Celestron Firstscope 114

[alive&well]

Hello everyone,

I bought a Celestron Firstscope 114 Short the other day to do a little bit of astronomy

from my back garden (Durham, UK). I read a handful of comments from people saying it

should provide good, detailed shots of Jupiter which swayed me into buying it. So, out I

go with my telescope the other night at midnight and there it is all bright and shiny,

beside the moon just as described on the BBC's astronomy webpages. But all I can see is a

white disc and the moons. No detail or colour or bands....nothing. It's just like this:



Still quite nice, but a bit plain. I'm not hoping for NASA type images but some slight

detail would be nice. I tried all the different lenses but all I can get is a larger

image of a white disc. The skies were clear and still and I looked for ages but nothing

materialised. Same tonight, just a disc. I originally thought it might have been a white

-out caused by the full moon being so intense but I think I'm just clutching at straws.

So I'm a bit disheartened but I'm not giving up! Anyone know what I can do to improve the

image? It's brand new but maybe a collimation would help? Or some new, better lenses? I

would really like to see the bands of the spot and I thought this telescope would provide

at least some detail.

Thanks a lot for any help,

Thomas

[philip d]

Transit views important as Jupiter low in the sky, and need a FILTER, a must on seeing planetary details, the 80A Blue Filter is a terrific filter just for this, Carlos has very good luck with grey filters etc....

I viewed Jupiter just the other day under poor conditions trying to catch a shadow transit and missed it due Jupiter lower in the sky well after transit, conditions absolutely horrible, details lost even with filter tho could pull in some bands was too poor to catch much, patience and again transit views help..have caught a few shadow transits under favorable conditons and great, simply takes patience.....

Note there is another spot forming next to Jupiters Great Red Spot, hoping to catch this new view

[Carlos_dfc]

Originally Posted by alive&well

.....tried all the different lenses but all I can get is a larger image of a white disc.
The skies were clear and still and I looked for ages but nothing materialised. Same tonight, just a disc. I originally thought it might have been a white-out caused by the full moon being so intense but I think I'm just clutching at straws.

So I'm a bit disheartened but I'm not giving up! Anyone know what I can do to improve the image? It's brand new but maybe a collimation would help? Or some new, better lenses? I

would really like to see the bands of the spot and I thought this telescope would provide

at least some detail.

Thanks a lot for any help,

Thomas

Hi Thomas

Looking at the pic, it looks quite sharp, but the planet is way overexposed.
This is a hint that you're failing to see detail because it is glaringly bright.

As Phillip says - a fliter should jelp
Standard grey Moon filters would dim the image - but personally, I prefer a variable polariser filter for bright planets - so I can tweak JUST the right amount of darkening.

Better eyepieces also help - but the ones supplied with the Celestron Firstscope should at least be good enough to see cloud bands (At a push I can just about see cloud bands wuth 15x70 binocs now that Jupiter is not far past opposition)

Which Firstscope do you have?
The long-tube version with 900mm focal length - or the short-tube with a barlow in the focuser giving 1000mm focal length?
Also, whereabouts near Durham are you - could possibly meet-up sometime and I could give you a few pointers