[heathgravett]

Hi All

Just new to astronomy after buying the "Cosmos" book. I have a celestron Astromaster 70 Refractor scope with 20mm, 10mm and 6mm eyepieces plus filters.

Currently observing Saturn but a little disappointed with the image I am getting. Even with the 6mm eyepiece, Saturn is just a smallish circle with a line through it. Image is sharp and it's still good to know I'm looking at Saturn.

By my calcs I'm using 150 X magnification and my telescope has a maximum useful power of 165 X so at the limit of good viewing. I was led to believe that I'd be able to see colour and ring formation but looking at what I get, you'd need 400 X magnification for that. Have I been misled and what I am seeing is the best I'll get or am I doing something wrong here?

Cheers