. It's surface features are very vague indeed. The challenge with Saturn at the moment is i) how many moons can you spot - I've managed 6 with my 10" on a good night when they are favourably positioned and ii) can you pick out the Cassini Division towards the ends of the ring ansae ? - very tricky I've found, even with the 10" - glimpses is the best I can say I've had so far.

Jupiter is much more rewarding in this respect of course and with patience and good seeing conditions (needed all the time with astro viewing !) an 8" scope will pick out a number of bands, zones and other features including the famed Great Red Spot which should be re-cristened the pale grey spot IMHO judging by it's recent appearance !.

[markchrisryan]

Thank you all for your help. It really helps me when everyone tells me what they can see out of their scope. This is a hobby that I am pretty much alone on here, so I don't have someone to help me out in person. I'll keep watching Saturn and try to see some more detail every time I get a chance to view it! Thanks again.