Last night was the first good night since I fixed my grandpa's 5.5" Celestron. I had a little bit of time to kill tonight and when I was taking out the garbage I could see Jupiter up high in the southern sky. Even though I'm in the city and it's still amazingly bright. I figured even though I don't have time for a trip out of the city since I'm on the south side I should be able to see it quite nicely in my telescope. Especially since there isn't a moon at the moment.

I popped in my 7mm eyepiece and spent some time getting it focused.... it's tricky because I have the scope mounted on a camera tripod which isn't the most steady. As soon as you touch the focus knob it starts shaking like crazy. But after it was focused and a bit of looking I was able to make out some banding on Jupiter. I've looked at Jupiter with this scope when I was a kid quite a bit, but I think I spent more time looking at the tiny points around Jupiter in awe that they were moons. I now understand what people are talking about when they say you need to train your eye. It'd pop into sharp focus, and I could see a couple of dark bands... just as I was making sense of it, it'd pop back out of focus and I'd have to concentrate again.

Heading out the to cabin this weekend. Can't wait to look at the stars with the scope if the weather cooperates!

Good to hear; got an 8" dob a few days ago and since there was no moon the first thing I pointed it at was Jupiter. With the 9mm I saw the bands immediately and after some time to adapt to the dark was able to make out the giant red spot. Other objects I found pretty easy that you may want to check out this weekend when you go: Andromeda, Pleiades, star clusters NGC884 & NGC869. If you need help finding them I strongly suggest the program Stellarium, and yes it's free.

I have Stellarium on all my machines already! It's great app.

Andromeda and Pleiades were on my list. I'll have to check out NGC884 & NGC869 as well.

Oh believe me, you won't regret it, with your scope the Double Cluster should be beautiful at low magnifications.

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You can't really tell the difference between drunken rambling and sober blogging.

Oh stop it already....I'm drooling here...

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clear skies

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. CARL SAGAN

Mak: Pass the pepperoni please.
Fazor: "Hail, Bautainia! We pledge our hearts to thee! Science and woo, some babbling too, and astron-oh-meee!"
slang: And it made ash out of yew and tree.

Last night i had some unexpected free time so i hauled my Celestron Astromaster 90EQ out to the garden and pointed it at Jupiter also, I found it quite easily which was a first, eventhough I had never looked at Jupiter all I could see was a grey ball. I was thrilled to be looking at this but couldn't see any detail whatsoever. The seeing was quite good (I think) so I think my scope must be extremely limited which is so disappointing because it's new and have used it for moon viewing only and it's very capable of detail.

I am jealous of you Aacmckay.

Steffanie, did you have really clear skies?
Even a high thin layer / film of cloud would affect viewing the glories of Jupiter and its Moons. I wouldn't be so disappointed in your scope or your use of it.

Keep your chin up and eyes open

clear skies dear!

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clear skies

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. CARL SAGAN

Mak: Pass the pepperoni please.
Fazor: "Hail, Bautainia! We pledge our hearts to thee! Science and woo, some babbling too, and astron-oh-meee!"
slang: And it made ash out of yew and tree.

Mahesh it was one of the clearest nights we've had in Cork this year!

Lets face it, my scope is rubbish

I'll make good use of it for moon viewing sessions.

What you can see is very dependent on your experience. The more you look, the more you will learn to see. What you see as a grey ball, to an experienced observer, might be wealth of detail.

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

I have a 4.5" Astroscan. The Galilean moons are visible as bright pinpoints of light, and I can see 3 or 4 Jovian cloud bands; the bands are faint though.

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There in the valley of Scorpio, beneath the Cross of jade
Smoking on the seashell pipe the gypsies had made
We sat and we dreamed a while...in that crystal thought time in Mexico. ~Donovan

I have no doubt I have alot to learn yet but without sounding over confident I did look and focus quite hard, relaxed my eyes and tried again and still was unable to make out any detail. Plus I work with a microscope at work everyday so that is like second nature to me.
I have viewed Saturn through my astronomy clubs scope (man was that a treat!) so i am familiar with a fair amount of detail.
I will keep toying with my own scope and perhaps with time what I see may improve.

I'm really bothered by your description as grey. I've never seen Jupiter that color in any scope, even really bad ones. I've seen several of your scopes and they all show Jupiter very well with much detail. It certainly isn't a junk scope (Celestron sells some but this isn't one of them in my experience). Nor did you mention seeing the moons. It's a once in decades thing for all to be hidden and even then wait an hour and one will show up. Sounds like severe "cockpit error" but I can't fathom what it might be. This is where my old saw of finding an astronomy club is so important. I'm sure they could get that scope working just fine in a couple minutes.

Rick

Thanks for your advise Rick. I know it sounds bizarre but it really was a grey ball! I wasn't imagining it honestly. It is encouraging to hear your experience of my scope also. My astronomy clubs next lecture is "Buying And Using A Scope" so I will be paying alot of attention and will even bring it along.

