Celestron Nexstar
What would be a good eyepiece for planet viewing? I have a Celestron Nexstar 102 SLT?
I have a celestron nexstar 102 slt and it supplied me with two eyepieces: one 25mm (26x) and one 9mm(78x) but they arent so great. What would be a good decent eyepiece to better view planets and nebula? I can already see the Orion nebula (M42) with the 9mm but its just not clear enough. Any suggestions?
Clear enough as in not being able to see as much as I would expect from venus through this telescope. I am a beginner maybe my expectations were to high I dont know.
Viper -
I think the 9 mm eyepiece should work fine for the planets and the Moon, and the 25 mm should work for everything else. I am not sure what you mean by “not clear enough.” Specifically:
1. Which planets are you observing? Mercury and Venus never show any detail at all. Jupiter in a 4 inch scope will just show the cloud lines and the Galilean Moons should be easy to see.
2. The Orion Nebula is definitely better with the 26 mm eyepiece. If you have not seen it before, you may be surprised at the fact that it is a lot dimmer than the photographs. That is going to be generally true of most objects that you see.
3. If you do not have really dark, clear sky conditions, you are unnecessarily hampering your observing experience. If you have haze or local street lights, get out of town and look again. You will see a major difference.
4. Did you check for dew on the lens? If there is even a little dew forming, you will immediately lose all detail and will eventually lose all optics entirely until it dries out. The scope appears to have at least a nominal dew shield, but on a misty night that may be insufficient.
Good Luck and Clear Skies!
ADDED: I have never been able to see any detail on Venus at all. Don’t let that disappoint you. There are plenty of other targets to see. Take a good, long, look at the Orion Nebula under clear, dark skies with your 25 mm eyepiece. It will never look like the Hubble photos, but after a short while you will begin to see more and more detail within the cloud itself. The longer you look the more you’ll see. Other good targets this time of year include the Moon, M35, M36, M38, the Double Cluster, M15, and M31.
If you need a good set of charts to find these objects, check out the book “Nightwatch” by T. Dickinson. Chapter 6 is very helpful in that regard. Also, consider taking your scope to the next open observing session of your local astronomy club. They can be found on line, and they will help a lot in that area of expectations. You have a good scope, but you will never see views like the photos in books or on the internet. Those are accomplished by leaving the shutter open for hours and collecting photons – or by taking hundreds of frames and superimposing them. You can still see a lot – but it takes practice, and it may look different than you thought it would. Best of Luck .. Patience will be rewarded.
Setting Up Celestron NexStar SE Computerized Telescopes
|
|
Plugable USB to RS-232 DB9 Serial Adapter (Prolific PL2303HX Chipset) $12.63 Featuring the latest PL-2303HX Rev D chipset for the best combination of performance and wide driver support. Drivers available for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, and Microsoft signed drivers for 32/64-bit Vista and Windows 7; Mac OS X 8 and later including Snow Leopard 10.6.x; open source drivers included in Linux kernel 2.4.31 and later. Windows 7 automatically detects and guides driver install without … |
|
|
Celestron Telescope Cable USB port to RS-232 / Serial Computer PC Adapter/Converter Cable 18775 $44.75 Celestron Telescope Cable USB port to RS-232 / Serial Computer PC Adapter/Converter Cable 18775… |
|
|
CAR cigarette lighter power adapter cable cord for CELESTRON NEXSTAR 8 GPS 9 GPS 11 GPS telescope 11 FEET CABLE 12 VOLT $12.94 11 FEET CABLE ideal for PORTABLE CAR JUMP START POWER STATION will have a 12 volt car plug socket for NEXSTAR 8 GPS 9 GPS 11 GPS telescope… |
|
|
Celestron 93625 Universal 1.25-inch Camera T-Adapter $20.95 Celestron Telescope Astrophotography T-Adapter – 1-1/4in Universal 93625… |
|
|
Celestron Accessory Kit $120.95 Celestron Accessory Kit… |
|
|
Celestron T-Ring / T-Mount Adapter f/Nikon $11.95 Nikon T-Ring… |
|
|
Orion SpaceProbe 3 Altazimuth Reflector Telescope $99.99 Orion’s surprising little Spaceprobe 3 has been picked by independent reviewers as one of the best telescopes in its price class. Unlike similar telescopes seen in discount stores, Orion has refined the Spaceprobe 3 by paying attention to the little details, and that make this telescope a great value. The Spaceprobe 3 comes with an unusually complete set of accessories. The package includes two … |
|
|
Celestron Advanced C6-SGT 11079-XLT 6 $1,099.00 Celestron Advanced C6-SGT 11079-XLT 6″ Telescope… |
|
|
The NexStar User’s Guide $22.73 Michael Swanson’s online discussions with literally thousands of NexStar owners made it clear that there was a desperate need for a book such as this – one that provides a complete, detailed guide to buying, using and maintaining NexStar telescopes. Although this book is highly comprehensive, it is suitable for beginners – there is a chapter on “Astronomy Basics” – and experts alike.Celest… |
|
|
Beginning Astronomy with a Celestron … So, what’s the matter? I am an engineer and like to solve problems. I also like Astronomy. This is not a book about Astronomy though. There are many good books about beginning Astronomy and learning the night sky. This book is about common problems you may run into when starting Astronomy with a new telescope. It specifically addresses some items you may run into when setting up and using a Celestron NexStar 8se telesco… |