Saturn though 10" dob

[Forgey]

Newbie question sorry.
I took this video of Saturn the other night and this is what im currently seeing though my GSO 10" f/5 dob using a 2.5x barlow and a 9mm plossl eyepiece.
What else can i do get a closer image and is this what i should be seeing at this magnification?


http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/153/l1c.mp4

[Poita]

That is about what I see through my C8 with a 10mm LV eyepiece (though sharper of course, I'm guessing you were hand-holding the camera?)
You could get a better quality 6mm or smaller eyepice for more magnification, and the focus could certainly be better.
The thing with the planets though, as far as I can tell, the seeing is the limiting factor, you can get a lot more magnification with a higher powered, better quality eyepiece, and bigger/stacked barlows, but often you just get a bigger, blurrier image because of the atmospherics.

I've found filters can help a bit, as can letting the scope cool right down, then you can go for higher magnifications, but with my c8 I've found the 10mm eyepiece with a barlow is about as far as I can go unless it is an exceptional night.

The amazing thing to me is image stacking, and that faint, detail-less blob of saturn turns into a sharp detailed planet when stacking the images on the computer. I understand how it works, but it still seems like voodoo at times.

I'm guessing you could get higher magnification than I can on my C8, but not drastically so. See if you can borrow some eyepieces to try out. I'd be happy to send you my 6mm once it arrives to give it a go.

[stopusinmyid]

Hi,
that's more then i could get trying to take pictures with my camera of saturn. I don't think my baby telescope helped much either. I have just put a deposit on the same scope as you have and I have bought the Celestron NexImage camera as i want to be able to get half decent pictures also. Tip though, the camera is lots cheaper if you buy it from America (sad i know) but as this is not going to be a cheap hobby I will try to save where I can. I got mine off eBay.

[mswhin63]

What camera are you using?

[Forgey]

Its only a canon powershot, but not worried about the camera atm only what i can see through the eyepiece.

Thanks for the info Peter might try a 6mm in a few weeks.

[astro_nutt]

I found using either a 15mm widefield, or a 12.5mm ED eyepiece with a 2x barlow will give a good image and reasonable magnification. Please check the colimatrion and be sure the mirrors are properly cooled for at least 30 minutes.
Cheers!

[Logieberra]

My 10" newt can handle a 5 x barlow / powermate... so yeah, looks the right size for a 2 x. You can always stack barlows as well :)

[Forgey]

Thanks for the help guys :)