Go Back   IceInSpace > Beginners Start Here > Beginners Talk

Reply
 
Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #1  
Old 30-08-2020, 08:19 PM
pberrett
Registered User

pberrett is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 42
Question re view of Jupiter last night

Hi all

As the sky was clear last night, I grabbed my son's toy (about 50mm aperture) telescope and looked up at Jupiter from here in Melbourne. Obviously with such a small telescope the view was limited but I saw what appeared to be 4 dots in a row immediately to the right of Jupiter. Would these have been Jupiter's moons? I would not have expected to see Jupiter's moons with such a small telescope. Was anyone looking at Jupiter last night?

cheers Peter
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 30-08-2020, 08:39 PM
astroron's Avatar
astroron (Ron)
Supernova Searcher

astroron is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cambroon Queensland Australia
Posts: 9,313
Quote:
Originally Posted by pberrett View Post
Hi all

As the sky was clear last night, I grabbed my son's toy (about 50mm aperture) telescope and looked up at Jupiter from here in Melbourne. Obviously with such a small telescope the view was limited but I saw what appeared to be 4 dots in a row immediately to the right of Jupiter. Would these have been Jupiter's moons? I would not have expected to see Jupiter's moons with such a small telescope. Was anyone looking at Jupiter last night?

cheers Peter
Yes,they were the moons of Jupiter,which can be seen with just about the least most powerful optical aid.
8X42 binoculars show them just fine.
Download a free Planetarium from the net and it will give you their positions night by night.
Saturn and it's rings are also visible in a small telescope such as the one you where using.
Cheers

Last edited by astroron; 30-08-2020 at 09:22 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 31-08-2020, 06:02 AM
leon's Avatar
leon
Registered User

leon is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Warrnambool
Posts: 12,430
Yep they sure would have been, pretty spectacular sight i reckon.
The things one can see with such small aperture.

Leon
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 01-09-2020, 03:26 PM
pberrett
Registered User

pberrett is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 42
Regarding Saturn,

I would have thought one could not see much of Saturn with a small aperture. I have watched videos n Youtube of people with 8" and above dobsonians and they get a very small image with fuzzy rings.

cheers Peter
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-09-2020, 05:57 PM
astroron's Avatar
astroron (Ron)
Supernova Searcher

astroron is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cambroon Queensland Australia
Posts: 9,313
Quote:
Originally Posted by pberrett View Post
Regarding Saturn,

I would have thought one could not see much of Saturn with a small aperture. I have watched videos n Youtube of people with 8" and above dobsonians and they get a very small image with fuzzy rings.

cheers Peter
I have telescopes from A 60 mm refractor to 16" reflector and Saturn with it's rings are visible in all of them.
The rings of Saturn where found to be rings and not parts of the planets disc by Christiaan Huygens
He used a 60mm refractor and a 12mm eyepiece.
My first view of the rings of Saturn where with a 50mm spotting scope.
One shouldn't expect Hubble type images through the eyepiece of small telescopes.
Look at the images produced on this site taken by very modest sized telescopes.
Don't forget video's and imaging accentuate the seeing conditions when looking at bright objects like the planets.
The amount of Wows! I hear when people first see Saturn and to a lesser extent Jupiter through even the smallest apertures Makes it all worth while.
I have seen great views of Saturn through my 8" SCT including the "comet"
band of Methane that encircled the planet many years ago.
Do some observing and learn to observe not just look, and then you will appreciate what small telescopes do to astronomy.
Cheers

Last edited by astroron; 04-09-2020 at 05:53 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-09-2020, 11:46 PM
pberrett
Registered User

pberrett is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 42
Thanks for the replies
The WOW factor is increased a bit when one considers that I am located in Boronia Victoria on the edge of Melbourne's suburbs so there is a lot of light pollution around.

I must try and take some pictures of an object like Jupiter with my phone + telescope and stack them. It would be interesting to see how good an image one could get by stacking a toy scope's images.

cheers Peter
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +10. The time is now 04:45 AM.

Powered by vBulletin Version 3.8.7 | Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Advertisement
Testar
Advertisement
Bintel
Advertisement