Found mars, Should I be more impressed? Telescope issue, maybe?

Question

Mars is supposed to be closer tonight than it will be for the next 9 years. I'm using a meade telescope that my dad picked up for about $800 a few years back. I found Mars, but I'm not impressed. What I see in the telescope is basically what I'm seeing with my naked eye. From what I'm reading, my telescope should be able to present a larger "image" of the object in question. I've tried different eye pieces and tried focusing to each eyepiece, but I always get the same result. What am I doing wrong? Shouldn't Mars appear even slightly bigger? Thanks for the help-- Mike.

My eyes are adjusted to the darkness.... there is almost no light around me. I don't know what model the telescope it is, but it is about 10-12 inches long and 5-6 inches in diameter if that helps.

Answer 1

If your dad paid about $800.- for it some years ago, you probaly have a compount telescope. At that price for a 5 or 6" telescope, my guess is that it is a Maksutov-Cassegrain. Even in a 5" Compound Telescope,Planets will show a distinct disc. Mars should reveal some surface detail as well. But it takes a good amount of magnification, around 200X or so.
Allright, to get a little more specific:
The info you need is right on your telescope! Look at the lens in front of the Telescope. There is some printing around the edge. Besides the name of the manufacturer, some things you might find written there look like this:
D=127mm That is the diameter of the Main optics lens.
F=1270mm This is the focal length of the Telescope, the distance from the main lens or mirror at which the image is formed.
This could also be written as F/10, a ratio.
This means literally, that the image is formed at a distance of 10 times the diameter of the main optics, which is also equal to 1270mm.
These figures are somewhat typical of Compound telescopes and will vary with the specific model.
These types of Telescopes are actually ideal for planetary observing, because the long focal length and high F/ratios produce sharp and contrasting images.
To figure out the magnification of the Telescope with any given eyepiece, simply divide the Telescope's focal length ( here 1270mm) by the focal length of the eyepiece (This is written right on the eyepiece ex: 10mm)
In this example, 1270mm / 10mm = 127X.
So, with this eyepiece the Telescope will magnify 127 times. For detailed views of planets, magnifications around 200X are desirable. But you will be able to use high magnifications like this only on good seeing days. If you look at a planet at this magnification and it looks like it's at the bottom of a swimming pool, go look at some nebulae, the atmosphere is too unsteady for planet watching that night. ( but don't forget to give the scope some time to cool down before you start looking, the optics need to be at the outside temperature)
All in all, if the object looks like star, no matter what eyepiece you use, guess what? ....it's probably a star! Don't feel bad, we all do it.
Download one of the free planetarium programs to help you find your way around the sky. "Stellarium" is one of the good ones. Just enter your location, date and time, and it will show you what the sky looks like from your house in Real time. Print out the charts and take them outside with you while you observe.
I have the distinct feeling that you just need a little practice under your belt.

Adolph

Answer 2

The question also depends on humidity. From your description and what I know about Meade telescopes, you should be able to resolve that to a sharp if small disk. BUT if there is too much humidity in the air, that invalidates one of the really big assumptions about telescopes.

See, a telescope is a big set of lenses. Astronomical telescopes are designed to take light from what is nearly a "point source" and magnify it. But if there is enough humidity in the air, the image isn't coming in as though from a point source. It is coming in more like the light was traveling through crinkled-up cellophane.

If, with your naked eye, you can see haloes around any stars, your problem is humidity.

Answer 3

It matters what sort of scope you have. A reflector may have a shorter focus, meaning less magnification with a given eyepiece. And Mars is not putting on a close opposition this year. It's almost twice as distant as the 2003 opposition, so it's half the size.

With any good scope, it is still important to let the scope cool to the ambient air temperature before viewing will be steady. The official figure is half-an-hour for every inch of aperture (I think). That's on the conservative side, but you still need to give it considerable time to cool.

Answer 4

Mars is almost always a big disappointment the first time you look at it. It's a small planet, much smaller than Earth, and even though it's close right now, it's still very far away. It takes quite a bit of training for your eye to detect detail on its tiny disk. For more tips on observing Mars, check out the article I wrote in the source below.

Answer 5

It sounds like you are looking through a 120-130mm SCT type telescope. Collimation can be an issue with these; however, your focal length is likely around 1200mm, and you should be able to get a sharp view at around 200x using a 6mm lens.

Mars is often a challenging target for visual astronomy. It is tiny and distant, and hides its surface features behind an atmosphere and frequent dust storms. At 200x, it will be a small fast moving pale red disk showing two bright ice caps and a hint of greenish-grey mares.

Answer 6

Mars is tiny and low contrast and so isn't very impressive through a telescope. But you should be able to see at least a small disc at 100x or more. If you can't, chances are you're looking at a star, not Mars. If everything looks like a disk, your telescope is out of focus or out out collimation.

Answer 7

To see more detail in Mars you should be using a 4.5mm wide field eyepiece. The minor diameter of the eyepiece, the closer image of the red planet you´ll see. Don´t expect to see it very big.

Answer 8

It depends on the telescope too. I use a 10 inch reflector and I can pick out many details. Even with the six inch reflector I can pick out some details.

Answer 9

Meade makes good optics, and at $800, it's
probably a fairly large scope.
You should be able to resolve a disk.
Are you SURE you found mars?

Answer 10

Mars should appear a little bigger, though not much. You should be able to see the reddish tint to it. It also depends on the resolution, use the clearest resolution and that might be your problem. Hope this helps