Jupiter / Venus looking like stars in my telescope

[asdf1]

Thanks for the replies guys, I will try with the barlow this morning and see how it goes

[rogerco]

Venus is small and just a white ball when full or a crescent at other times. Jupiter should show bigger than a star although 700mm is not terribly long focal length for planet hunting, likewise the eyepieces you mention are not high power. But you should be able to see that Jupiter is a planet and the tell tail srtripes in the cloud cover. Try using the highest power (shortest focal length) eye piece you have and use a 2.5x barlow if you have one.

Best of luck

[SkyWatch]

You are getting 35x and 56x with those eyepieces, so if you are getting clear images on other objects you should be able to see Jupiter as a very small circle with possibly a couple of stripes across the middle, and some nearby "stars" in a line (its' moons) and Venus as a tiny 1/2 moon at the moment. Are you sure you are looking at the planets and not at stars? At 4.30am Venus is almost due East, but only 6-7 degrees above the horizon, and Jupiter is North of East and about 19 degrees up- so neither are well positioned for viewing and both (especially Venus) will be a bit fuzzy due to their low altitude; but you should still be able to see that they are not stars!

Good luck,

Dean

[asdf1]

Thanks for the replies guys, I will try the barlow with the eyepieces this morning and see how that goes!

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug:what gives on this thread ? As I was typing my first reply it shifted to home page and and later using my phone I see the OP,s original question has disappeared ? .
Mod,s I have reported this , hope it is only a glitch.
Brian.

[RAJAH235]

Apparently, the OP, asdf1, edited his 1st post @ 9.57 & removed all the info.
Very strange thing to do.

[RB]

˙ǝuoɥd ɹnoʎ ʇsnɾ s,ʇᴉ ǝqʎɐɯ 'uɐᴉɹq ǝuᴉɟ ʇsnɾ ʇᴉ pɐǝɹ uɐɔ I

[glend]

He is new and probably unsure about forum operations.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Thanks guys , I can see now the OP's post was edited , more than likely an honest mistake .
But in this world you can never be to careful wit anything to do with computers , or phones ;) .
Brian

[Suzy]

Oh how'd you do that ????? :scared2:
Either my eyes are playing up or that's upside down......

Reading this thread for the first time today is like entering the Twilight Zone :face:

[RB]

˙˥O˥ 'ǝɹǝɥdsᴉɯǝɥ uɹǝɥʇɹou ǝɥʇ ɯoɹɟ pǝʇsoԀ

[Suzy]

doh.....
I need a Panadol.
:prey2:

[astroron]

I could read it no problem,but then I come from both hemisphere's. :P
Cheers:thumbsup:

[OICURMT]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=upside+down+text+generator

[Atmos]

Am I able to report a Moderator for making my brain work too hard at 8am when I first read it, while having my first coffee of the day (not yet finished)? :question:

[Suzy]

:lol:
At least you had some caffeine to help your nerves.
I was running on nothing :P

Thanks for the link OIC :D
I look forward to annoying a lot of people on facebook :lol: .

Show off Ron :P, clever comeback actually :lol:.

Asdf1-
My apologies for temporarily hijacking your thread. When you're having a look a Jupiter, don't forget to have a look at it's moons. Four of its brightest moons are easily seen in a small telescope (providing some aren't hiding behind the planet). A pair of binoculars will easily show some moons so it shouldn't be a problem for your scope. They are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. An easy way to remember the moon names is "I Eat Green Cheese". Get it? ;):)

Europa is an interesting one.....
NASA is planning a mission there for the 2020s. A few km below its surface lies the largest known ocean in the universe reaching depths to around 100km. It holds the best hope so far in our quest for finding life in our solar system.
A computer sky programme such as Stellarium (free to download) will tell you what moons you're looking at. It's fun watching the moons doing a "dance" around the planet as you observe them move over days. I haven't yet observed a full rotation of Jupiter (it's only 10 hours so do-able in a night) to know if the moons make a noticeable movement in one night.

I hope you get those issues sorted out soon so you can start observing and enjoying Jupiter. It's my favourite planet as there's so much to see and so dynamic. Saturn is the eye-popper for sure & drop dead stunning (!) but IMO there's more to explore on Jupiter.

[BJ]

Yep get your magnification up as high as possible and you should be able to see the cloud stripes on Jupiter and also observe some of the many moons too.
Recently I observed a planetary conjunction at Lake Cootharaba north of Noosa in Qld and it was spectacular even with the unaided eye I could clearly see the pinpoints of light that are Jupiters moons!.
Dark skies and a windless night will greatly help your viewing too.Good luck.:)

[deanm]

"even with the unaided eye I could clearly see the pinpoints of light that are Jupiters moons!"

Wow! I wish I could smoke some of what you must have had...

Dean

[astroron]

I have to agree with Dean's sentiment.
The " Four" Galilion Moons of Jupiter are only very small subtending only arc seconds. so it is very doubtful you would see any of them.

It has been said that some African tribes saw the moons in the past,but with the contrast of the sky and the closeness of the moons to Jupiter it is highly unlikely.
As you know when you look at bright objects your eyes can sometimes fool you into seeing double objects,"Alpha Centurii for instance.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[astroron]

At this very moment the gap between Callisto and Ganymede is nearly four Arc Minutes with a combined brightness of the four moons of not even -1 magnitude,and split by the dazzlingly bright Jupiter at mag -2 and only 35 arc seconds in diameter you would be really hard pressed to convince me that you could see all four moons.
Wishful thinking for sure
Ganymede mag +4.6. Callisto +5.7. Europa +5.3. Io +5.

Cheers:thumbsup:

[brian nordstrom]

:D I have read that its possible to see the furtherest out moons from a dark steady sky using a knitting needle end as a mask ( block ) on Jupiter its self , but it would be very hard .

You need a blackened tube 30mm in diameter about 100mm long with the needle poking thru one side to 1/2 way about 25mm from the eye end and mounted on an EQ mount with a solid support to keep your head very , very still .:shrug: .
I think I will just use my scope :confused2: .

Dennis DeCico of S&T mag did it once years ago , he has telescope eyes they say :D .
Brian.

[deanm]

Yes Brian, but it's much easier to see (naked eye!) the Jovian Gallilean satellites with the aid of a small brass or glass 90-degree angle 'visual' back..!

Dean