saturn position?

dublin_daveyboy

hello,

i am in the clondalkin area and im just wondering can anybody tell me whereabouts saturn is in the sky and the best time to see it,

also i use a celestron nexstar 60slt so does anyone know if ill see saturns rings and moons,

thanks in advance.

Thargor

Saturn is past its best now but still visible in the West after dark. Its getting lower and lower on the horizon though so the sonner you look for it the better.

Install Stellarium:

http://www.stellarium.org/

That will let you fast forward time until tonight to see where it is on the horizon. Use Ctrl + F and type in any targets name and it'll tell you where it is at a given time.

dublin_daveyboy

thank you very much thargor for your reply,im going to install that programme im not by any means a computer wizz but im sure ill figure it out,

can you recommend any light filters for a telescope?,last winter i was getting a good look at jupiter it was dominant in the night sky but i cant really make anything out cause its so bright,.maybe its just ive a crappy scope....

anyway thanks again mate.

Thargor

I dont use any kind of filters, sorry, Im a novice myself but I think if you're expecting any kind of filter to improve your views then you're going to be disappointed, the main problem you have is the very small aperture of that scope, 60mm is about as low as you can go, aperture (width) is king when it comes to seeing detail on objects. I have the 102mm version of that scope and planets are still small for me although I dont have any trouble seeing banding/spots on Jupiter. What eyepieces do you have?

According to its product page:

http://www.celestron.com/c3/product.php?ProdID=27

The highest useful magnification is 142X and they have a good reputation this line of scopes so you should be able to get okay views, enough for a few moons around Jupiter and the rings of Saturn when Saturns back in a good position anyway.

Sign up to CloudyNights:

http://cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?Cat=

They have a Beginners forum and a Celestron Nexstar forum and if you ask a question in either you'll always get loads of replies, most people will just tell you to upgrade to a scope with bigger aperture though.

dublin_daveyboy

yeah i kinda was clutching at straws thinking a filter would sort it,i know ill have to get a bigger scope there just a bit pricey.

i actually cant find the other eyepieces i got with it,the one thats on the scope just says 25 so i presume that means 25mm.

im only a learner at using telescopes and im not good with the technical side...yet but its good fun,i do go up to the hills at redgap in saggart with the missus,on a clear night even with the naked eye you can see loads of stuff,,im more into planets and have been for years,the gas giants especially.

anyway..yeah man ill have a look at that forum might help me,thanks for your help and info

Thargor

I assume the other EP was a 10mm? Even with that you'd only be getting 70X magnification, with the 25mm its only 28X, thats not enough zoom for planets. With a 6mm EP you would be at 116X, the increased zoom will dim the image a bit aswell if you were complaining about it being too bright.

Someone reccomended the 6mm Knight Owl on this page to me when I asked on Cloudynights and said I didnt want to break the bank, they're dirt cheap compared to other EP's and I love the views through mine:

http://www.owlastronomy.com/exwide.htm

Really wide lens on it for a 6mm aswell so you're not squinting into a tiny little hole.

dublin_daveyboy

thanks for all the links man,im going to get new eyepieces and see what happens,

im just going to put a few quid away and get a decent scope.

cheers.....

Hauk

At the moment Saturn is very low in the sky and when it finally gets dark it is just about to go below the horizon.

If you can see it, enjoy it!

Hauk