Maximum Useable Power of Meade 6 Inch Refractor Telescope?

Question

Ladies and Gentlemen:
I am the proud owner of a Meade 6 Inch Refractor Telescope.
The focal length of this telescope is 1219 mm. I have an
assortment of eyepieces ranging down to 5 mm. I know how
to calculate the Magnification Power FL/EP Size = Mag Pwr.

What I am not sure of and am asking experienced users is:

In the process of upgrading my EP Stock to TV Radians and TV Naglers, along with Power Mate 2X and 4X, what do you
think is the highest reasonable Mag Power I should seek with a real expectation of producing a good clear view? A fuzzy blob is no fun to look at.

I appreciate all comments from experienced telescope users.

Answer 1

Stork5100 pretty much has it right, but I've read that the numbers can actually be a little higher.
I've read that the rule of thumb is 60x/inch of aperture.
Of course, it's all dependent on seeing conditions and the quality of your optics.
I've been able to get up to just over 700x on a night with EXCELLENT seeing through my 10" SCT... Saturn was gorgeous, filling almost the entire field of view!

Answer 2

Generally, the maximum magnification is around 50x per inch of aperture, though this falls off as the aperture gets larger because the Earth's atmosphere is often too unsteady to support anything above about 300x, except in places like Florida which have unusually stable air. When I owned a 6" refractor, I found that its magnification topped out around 300x on the best nights, but usually was more like 200x to 250x. Every now and then (maybe once or twice a year) I get nights when the atmosphere is steady enough to support more than 300x, and it's nice to have a Barlow lens handy to take advantage of that.

Answer 3

A good rule of thumb is aperture (in inches) times 50 equals maximum power.

In your case, 6 x 50 = 300.

So the smallest eyepiece you can use is 4 mm. Your 5 mm should be fine.