Hi, I have been able to see Mars today but could not get any details. How can I focus more? I have all the kits with me.
1069995
Details on planets depend on several things: Telescope alignment, quality of eyepieces, distance to the planet, and the planet itself. If you don't have a laser collimator, get one. They are well worth the $50-$70. While the secondary on this scope will stay very nicely in place, the primary (being heavier among other things) will need regular alignment and a laser collimator makes this less than a 5 minute job. The eyepieces that come with this scope aren't the best. If you want to do decent planetary viewing, get a good 6mm eyepiece. (Expect to spend at least $100, and read reviews from users to get the best bang for your buck.) While you'll get some good views of Saturn and Venus, and some really excellent views of Jupiter, Mars (and Mercury) generally don't show much detail. Further, right now, Mars is a great distance away from us and getting farther away each day. Every planet will give the best views when it is closest to us with Mars and Venus showing the biggest improvements when closest. When a planet rises at sunset, it is closest, or at "opposition." This also puts the plent highest above the horizonn around midnight, but gives good views starting around 9 PM. Your best view of Mars will come again on May 22, 2016. Jupiter Feb 6th, 2015, and Saturn on May 23rd, 2015. But note even then, Mars will not yield much detail beyand a distinctly orange disk and a definite whiteish area at the pole. When searching for eyepieces, you might also want to investigate a good 14-16mm eyepiece plus a 10% transmission filter for really great lunar views! For solar/sunspot viewing, you will need a special filter that fits over the front of the telescope tube.
1069996
it may not be a issue of focus it could be an issue of filters, to view planets yes you will need good lenes and a barlow adapter but there are color filters that enhance what you are looking at, I suggest you search the web for Planetary filters to see which filter is best for the planet(s) you are trying to view. Clear Skies :-)
2027892
From what you have given me, any number of things might be responsible for why you've not being able to see anything. Starting with the obvious, make sure you have both lens caps off. That's not to be insulting, the main aperture has a double lens cap for solar viewing. The lenses that come with the scope do no justice to the ability of the scope. They're pretty weak on field of view and eye relief (the distance your eye can be from the eyepiece and still see an image. You almost have to touch the thing with your eyeball. I'd recommend getting a deep field lens to find around 20-30mm for casual viewing. For what you have now, experiment with the highest mm lens and try for the largest object. Don't worry about the Barlow just yet. You can also set up the scope in daylight to help troubleshoot the issue but just remember that the image you'll see will be inverted. Once you can focus on an object, calibrate the view finder by lining up its crosshairs with the object you're viewing. If you still have issues with the scope, I would turn to YouTube for instructions on how to make sure your mirror is aligned, etc. Hope this helps you!
1069759
Lunar surface is very good. I may have seen saturn. Really not sure. Jupiter is a definite. Look good with Barlow.
1961934
There are several issues that could be here, depending upon your experience with telescopes and such. First question: could you see the moons in a more or less straight row on one side or the other of Jupiter? If not, it would seem you possibly aligned on a bright star like Castor or Pollux rather than Jupiter? The finder has to be aligned to the mail optical tube on a real object. I find the Moon easier as you can always find it by shadow, glare or just plain luck. Have someone hold the image in the scope while you tweak the finder knobs to get the red dot centered on some feature of the moon and have that feature centered in the eyepiece field of view. If you could see the moons, but no detail on the planet there could be a couple of issues. The more complex of which is that if your eyes are like mine, I need a bigger image to pick out detail. Yet observing buddies can see plenty of detail in small images. Go figure I guess. If you were using the eyepiece with the longer focal length number, the one with the scope might be a 20 or 25-mm I forget. Then once you have the planet centered or off to the leading edge of the field, switch to the higher power or the lower focal length eyepiece and refocus. Hope this is helpful!
1895079
Hello Douglas,You certainly can! Earth is pulling away from Mars right now so that observation will require very steady conditions but is certainly possible. Jupiter's great red spot and at least four bands should be visible under good conditions as well as the Cassini division in Saturn's rings and hundreds of lunar craters.I hope that this was helpful!Best, DaveHigh Point Scientific
1368941
Mars. With this little gizzmo you can't really focus on anything on planet Earth. I threw mine away five minutes after getting it. With optics, you get what you pay for! Although $6 reading glasses aren't bad...
