I couldnt see Saturn with my 60mm,f=700 telescope?

Question

i kept trying to see saturn yesterday and i never got to see it, i tried all the magnification even the barlow lens but no matter what i used it kept looking like a bright star and i never got to see the planet, and yes i am sure it was saturn

Answer 1

When u try to focus celestial bodies that are distant, the power of magnification of the telescope tends to get lower. hence you may not get the exact image you were looking for. However with your 60m telescope, it shouldnt be a problem. I think the reason why you kept on seeing a starry image is because of the sky conditions. The sky has to be crystal clear if you want to focus on distant bodies and for the image to fall on your lens. even a slight distortion by the dust particles in the atmosphere alters the travelling light particles and hence you may not get the desired image. Try going out of the city for viewing sessions.

This link has a picture of saturn which i snapped using an ordinary MP camera through a 40m telescope in perfect viewing conditions. Do check it out!

http://www.orkut.com/Album.aspx?uid=11382079860632222629

Answer 2

Virtually any telescope will show Saturn with its rings. The image may be tiny, but it will definitely look like Saturn. I tried a few years ago to see how little magnification was needed, and I could see the rings with an 80mm telescope at 25x. My suspicion is that you were looking at the wrong object, perhaps the star Regulus, which is pretty close to Saturn.

Have you aligned your finder scope? The way to do that is to point your telescope at somethig at least 1/4 mile away in daylight. Then, without moving the main telescope, adjust the finder screws until the crosshair is exactly on the objectin the main telescope.

With a 60mm telescope, I'd recommend starting with a magnification around 30x. If that looks sharp, then perhaps you can go as high as 120x, but anything beyond that will only magnify the telescope's imperfections. Usually the Barlow and the shorter focal length eyepieces (especially the 4mm) which come with these scopes are pure junk, so stick to the 25mm or 20mm eyepiece to get the best views. A small sharp image is always better than a large blurry one.

Answer 3

I think you should try again, you ought to be able to see the rings with that scope and a magnification of 20 or 30x. I'd go for a 20 to 25 mm eyepiece to start with and then zoom up once I knew I had the right object. I couldn't say for sure but reading your report I'm betting you were looking at a bright star rather than Saturn.

Do you have a finder scope on the telescope? This should give you a wider angle view and can be used to navigate your way around the sky ("star hopping".) First, however, you need to be sure that the finder is aligned with the main scope. There should be screws on the finderscope mounting bracket that allow you to steer it around. You can check this during the day, try pointing the scope at a feature you can identify a long distance (several hundred meters or yards) away. DON'T POINT IT AT THE SUN! At night you could use a distant street light or a star you have correctly identified.

Saturn is reasonably close to the star Regulus in Leo at present. It's a little fainter but it may well have been what you were actually looking at the other night. Have a look through the finder and see if you can see some of the other stars in Leo. Another option is to get a pair of binoculars and check that you can identify the main stars in Leo and navigate your way around them, then do the same using the finderscope. Once you are comfortable with that then you should be able to steer your scope a few degrees west of Regulus and pick up Saturn.

If you hadn't aligned the finder before, try doing so once you're sure you can pick out Regulus. Use the longest focal length eyepiece (smallest magnification) to see as much of the sky as possible and steer the scope around Leo again to confirm that the main stars appear in the scope view when and where you expect them based on your experience navigating with the finder.

Once you go to higher powers the subject will drift out of view fairly quickly. It can be a good idea to point the scope slightly west of the target in a low power view before changing to the higher magnification so that in the time it took to change the subject will have drifted into view.

It has taken me a lot of practice to point my telescope properly and I still get it wrong, especially when using someone else's scope and/or with people waiting expectantly to see the object I said I'd find!

Good Luck!

Answer 4

I agree with Geoff G. You were probably looking at the star Regulus, which is quite near Saturn in the sky this month, and about the same brightness too. A 60mm telescope is definitely large enough to show the rings of Saturn. You do not need a lot of magnification. I have seen the rings easily at 32 power.

Answer 5

With a 60mm telescope you should be able to see the rings and it's moon Titan. If you are absolutely certain it was Saturn then the only conclusion would be that the atmosphere was so turbulent no useful image could be seen. It is also possible that YOU were looking at Saturn but pointed the telescope at the wrong object. Try looking at Venus tonight just after sunset, and make sure you get a good image there, then try Saturn again (Saturn will look much smaller than Venus).

Answer 6

Then you weren't looking at Saturn.

It's not an especially Bright object. It's a dull Yellow-Orange object.

You should EASILY see a disk and the rings if they are facing us.

50x is sufficent but 100x would be better.

Right now Saturn is ABOVE venus, almost the same distance from Venus UPWARDS and TO THE SOUTH as Venus is from the horizon.

It's a +1 magnitude yellowish object, probably about 60% of the way up from the south to the Zenith and heading towards the west.

Note the point where the sun sets

Draw an arc from that point through venus and keep moving in that arc and you will see Saturn.

Answer 7

Since it's a 60mm I'm guessing you have a cheap refractor.

Theoretically there's no reason why such a telescope wouldn't be able to give you a fairly satisfactory view of Saturn, but these telescopes often lack in quality and provide the worst eyepieces and useless barlows.

But you might want to give it another try. Start with the lowest powered eyepiece and try to focus slowly. Once you get it focused, try a higher power.

Answer 8

My first view(1971?) of Saturn was through a 60mm/700mm FL Jason refractor, probably very similar to what you have. I was using only 40x, and the "star" I was focusing on became a crisp, small image of Saturn and it's rings. I still remember the event like it was yesterday.

Answer 9

Wait until dark

Answer 10

have you tried looking at uranus?