new guy

[smccullie]

Hi all and happy new year.

I got my first scope for christmas, its a meade autostar 102 with

D102mm F800mm f/7.8. Just wanted to know if this is any good, i managed to see jupiter and its 4 moons last night, but would like to see the planet closer up?? Do i need to get a barlow lens to make this happen?

[rowan46]

the short answer is yes. a good barlow will help enormously. this one is highly recommended Tal however even with a barlow don't expect to see what the images show. Its still pretty spectacular though.

[rowan46]

forgot to add welcome to the forum, happy new year and I hope you enjoy your present

[xboxdevil]

Hi & welcome to the forum.

Yes, although it all depends on what eyepieces came with the scope, at approx. 4" the maximum magnification that your scope can handle is about 200x although this may just be pushing it. With a focal length of 800m a 10mm eyepiece will give you 80x magnification if you use a 2x barlow with it you should get 160x magnification.

Check out http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php for 2nd hand bargains, you might be better off buying a 5mm eyepiece.

[nightfisher]

welcome to the forum, you could get a gso 9mm plossl and a barlow but you would only be able to barlow the 9mm at times of really good seeing

[umadog]

Welcome. Have a good read through all the beginner's articles on the site and on CloudyNights. There's a lot learn!

[smccullie]

Thanks for all the info i am sure i will have lots more questions as i am learning from scratch.

There is a local astro club that are having a meeting on the 3ed so i think i might pop along and check that out

[Chris H]

Going to a club or society meeting is a great way to learn new things.

With regard to Jupiter it's not often possible to use the maximum power your scope can handle you will be limited by the earths atmosphere. Imagine looking at a pebble in the the bottom of a fast flowing stream and you'll get the idea. You get to a point where as you increase the power the image quality starts to seriously decrease. At the moment I'm finding x150 is the maximum I can use for Jupiter.