How do i actually see saturn?!?!?

s3bl3x

Hi all,

Since ive had my scope ive noticed One thing... How hard it is to actually get it lined up with what i want to see. Saturn is proving a complete nightmare!

Im trying to use the finder thing on top of the scope and when it looks like its lined up i still cant see anything.

Can anyone help before i give up? Is there any tips/tricks to this?

Thanks in advance

mickger844posts

s3bl3x wrote: »

Hi all,

Since ive had my scope ive noticed One thing... How hard it is to actually get it lined up with what i want to see. Saturn is proving a complete nightmare!

Im trying to use the finder thing on top of the scope and when it looks like its lined up i still cant see anything.

Can anyone help before i give up? Is there any tips/tricks to this?

Thanks in advance

First thing you should do is calibrate the finder scope in daylight in other words point the scope at an object in the distance and make sure that same object is centered in the finder scope. If not you need to adjust the finder scope until this is the case.
For my telescope the finder scope was hopeless so out of frustration i bought a Telrad which is brilliant and makes finding things so much easier. It costs about 40 euro from ebay and is worth every cent. Do a google search for Telrad for more info how it works. I think most people starting out have been where you are now but don't give up. When you see Saturn for the first time it will all be worth it.

Just realized its my 1000th post. Nice landmark :-)

Overature

i was looking at jupiter a while back and it was going so fast that you could actually see it moving when you looked through the scope. good luck trying to se saturn

ScottStorm

It shouldn't be too hard, what size scope have you got? I would recommend using the lower magnification eyepiece first in order to find Saturn (or any other object) then change the eyepiece to try and get a better look.

I was looking at Saturn last week through the Celestron Travel scope and found it easily enough but had to keep the magnification down.

Ardent

I had the same problem with my finderscope and then I eventually copped on to the simple solution:

Focus on something like the moon through your eyepiece, get it dead centre, and then look through your finderscrope and adjust the screws on the side of it until it too is pointing dead centre at the same object.

s3bl3x

Ardent wrote: »

I had the same problem with my finderscope and then I eventually copped on to the simple solution:

Focus on something like the moon through your eyepiece, get it dead centre, and then look through your finderscrope and adjust the screws on the side of it until it too is pointing dead centre at the same object.

Thanks for all the replies!

The scope is a celestron 130EQ.

Ill have a look for that telrad finder too. Thanks for that. Anything that makes it easier the better.

I'll try stay up long enough tonight to see the moon and try center the finder.

Thanks for the help lads!

Rubecula

s3bl3x wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies!

The scope is a celestron 130EQ.

Ill have a look for that telrad finder too. Thanks for that. Anything that makes it easier the better.

I'll try stay up long enough tonight to see the moon and try center the finder.

Thanks for the help lads!

If there are some distant objects you can see during the day, a tree or something, you can use that to zero the finderscope too and you need not wait for night. A reminder to NOT look at the sun though.

peterako

With my 130EQ I gave up on the finder and started using the gap in the tube rings (where the bolds are that tie the ends of the rings together).

I'd just line up the object in the gap looking along the tube from the back and I was pretty much there.

As others have said....use a low magnification first (eg. your 20 eyepiece) and centre then you can move up the mags.

Also, make sure you're at least roughly polar aligned then you can relatively easliy track Saturn on the RA axis.

Clear skies,
Peter

ShowMeTheCash

I would ignore the finder and as already suggested start off with the lowest magnification eyepiece. I have a star map app for my iPhone that is really handy, just to make sure that the dot in the sky you are looking at is actually Saturn.

But there will be no mistaking it, even at x20 magnification you will know what it is

Happy hunting!!

Flukey

It's a combination of both. Get the finderscope aligned, and that can easily be done at night, and use a lower magnification lens to start. Aligning the finderscope just before you start viewing is a bit better than doing it in daylight hours beforehand. Get it aligned with something bright, and then go for finding Saturn straight off. No need to wait for hours after aligning it until it gets dark.

The lower magnification lenses work well too. They have their benefits, like the wider view giving you a great view of Jupiter's moons nicely lined up around it. Then centre the item before moving up a lens. Have them ready to hand so that you can change them quick. You can just drop them in, no need to secure them if you are going to change them regularly. Much easier and quicker to change them that way.

As has been said, that first view of Saturn is magnificent. You can find it with the equipment you have, so no need to think about forking out cash for something else yet. Even if your finderscope isn't working the best, with a bit of perseverance you can usually find a bright object like Saturn by trying to line it up using nothing more than your own judgement and a little help from your binoculars, which you should always have at your side. So keep at it. That first view of Saturn will make all the trouble worthwhile.