2263868
I have found there is really no proper way in how to focus the eyepieces. You just have to keep adjusting them, mess around with it until they are adjusted to your satisfaction. I wish I could help your more, but thats really all I can say.
410591
Walmart has 1 for under 50 bucks. EBay has millions for less. It's just a standard camera mount. My Walmart generic one is fine and has tilt and pan which helps. The Moon is going to seem like it's blazing across the sky with the Skymaster! Very cool. Haven't seen any aliens yet, maybe some on the beach though. Scary stuff on the beach, better to keep your sees to the sky!
1552329
Venus is very bright and due to its thick cloud cover its difficult to see anything but the light. But it is neat to focus on it and watch it go through its phases as the year goes by...similar to the moon phases. I have also gotten excellent views of Jupiter with the storm bands and 3 moons clearly visible, as well as Saturn and its rings. Moon viewing is amazing. Its hard to see a lot because of all the artifical light at night now, but i did take it to an Army field exercise where it was at least significantly darker, and actually got a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy and the orion nebula. For the price...I have seen some incredible things with this telescope. Venus is very bright and due to its thick cloud cover its difficult to see anything but the light. But it is neat to focus on it and watch it go through its phases as the year goes by...similar to the moon phases. I have also gotten excellent views of Jupiter with the storm bands and 3 moons clearly visible, as well as Saturn and its rings. Moon viewing is amazing. Its hard to see a lot because of all the artifical light at night now, but i did take it to an Army field exercise where it was at least significantly darker, and actually got a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy and the orion... » Read More Venus is very bright and due to its thick cloud cover its difficult to see anything but the light. But it is neat to focus on it and watch it go through its phases as the year goes by...similar to the moon phases. I have also gotten excellent views of Jupiter with the storm bands and 3 moons clearly visible, as well as Saturn and its rings. Moon viewing is amazing. Its hard to see a lot because of all the artifical light at night now, but i did take it to an Army field exercise where it was at least significantly darker, and actually got a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy and the orion nebula. For the price...I have seen some incredible things with this telescope. « Show Less
2093622
I bought one of these back for the Lunar eclipse and when I looked through the eye piece, nothing. After playing around with it for 20, 30 minutes I did get to look at the moon, but I had a pair of binoculars that gave me the same results so I sent it back for a full refund. Hope this helps
602909
Pretty much just the Moon. Planets and other stars do becoming brighter. (brighter dots) They're pretty decent for terrestrial viewing too. For a beginner just starting out.. They're totally worth it. You'll know if you'd like to continue with the whole "amateur astronomer" thing. =)
1619211
Not great... the field of view is a bit narrow for the milky way and the aperture could be better. You should probably aim for a wide angle with a larger aperture (f/2 or lower...)
888931
I can see some larger geographical features on the moon pretty good. Jupiter looks like a bright star, just a point source of light therefore there is no way to even see the bands on Jupiter let alone the red spot. Also I cannot see any of Jupiter's moons with just the binoculars and they are pretty much at the limit for had held binoculars because of the inherent shaking of your hands.
2284920
Here is Aleksandr K. again. Look at some pictures I made using Celestron 5 MP (their sizes were reduced).https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.586148731439698.1073741832.100001337299954&type;=1&l;=b176410e3f
1611080
Great view of the craters on the moon close to the terminator. Jupiter (and possibly the great spot on a very clear night with appropriate filters). Jupiter's moons (point sources) and their movement around Jupiter. Saturn and it's ring(s!). Mars as a red dot. Venus and its crescent. Orion nebula, ring nebula, and a handful of star clusters. Keep in mind that the weather is a determining factor in your observations. Good luck!
1022898
525x supposedly but its very hard to focus anything, even the moon, at 525. Plus there's no stabilizer or anything to keep it from moving/shaking when trying to focus on something specifically, making it even more difficult
1585852
It's really tough to see any planets in detail with this telescope, the 3" mirror is just not big enough. The other morning (early) I was able to see Jupiter but not any detail.