[freespace]

Finally the clouds departed, and I got to try out my bintel 2x barlow, my bintel 12mm plossl, and UO 5mm.

I found Jupiter, then tried the new EPs with and with out the barlow, and found I can never see any detail on Jupiter. Its always a soft glowy circle, and I have to admit I am a little disappointed (its moons were easy to see though).

I have a 102mm f/5 skywatcher, should I be able to see /some/ details on Jupiter? Was it just bad seeing that caused the blurriness?

I also find that even when focus, the stars don't come down a point - it can kinda see like diffraction spikes, to one side. So it looks like this: >.

The direction of the > is also dependent on my eye position. I don't notice this much on the 12mm bintel, only with the 25mm super wide that came with the scope - is this a function of the EP?

And, there seems to be a vertical line straight down the field of view - this is noticable only when I am focusing, so it maybe I am focusing on defects in the primary or diagonal - should I be worried?

Sorry for the barrage of questions, but I dont know so many things!

Cheers,
Steve