Amateur astronomy and telescopes

[hoosierdoc]

My son bought an eduscience 70-700 telescope for Christmas. I haven't gotten to see the moon yet but it's neat to see more stars with it. Also saw the phases of Venus which was neat.

what size telescope do you need to see saturn's rings and colors of Jupiter? Is that attainable at home?

and here's a pic I took from the SkyView app. Aquarius, the moon, sun, and Mercury are getting friendly

 

[WhitleyStu]

what size telescope do you need to see saturn's rings and colors of Jupiter? Is that attainable at home?

It isn't entirely the size, but mostly the quality of the telescope's optics that allow the user to view more detail in objects. However, more light equals more detail just as in rifle scopes. An 80mm telescope with good optics will allow you to see the rings of Saturn or the belts on Jupiter. As you increase the aperture the details really begin to pop. Costs for aperture is highest in refractor design telescopes. Reflector design telescopes will give you much more aperture for the dollar, but are larger telescopes compared to refractors. If you are just interested in the brighter objects a refractor is a nice telescope, but if you desire to see faint nebula then the aperture of a reflector rules. Here is a pic of my TEC 140mm refractor.

 

[HoughMade]

My oldest son was into astronomy when he was about 11-14. He had a 60mm Celestron which is about one step above a toy. We were able to not only see the colors of jupiter, but 4 moons with that thing. Granted, this was when I took him to workshops with the Calumet Astronomy Society where the serious hobbyists were able to help him adjust the settings and aim it. With some know how, that inexpensive telescope worked well.

However to see the rings of Saturn clearly, we had to look through someone else's telescope that was a bit bigger and more precise.

 

[rvb]

Galileo used something like a 1" telescope to make all his discoveries. You can see Jupiter and the 4 big moons, but I never saw any of the color bands until I stepped up a bit in size/quality. Doesn't take a lot, a 70mm f/10 might reveal some bands if the air is cooperating. But aperture does help resolution. I couldn't see ANY detail in Jupiter with the 60mm F/10 I was using last fall...

Saturn, you can see the rings in about anything. Larger scopes will reveal more detail.

I'm getting back into it myself after being away a couple decades. I very recently got an 8" dobsonian. Even with some very unstable air I was blown away with the detail I could see on Jupiter. Debating about getting it out tonight... It's so windy I don't know if the air will be steady enough to bother.

Have fun!

-rvb

 

[Bill B]

We have a Celestron c-90 and an 8" dob. You can see that Saturn "isn't round" at about 10x magnification, but things really start to kick at about 50x. When it comes to telescopes, aperture is king.

 

[Sylvain]

Be honest Doc ... a new hot neighbor moved in next door.

 

[spencer rifle]

I don't trust any telescope that sells itself by magnification. Since you already have it, you can see rings with a good pair of binoculars (better than anything Galileo looked through). The rings might just look like two bumps on either side of the planet. Colors on Jupiter are more difficult. Depends a lot on atmospheric conditions. Our 17" Dobsonian showed color bands quite clearly in the winter.