Help with a new ep for my SW 200p

[Trueblue901]

Hey peeps.

After nearly a month waiting for my very first telescope (Dobsonian Skywatcher 200p) to arrive i finally unpacked it and set it up the other week. Very exciting stuff.

Only problem is im a bit disapointed!

Now i know i was never going to see close up images of the orion nebula or jupiter like you see in the mags but i was expecting to see bigger images and more detailed images than i'm actually seeing.

For example, when i view jupiter in the 10mm plossl ep that came with the scope it just looks like a bright disc about 4mm in diameter. Jupiter barely has any detail at all.

The scope has been correctly collimated and the image in wiew is focused as much as can be.

My thinking is that i'm either looking at the likes of jupiter or orion nebula at the wrong time of year to see it in detail or maybe i need a more powerfull ep, or even a barlow. Im just not sure at all. If it is a new ep any suggestions would be much appreciated as i am very much a newbie at all this.

Thank you very much in advance.

Matt

[LukeSkywatcher]

Jupiter is too low down now to get any really good views. I think 10mm will be too much magnification for the Orion Nebula. You need to observe it with a less powerful EP to see its beauty.

[gedmac]

the 10mm supplied ep is not the best with this scope,i have the same scope and managed to get hold of a few meade 4000 series ep,s.again not the best but a visible improvement.main thing to note is let the scope cool down,it,s surprising how much difference it makes.as to better quality ep,s i,m still on a learning curve but pound for pound i,ll probably plump for some tmb planetarys.good luck and dont despair you have a good scope:p

[Chris H]

Don't push the magnification too high though anything above x200 is going to be of limited use in the UK due to the atmopsheric conditions. The Orion nebula will look better with a wider field of view, with your 10mm ep at x120 your only seeing part of it. If you want to upgrade your ep's get something between 13 and 10mm with a wide field of view this would get a lot of use in your scope.

Planets require high magnification whilst many DSO require low to med magnification. Were your intial expectations of what your scope could do realistic?

[twotter]

I have the same scope and although the supplied EPs have their limitations, the 25mm EP is perfectly good enough to view Jupiter and see detail. The 10mm is more limited but was fine for observing the Moon.

Orion looks good, or at least it did a few weeks ago when I was last out observing.

Everyone will have different advice but my approach was to buy a 2x barlow, then built up a selection of plossl EPs (GSO Revelation & Meade 4000s). From there I've noted which EPs I use the most, 32mm & 12mm, and now I'm looking to upgrade to Hyperions, because they have 68 degree FOV and the price doesn't give me heart failure. Just got the 13mm at the moment but the view of M42 is cracking and the Moon fits in the whole field of view.

Lovely