How can I see the planets with my telescope?

Question

I got my first telescope for Christmas and I went out to observe the moon last night (the night of January 2nd 2017) as it was finally visible after its new moon phase. I also noticed an extremely bright star underneath the moon on the same night, and to my surprise, I later found out that that star was actually Venus! But I was a little disappointed when observing it as it looked like any ordinary star. But I am now aware that some sort of filters called planetary filters or astronomical filters . I m also aware that there are numerous filters for several different purposes. I ve searched on Amazon for them but don t know which ones to get, especially for quality wise. I was hoping someone could help me out and give me some ideas of which brand or something to go for. I d also like to know if the filters fit all telescopes or eyepieces. Any recomendations would be great, thanks.

Answer 1

Venus is a planet that is totally covered by clouds. You will NOT see details on Venus, regardless of any filter you can add.



What you will see, with time, is the shape of Venus, changing as the relative position of Venus (relative to the Sun) changes.

At some point, it will look like a tiny crescent in your telescope.



Colored filters, used for planets, help in increasing the contrast between regions of different colors on the planet. Useful for Mars and Jupiter.



The eyepiece on your telescope, has a specific diameter for the barrel. Although diameters have been standardized, there are still more than one size, even for common beginners telescopes (most are 0.95 inches and 1.25 inches). You need to buy the size that fits YOUR eyepiece.

This is different than the focal length of the lens in the eyepiece (for example, 6 mm, 10 mm, 25 mm).

Answer 2

A filter won't make any difference. Any filter only blocks out light, and the purpose is to let only certain frequencies of light through, which can help you see certain details on the planet much better. If you can't see any detail at all, it will only make the planet dimmer. (Photographers who take black-and-white photos know all about this - for instance, a red filter on your camera lens will make a cloudy sky look like a dark thundery sky because it blocks the blue light out. Great if you want interesting visual effects - with black-and-white film, you really can make the camera lie!)



Far more important is how much your telescope can magnify. It should be able to show Venus as a disc, or rather it will show a phase like the Moon. That's all you can see of Venus even with a huge telescope, as it is covered in thick white clouds. Nobody much knew anything about Venus because of that, until some space probes actually went there.



So Venus is always disappointing. Make sure your 'scope is properly focused and collimated, and try the Moon first. You should at least be able to see light and dark patches. Then try Mars or Jupiter.

Answer 3

Without knowing the precise specifications of your telescope, it is not possible to give specific recommendations for accessories.



Most telescopes are sold with eyepieces that are far too high magnification for it. It sells telescopes but leads to frustration and disappointment. Chances are, your eyepiece(s) are not the optimum size for your telescope.



A low-magnification, wide-field eyepiece is best overall, with only a slightly higher power for the Moon and planets.



You might have to buy a good eyepiece. But again, I can't even recommend one without knowing the type of telescope you have.



Commercial telescopes these days generally have poor optics, so you might not get good planetary views no matter what. I have a little Astromaster-114, but it's only good for the Moon and sometimes Jupiter and its moons. I can hardly make out the Rings of Saturn, and Venus is just a blob. (I am very experienced from naked eye astronomy to large observatory telescopes).



This is an unpopular opinion but I prefer refractors for planetary observations. You don't really need a high magnification to get a satisfactory view of the planets, just decent optics. A 3-inch refractor is fine. Even 20 or 30 X is sufficient to see the planets.



For reflectors, a good 4-inch mirror should suffice. But that's the problem- mirrors are made by machines and they aren't even tested in many cases! To get good optics, you have to spend more- $300 or 400 for a decent 8-inch Dobsonian mounted mirror.



The easiest planetary observations are Jupiter and its Moons, and the phases of Venus. The Rings of Saturn are also relatively easy.



Venus is currently in its gibbous phase (a little more than half-illuminated). In the next several weeks, into spring, it will gradually move into its crescent phase.



