blury vision

[lesbehrens]

hi everyone:hi:. i have a q. when i look at some objects through my telescope i have trouble getting a sharp image, a good focus on a medium strenght eye piece. :eyepop:. could this the the eye pieces?, the telescope? or even the objets i am looking at?
can u help?:shrug:
thanks.:thumbsup:

[JethroB76]

What type of scope is it? Is your scope cooled and collimated? Are the objects low to the horizon?
These are a few things to consider...more information of what your using will allow us to provide greater assistance

[lesbehrens]

the telescope is a 16" dob. it is cooled and collimated. i was looking at the m 13 and the ring neb and m27 also jupiter. found it hard to get sharp focus on the objects even the background stars using a 12mm or lower eyepiece. all i got was a blur.
could this be the eye pieces?

[Gama]

While viewing, do you hold a stubby in the other hand ?.

But seriously, it may be the mirror if every eyepiece is doing the same thing and everything else is good.
Is this a new scope, or an old one.

Theo

[lesbehrens]

no stubby in the hand.:lol:
this is a new scope i just bourght it last week.

[Gama]

Your high power eyepiece will never give a clear view, it will always look a little off, this is due to the atmospherics being maginifed as well.
On really good nights, there will be a increase in sharpness, but still nothing grand.
Medium and low power should bring sharp images.

When you focus on a star, does it come to a point, or is the light streaking in one direction more than other directions.
Another thing to check, when the star is out of focus just a little, is the rings concetric with the other rings and the spot in the middle ?. Or does it flare in one direction ?.

Theo.

[lesbehrens]

when i focus on a star the light is streaking in one direction more then others.

[g__day]

Sounds like collimation a bit off! Put in a camera - even a DSLR, take some shots. Download the trial 30 day version of CCD Inspector V2 (from CCDWare) and check how far off your collimation is over 5 - 10 short shots taken over a half a dozen spots in the sky.

CCDInspector will definitely tell you how much tilt (and in what direction) is in your mirrors current collimation attempt and if the mirrors shift or flex as the scope slews around the sky you'll be able to spot this too!

[Gama]

Do some collimation and have another look.

Theo.

[bmitchell82]

my 2 bobs worth.! get a good collmination tool! eg catseye.... something so big in my idea a little bit goes a long long way!