General Viewing Advice?

[Wyldcard]

Last night i went out to observe Saturn as it was easy to spot with the naked eye.I got it lined up in the viewfinder of my scope and expected to see rings and all that but:doh: All i seen was a bluish blob(dont get me wrong i was still very excited) but expected more,this was with the 25MM eyepiece.

Then i figured ok lets try the 10MM,after again finding Saturn in the finderscope i went to view and it was closer but still just a bluish blob,i do wear glasses but the focus on this scope seems to be great and i still cound not get the rings visiable.

I am VERY new to this hobby,i have a "Orion" StarMax 127MM. Do i need to get a "Barlo" adapter to go with the eyepieces to see it closer or was it just bad viewing due to city lights or something like that i am not aware of?

I hope i have worded this in the correct fashion,if not feel free to correct me as needed.This is a fantastic hobby and i want to get as much out of it as possible,

Thanks All:)

Mark

[schlaugh]

Um...are you sure you were looking at Saturn? Even in poor seeing conditions Saturn should appear yellow, not blue, (I assume you were not using a filter.)

Not too far from Saturn are a few blue-white stars. Maybe you saw one of those? And last night Saturn would have been very close to the moon.

Recommend that you stick with lower magnification eyepieces until you are sure that you're looking at the desired object; then you might bump up the magnification.

If you have some binoculars, find Saturn with those and verify color an position. Then find Saturn with the scope.

[Tog_]

Welcome to the board, and the hobby.

A Barlow is just a simple way to increase your magnification. It's not a filter at all. The effect you describe sounds a lot like chromatic aberration. Basically, when looking at a bright object, not all wavelengths of light come to focus at the same point. It's very common in refractors to see Saturn with a bright purple glow. And there is where the wheels come off of that idea.

You don't have a refractor. That scope is a Mak-Cass. They don't get chromatic aberrations.

So the new first thing I'd suspect is target error. See if y9ou can use the finder to locate another object. A far off light or Polaris is a good choice since they don't move. Polaris is a binary too, so that's still worth a peek anyway.

The third first thing I'd suspect is an aberration in the eye pieces, but if was the same in both, that would seem to go against it.

Right now Saturn is entering a period where the rings appear very thin. Over the next few months they will get even thinner as they tip to a point they are aimed right at us. When this happens, you won't be able to see them at all. It's possible that you were on Saturn and that the rings didn't look like what you expected to see.

Check back, for more replies. Odds are good that someone on here will have an idea.

[redshifter]

Even from a fairly light polluted sky, Saturn is easily visible through a scope. The rings should be visible through the 25mm eyepiece even without the barlow. My guess is that you were looking at Regulus, a bright blue star near Saturn, or perhaps another star. Make sure your finder is aligned by looking at a distant terrestrial object through the scope (during the day), and then line that object up in the finder. Make sure the object you look at through the scope is not too distant such that you can't make it out in the finder.

[JustAFriend]

Chances are you have your finder scope mis-aligned.
Try setting it up during the day on a distant object (at least several hundred yards away).

I have a Celestron C-130 (same size scope as your Orion) and can easily see Saturn's rings and moons.

[NickW]

When I align my finderscope, I aim at a light on a telephone pole about 1/2 mile away. I also light it up in the telescope it self first, then adjust the finderscope. Of course that is just the way I do it, I am sure there are others :)

[Wyldcard]

Thank you all for the great advice,i used the "telephone pole" method using one at the end of my street and tonight WAM,the moon was in the cross hairs of the spotting scope and hence in the middle of the eye piece.

I could not see Saturn,i suppose its on the other side of the Moon or in the shadow of it and cant be seen from my area in Nevada.But the Moon was great,i have no idea what area i was looking at as i just got a Moon chart,i did not know there were so many named areas on the Moon.

They really need to teach astronomy in schools,i was in grade school in the 70's you would have thought they would have at that time but NOOOOOOO,just the Moon alone is more than worth the cost of the scope,let alone the endless areas to explore out there:dance:

Thanks again guys,

Mark

[Tog_]

Saturn is still visible in the western sky, though on the low side. I'm using Vegas as my observing point, because, well, it's there or Reno right? :wink:

The Moon will "move" quite a bit from one night to the next. 12 times it's own diameter, in fact. Saturn was close to it last night, but the moon has moved on.

To clear up something you said above, Saturn can't ever be "in" the shadow of the moon. The Moon can pass in front of it, and block it from our view for a while, but that is called an occultation. The moon is far too small and too far away to cast an actual shadow on any planet other than Earth.

If you don't already have one, get a Planisphere (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planisphere). This will be a great help in learning the sky. A good book for beginners is Turn Left at Orion (http://www.telescope.com/control/product/%7Ecategory_id=books/%7Epcategory=accessories/%7Eproduct_id=51315).

[schlaugh]

Also, there are some good programs and sites out there.

First is Heavens-Above, (http://www.heavens-above.com/logon.asp)which provides star and planet charts, as well as satellite viewing opportunities.

And you can download Stellarium (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stellarium.org%2F&ei=HuQCSqL3O5nKtgfgw9SPBw&usg=AFQjCNGMAQf6JSzwrDn4__eAFcaFtWVotA&sig2=NSOZivJ8tcHO5cTs1HXIgQ)which lets you more graphically display a sky chart, and much more.

And Sky and Telescope (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.skyandtelescope.com%2Fobservi ng%2Fskychart%2F&ei=cuQCSuumKYOItgf-tpmFBw&usg=AFQjCNEzaBhvDKJWcFZX2XNA4B7xBawd2A&sig2=m5_8CcJD1xoQohN1C3URyg)offers an interactive sky chart; you can Google for others.

Those should give you a good start, plus the suggestions made by Tog and the others in this thread.

ETA: Note the image below from Stellarium which shows the sky from a southern view (Atlanta, GA location) at 10:00 tonight EDT. Saturn is in the middle with the moon to the east.

Happy viewing!

[Wyldcard]

Again i bow to your superior intellect(had to toss in the Khan refrence:whistle:

The book looks great i am off to my local Borders to pick it up as soon as i log off for this session.

The web sites for Sky Charts i will look up and install when i get home from Borders.

Borders did not have Turn Left At Orion,so i will Ebay it and hopefully pick it up there,

Thanks again Guys,

Mark