3 months on and getting a bit frustrated

Hi Luke,

In your first post you mentioned using 10mm and 20mm eyepieces but in a later one you say 10x and 20x. If your scope is the Celestron C4-r 102mm aperture x 1000mm focal length job then your 10mm eyepiece will give you a magnification 10 100x and the 20mm will give 50x.

Magnification = Focal Length of Telescope (1000mm) divided by the Focal Length of the Eyepiece (10mm or 20mm for you)

If you are only seeing a point of light when you point your scope at Saturn and the image does not change substantially when you change the eyepieces then (forgive me for this!) it suggests that you might not actually have the scope pointing at our ringed friend at all... but at a star!

At 50x you should definitely be able to make out that Saturn is an extended disk and you should be able to see the rings - or at least evidence of them. At 100x you should see the disk of the planet *twice* big as at 50x - regardless of how bad your focus might be! If you are not seeing this difference then you need to check the alignment of your finder scope, 'cos I think it's telling lies!

Phil.

BTW, you can check and adjust your finder scope's alignment most easily in day light:

Set your scope up and point it at a distant object like the top of a tree or a chimney pot. Get the object in the centre of the field of view of the main telescope using first your 20mm eyepiece and then fine tune the pointing until the object is centred in the 10mm eyepiece.

Now look through the finder scope - is the *same!* object centred in the finder's field of view? If it is not, then use the three screws holding the finder to centre the object. Make sure that all three screws are reasonably tight so that the finder can't get bumped out of position.

Always double check your finder's alignment at the start of each observing session - it'll save you a lot of grief!

Phil.

Hi luke

Just to double check that you are looking at the right thing, see the chart below. This is for tonight


Find the moon and then look for the backward question mark above and to the right of the moon. saturn will be above the moon and to the left of this backward question mark as in the chart. It will be brighter that any stars in that part of the sky.

guys...thanks for the replies.

I was looking at collimation this morning before setting off to work, i may give that a go.....you are probably right in that i am misreading something and mistaking saturn for a star...it just was in exactly the position it should have been based on stellarium....maybe i got it wrong, hopefully it will be clear tonight so i can keep going....i also meant 10 and mm not 10x and 20x eyepieces

I have my finder scope aligned, but i'll double check in daylight to make sure the kids havent bumped it or anything....

I'm not losing heart, if anything it makes me more determined to find what im looking for, just typical man stuff, i want it and i want it now!

I'm going to attempt at setting my mounts correctly shortly as well....no doubt i'll get frustrated with that as well!

Can you get treatment for that?

There is no known cure although acquiring larger
aperture can supress the symptom's for a wee while

I can literally only see a pinprick and it
doesnt look any bigger or detailed than the naked eye.

As the guy's have said you should of course see
something other than a pinprick if looking at Saturn
at x100 mag.Like Fintan said it's even bigger than a
dot in his 10x50 bionoculars which is only x5 mag
and a lot darker than your image.Just to give you
an extremely rough idea of the size of Saturn
in your eyepiece at x100 and x200 the rings and planet
would fit in the circle's below,

X100= O X200= O

Let us know how you get on and remember the
angle that the rings make to are line of sight is
getting smaller by the hour so be quick or you
will have to wait a few years to catch a nice
glimpse again.

wow........thought id come on and let you all know that i have seen it (saturn) and it is amazing....the kids are running around the house screaming....thanks guys..i know i havent mastered it yet, but this has renewed the faith and im chomping at the bit to get back outside....so i will...bye