What potential does this 4" scope have?

[andras]

I have a 4" Celestron Nexstar 4SE telescope and I'we been looking at the moon through the "out-of-the-box" configuration (Magnification 52x)

Will this telescope ever be able to give me views like these or these with the correct eyepieces? I haven't got so much details of the moon yet with my current setup.

Thanks,

Andras Eliassen

[John]

Your 4SE should be showing you those sorts of views even with the 52x eyepiece - they are pretty good scopes for lunar viewing.

Are you letting the scope cool down for 30 mins or so before using it ? - the maksutov scopes need some cool down time. You are not viewing through a window are you ? - that does not help image clarity at all.

You might also want to consider an eyepiece that gives you a bit more magnification.

[dweller25]

Hello Andras and welcome to SGL.

Your scope is capable of showing those views.

You must let it cool down - 30 mins and you must make sure it's collimated.

HTH

[Earl]

The 4SE is a great little scope I miss mine for its grab and go ability.

You can get good views and images of the moon through this scope, the quality of the eyepiece is important.

But the images your have linked are photos.

Photos and visual should not be compared as they are very different from each other.

as an extreme example look at my M31 image thread, all you see through the eyepiece is a small fuzzy blob.

[andras]

Thanks,

In Denmark I used my own backyard for viewing, and it was quite light-polluted.

Now, back in the Faroes, I usually drive for 20 minutes, and setting up takes about 5 minutes, but I haven't had a good view of the moon yet, due to seeing conditions.

Let's hope that'll do the trick.

About the cooling down part... What's the ideal "outside temperature" for viewing?

Usually these days (nights) it's around 5-10 Celsius.

Thanks,

Andras Eliassen

[dweller25]

Any outside temperature is OK but you must let your scope cool down to the outside temperature for 30 mins or so for best views.

[John]

..About the cooling down part... What's the ideal "outside temperature" for viewing?

Usually these days (nights) it's around 5-10 Celsius.

The point is that the scope needs time to cool down to the whatever the outside temperature is, unless it's stored outside when it should already be close to that.

On a cold night, a scope thats stored in a centrally heated house has a big temp adjustment to make - that takes quite a long time.

[Moonshane]

you may know this, but an important thing to realise is that even with your scope at the right (ambient) temperature, quite often you have to wait for the fleeting clarity which comes intermittently as you view, so stick with the viewing for a minute or more at a time and you'll see the detail in the photos you linked to. it tends to go (something like) blurry, blurry, blurry, clearer, wow that's amazing, clear, blurry, blurry, blurry etc on an irregular cycle. eventually your mind builds a picture up and you see and 'store' the detailed views. this also applies to planets and double stars but not so much DSOs as they are more usually at lower power which is less affected by the seeing conditions in the atmosphere.