Newbie questions

saturn is always a job to look at, and when i saw it first i was a bit disapointed at its tiny size

That's because Saturn is very far away from us. Also, if you wait till it is higher in the skies (particularly for you fguihen, as it will rise above some of the pollution), it might be a small image, but it should be a good one. Saturn's actual apparent size in any scope will look small in anything up to a 14 inch. The trick you have probably seen on these boards for some of the fabulous images is due to the photography techniques used.

So don't worry, the image of Saturn in your 6 inch is normal!



Seanie.

Hi,

I’m also new to astronomy, and was looking at Saturn last night, while it was small I could see the rings etc. I’m using a Celestron 90 EQ, it seemed that saturn kept on going into a out of focus (Not badly). Could it be atmospheric conditions doing that or is that normal?

Thanks,
Gary

Gary it could be many things:
Dew! I have awfulk problems with dew! It get on the mirror and eyepieces! :evil: I was viewing saturn recently and i noticed it was going in and out of focus. it was in focus in one part of the eyepiece tray and not the other! I looked at the lens of the eyepiece and low and behold it was totally fogged up!

It could also be the atmosphere. Thick haze will do that to your focussed image!

To answer your question its not really normal but it happens! The reason my eyepiece had 'fogged up' was that it was left in the eyepiece tray for nearly an hour. And after an hour all my equiment has a layer of condensation on it.

Remedy: Keep your eyepieces in a dryish place while observing. Also its a refractor you have? Dont leave the diagonal unplugged. like without either a cap or eyepiece in it!

Its really just trivial!

Hope ive helped and not confused(i do that alot :roll: )
Matthew