Planets very bright and white

[rthorntn]

I am a newbie living in sydney cbd and think I might need a filter...

Got up at 4.30 to see Jupiter and took a peek at venus both were very white and bright, saturn the last time I looked was the same, is my meade 10" letting in too much light for the planets?

Cheers
richard

[silv]

Do you know the focal ratio of your scope?
and what eyepiece (possibly including the info of it's focal ratio) are you using?

[rthorntn]

Thanks Silv,

It's f/10, Meade SCT ACT 10"
The two EPs are Celestron a 10mm and 25mm kellner

Cheers
richard

[silv]

cheers richard.
I can't say anything about this.
handing over to the knowledgable people :)

[rthorntn]

Thanks silv, this morning I thought I glimpsed a brown line left to right on jupiter, and also Mars looked pinkish so I'm not devoid, I am very close to North Sydney, so also wondering if its LP related.

Maybe it's normal but made worse with cheap EPs, LP and my untrained eye.

Does anyone use filters for planetary?

Cheers
Rich

[pgc hunter]

Hi, Light Pollution is of no consequence when observing planets as they are very bright unlike faint galaxies and nebulae. You won't need a filter either to see detail on Jupiter. Venus on the other hand doesn't have any obvious markings to begin with so it will appear as blazing white although some experienced observers have reported subtle shading.

Your equipment is more than ample to see detail on Jupiter. However, there are a number of factors that play an important role in planetary observation:

Atmospheric seeing. If the air above you is turbulent, it will appear as "boiling" or fuzziness when observing planets with a telescope. It can be bad enough that Jupiter appears as nothing more than a fuzzy blob. I've seen this myself a number of times.

Collimation. If the optics are out of collimation the view will be affected.

Cooling. Make sure you telescope has had time to cool down to ambient temperature. Let it sit outside for atleast an hour before observing so the mirror cools to ambient temperature. A warm mirror has heat rising off the surface, creating a pool of warm air just infront of the surface , called a "boundary Layer" which is similar to the effect of heat shimmer over a road on a hot day. That will ruin the view.

Observer. It takes a bit of time and patience to see much detail on planets, spend a good 10 minutes at the eyepiece rather than a quick peek to allow your eyes to soak in the image and watch the planetary features pop into view. The more times you get out there, you'll gain experience and know what to look for and how to go about it.

Lastly, you can never have too much light! :P

I suspect that atmospheric turbulence ruined your view and also did you allow your scope to cool?