Thread: Beginner Help
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Old 20-09-2014, 12:33 PM
SkyWatch (Dean)
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Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 403
Hi Leigh,

It is pretty hard to see detail on Mars right now: the disc is too small. However, you should have no problem seeing at least the Cassini division on Saturn, even at low power (less than 100x), and even when seeing is less than perfect (most of the time!). (I can see Cassini with a 70mm scope pretty well every time I look.)

My guess is that your collimation is not as good as it could be.

In terms of magnification, 200x is more than enough to see heaps of detail on the planets: but you cant expect Hubble telescope images!

Are the edges of the planet and the ring sharp or slightly fuzzy? When you increase magnification you will get to a point, even with a well-collimated scope, where no more detail is possible, and things begin to get fuzzy. That is the point where you decrease magnification.

If collimation is spot on, the image is not boiling due to poor seeing, and you still can't see the Cassini division, then there may be a problem with your optics...

I would also suggest that you work on seeing as much as possible without filters. Colour filters enable subtle enhancement of certain types of features, but if you haven't spent much time "training" your eye it is not likely you will notice a great deal of difference at first: especially on Mars when the disc is less than 6 arc seconds across.

With planetary viewing, the more you look the more you see...

All the best,

Dean
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