**Help** Problems with viewing planets :(

[Gazzy]

Hey guys, new to this site and new to using my telescope so Hi

Any help on this would be great...

Tried to view venus tonight but unfortuantly when all lined up and in sight i could only see the outline of the bracket type thing inside of the mirror tube...

Was the same when i focused in on mars...The moon is fine.

Do i need a stronger lens?

Help me guys

[Brett]

What Scope do you have ?

Brett

[brianb]

i could only see the outline of the bracket type thing inside of the mirror tube...

Suggests to me that the focus is way off ... Is the moon SHARP?

[Gazzy]

The moon is very sharp and clear...i have 2 eyepieces for it and both are spot on.

[Gazzy]

Its a Tasco Galaxsee scope...nothing too flash..lol

[yeti monster]

When you look at the moon can you also see the "bracket type thing"?

When you look at Venus do you see Venus as well as the "bracket type thing"?

Does Venus appear as a bright point of light, or a big round dot?

[Gazzy]

Hey, it's only when I looked at Venus and mars that I got this

looking at the moon is fine and clear. Venus when zoomed out was a bright sharp light but that's all I could see through it the same as If you was looking at it with your naked eye. When I say the bracket I mean the part that the mirror reflects back onto where the outa lens is placed if that makes sense lol

[yeti monster]

Yes, that bracket is called the spider, the small flat mirror is your secondary.

If venus looked like a larger version of a very bright thing, then that's ok, that's what it looks like.

Mars is another difficult one.

Try saturn, you'll get a much better idea of where your focus is on saturn. The focal point for Saturn will be different than for the moon too, and go easy as it can go past the sweet spot very quickly if you're not used to it.

[Brendan of Borg]

I agree with the focussing 'sweet spot'. A 'mm' of turn will make a dramatic change.You gotta be gentle. Treat it like a lady??

[Breakintheclouds]

Yeti Monster is right: at the moment Venus and Mars probably won't look like anything other than small featureless bright discs - Saturn is the best choice as you'll know at once whether you're in focus as you'll see the rings

[brianb]

you'll see the rings

But not as rings - at the moment Saturn looks like an olive with a toothpick stuck through it; the rings are presented almost edge on.

[Gazzy]

Thanks guys...all new to this so every lil helps Is saturn not a bit dificult to line up at the mo being so close to the moon? Also...i need to replace my lens as atm everything is upside down and the wrong way around....any ideas on a good all-round size?

[John]

Thanks guys...all new to this so every lil helps Is saturn not a bit dificult to line up at the mo being so close to the moon? Also...i need to replace my lens as atm everything is upside down and the wrong way around....any ideas on a good all-round size?

Saturn and the moon won't be in the same place for more than a night or so - download Stellarium so that you can see where these objects are for your location each night.

Upside down is normal for newtonian scopes. Right way up but left and right reversed is normal for refractors and cassegrains using a diagonal. You sort of get used to it after a while