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Old 27-09-2016, 10:50 AM
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sil (Steve)
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Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Canberra
Posts: 1,474
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nath2099 View Post
Hi all, if I could interject for one second, I have a similar issue to Timmo. Looking at Saturn on Saturday night between the clouds, all i could see was a spot the size of a star with a ring around it, cool and all, but... tiny. This was with a Espirit 120 with a 12.5mm eyepiece. What do I need to make it bigger?

Thanks,
Nathan.
This is a typical view, and one of the biggest problems in astronomy is the expectation of seeing planets just like the awesome hubble space telescope images. The reality is you're seeing what most of us get to see.


To make it bigger you need a "smaller" eyepiece, eg 8mm or 6mm. However as you go smaller the image degrades faster as you are magnifying the distortion of our atmosphere too. A Barlow gives you a double or triple size increase but again image degradation. If you are using the eyepieces that came with your telescope then upgrading to quality ones will help image quality, but not extra magnification, a cheap 12.5mm eyepiece will give you the same size planets as an expensive one. I've rarely been able to go below 8mm because of atmospheric conditions so if you jump on ebay and buy the cheapest 4mm eyepiece you'll be disappointed.

Even if you throw $10k at a new telescope you'll likely be disappointed, planets are still small. You won't get jupiter filling the eyepiece with sharp clarity (I don't think).
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