I will persevere in the meantime and try get out into the country for a darker sky.

Steff.

Yeah, I wouldn't call your scope a junk scope either. You just need to practice and it should offer some really decent views.

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You can't really tell the difference between drunken rambling and sober blogging.

The fact it was gray and no mention of moons would indicate something very wrong and likely quickly corrected by someone in a local club. If by chance something is wrong with the scope they'd spot that easily. Wrong object, looking at an internal reflection for instance, way too high power (180x max for 90mm scope), etc. What eyepiece? Start with lowest (biggest number) and work up. Jupiter, even badly distorted looks a very strong cream color, far from gray. Poles can look a bit blue gray but the brighter regions certainly don't.

What do you see when looking at Alberio? Use low power. It should be a vivid blue and orange double star. Alberio is the south end star of the Northern Cross (Cygnus). Its colors should be very vivid in that scope. Each star being a nice pinpoint of light.

Rick

I have yet to look at Alberio Rick but I will as soon as we have another clear night. As for my eye pieces I have a 20mm and a 10mm. I have looked at video footage of Jupiter and what I roughly should be seeing and it is nothing compared to what my view was on Friday night. Something has just clicked with me- the sky in the backround was grey also so that's definitely a clue something is up and there were no moons at all.

Thanks again, because I may have just continued looking at planets with that quality!

If the background sky in your field of view was a light gray, that is a sign of light pollution. It can be overcome by going to a little higher power, like trying your 10mm eyepiece. But it might also have been moisture in the sky reflecting light.

When viewing planets, the seeing will vary quite a bit depending on the sky conditions. Some days are better than others, and some nights can be downright bad viewing even though there are no clouds in the way.

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"I'm as accurate as any psychic. And I'm a cartoon!" -- Squidward

"Arrrgh, the laws of physics be a harsh mistress!" -- Bender

That would work out to about 50 and 100x. Either should show Jupiter as brilliant, way too bright to describe as gray no matter how bad the light pollution. Our club used to set up in the middle of a shopping mall by the fountain. You couldn't see any stars and Jupiter would be hard to see yet brilliant in any scope at those powers. Over the years I heard hundreds describe what they saw to others, none ever used gray or anything similar even when using a 60mm refractor.

I've sent you a PM with contact information for local help in the Cork area.

Rick

Hi gang, new poster here, but many years of experience with amateur astronomy, and past president of our local astro club, and current editor of "The Observer", our club newsletter.

http://www.tristateastronomers.org/C...Newsletter.pdf

My favorite trick for looking at the Moon and planets is to make sure that stars are brilliant pinpoints of light, before turning to another object. If you have the stars as well focused as you can get them, the planets will also be sharp and clear, provided that the "seeing" is as steady as possible.

The other night, Jupiter was so sharp and clear that I could see the difference between the belts, and even noticed a third belt besides the two darkest ones. There was even some difference in the size of the 4 main moons! This with a 4.5 inch reflector and about 75 X magnification !

It can be done !

Clear skies. Jim

Getting off to a flying start here, now that I remembered that I was a member of this forum ( only took a year, but who's in a rush ! )

Let me tell you about tonight's viewing session with Jupiter:

The clouds were moving in from the West, but I thought I would see what I could see tonight. I was pleasantly surprised!

Turning my little Meade ETX-90 mm telescope toward Jupiter, I first saw three moons, then I only saw two, then one, then two again, and then finally three once more ! And they weren't all the same three moons !

Because of the orientation of the Earth's orbit, and Jupiter's, the plane of the Jovian moon's orbits is almost directly in line with us. Because of that, the three moons I saw at the beginning of my observing session were Callisto, just ducking behind the planet, and IO and Ganymede about to eclipse one another . Then the two visable moons merged to become one bright spot in my telescope so the number of "visible" moons dropped to one! Slowly they separated and became two distinct spots once again, while Europa ended its transit of the planet, and became visible as a small dot of light on the other side of the planet, opposite IO and Ganymede !

It was quite a show.

Seeing was not so steady tonight, and the last night I got out was quite a bit better for seeing detail on the planet. But then the clouds moved in, and the show was over. But it was certainly fun while it lasted.

Our moon was putting on quite a show of its own. Just under first quarter, and several of the "seas" had very visible craters on their surface, due to the angle the sunlight was hitting them. But it ducked behind the clouds well before time for it to set, so I did not get in much observing of that heavenly body.

I am glad to report that a battery pack that I put together for the clock assembly of the ETX-90 works just fine, and just the crudest of alignments was sufficient to keep both the Moon and Jupiter in the eyepice, even at highest magnification, for many minutes at a time. Certainly, taking more pains to do the job right would result in a rock solid viewing session.

Anybody else see the MoonDance ?

Clear skies, Jim