A chart for Venus:



http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/venus.htm

Answer 4

The way I started.. go out at dusk. Planets (especially Jupiter and Venus) are brighter, closer, and therefore, they appear sooner than other stars. I say stars because planets actually look like stars. The translation for planet is "wandering star." The first stars to appear at night are planets (not always. Some appear later on, but there's always at least one). Right now Jupiter is close to the moon. Find the moon, and that bright star that's an arms length away is Jupiter. Line up your telescope with the finderscope, and enjoy! Jupiter is my favorite planet. You can see it's four largest moons as well! Astronomy is a great pass time! Good luck!

Answer 5

With your telescope, look at the Moon and then Venus. You don't need any fancy filters or anything. You should be able to see that Venus is a crescent, if you're in focus. A bit above them is Mars, and Uranus is right there near Mars.



With a small telescope, you can see the planets as disks, but you won't see much detail.



The Moon should be spectacular --- if it's not, you're doing something wrong.

Answer 6

A filter will do you not good at all.

Even the Best Telescopes on Earth Costing Millions of Dollars can not see Venus any better than you can.

Venus is completeley covered in Clouds and that is why it is so bright.

Try looking at Saturan insead or Mars. Then you will see something.

Do not expect too much from your Telescope. To see details on Mars or the rings of Saturn up cose you need a 10,000$$$ Teleschope.

Answer 7

Make sure you FOCUS your telescope. A planet will look like a small disk or pinhead. A star is a POINT SOURCE of light and looks like just a point of light with no disk or structure. You need at least a 3 inch mirror or objective lens (depending on your telescope type) to discern the rings of Saturn.



150 power is about the limit for maximum detail, because of the air turbulence. Any more power, might make a bigger image, but will only magnify the "fuzz" you won't see more details.

Answer 8

You need to make sure the telescope is correctly focussed. Usually it is possible to see Venus as a small phased disc i.e as crescent, quarter, or gibbous. Venus (and Mercury) is never visible as a full disc except at transit across the Sun, in which case you should always project an image onto a screen and never use filters.



Jupiter can be seen as a small disc, and its 4 main satellites should be visible as small points of light. The same applies to Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and possibly Uranus. Everyone remembers when they first saw Saturn!



To repeat - don't use filters or look directly at the Sun. Always project an image of the Sun onto an appropriate screen.

Answer 9

Your telescope might not be collimated properly. It sounds like Jupiter was near the moon, and it should have brownish lines across it. Download free Stellarium to check on locations of planets The x3 is a multiplier caller a Barlow, making your 20mm eyepiece act like a 6.6mm. It also decreases clarity and cuts the light available to your eye

Answer 10

You have to mention the aperture./magnification/ etc.With out such details no body can judge what you telescope will show..5 planets are visible to naked eye.You can use telescope to see details like rings of Saturn,moons of Jupiter, craters on moon etc.You will see many more stars depend upon the aperture.

Answer 11

Planets are tricky. It takes a scope with good aperture and optical quality, paired with a high-magnification eyepiece, to see details. Even then the planet will look small - "pea sized" is the usual description. What scope and eyepieces do you have?

Answer 12

My advice would be not to start buying a bunch of accessories until you are capable of exercising the limits of the equipment you already have. Filters aren't going to let you magically see details on Venus you aren't now. Find a local astronomy club and start getting experienced on equipment first hand.

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Answer 13

"it looked like any ordinary star"



you weren't looking at venus. venus is roughly half phase at the moment, and even in the crappiest christmas trash telescope will be non-stellar. what were you expecting to see?



n00bs are preoccupied with planets, but don't know that they are tough targets. go for a wander around the moon instead. treat yourself to the orion nebula.

Answer 14

That was Venus, yes. Last night you could see Mars in a similar position in the sky.

Answer 15

"But I was a little disappointed when observing it as it looked like any ordinary star. "



In which case it wasn't Venus. Venus doesn't show any details but you should be able to see a phase. Check that your finder's collimated - it's quite easy to pick up background stars without realising it.

Answer 16

Well, ..., that's awesome! I'm glad you were able to get your scope out and observe. The more you observe the more comfortable you will become at operating the scope and the more fun you will have with it.



For now don't worry about buying any colored filters. For the most part they are useless unless the planet is at maximum opposition for the outer planets and maximum elongation for the inner planets.



One very useful filter though would be double ring lunar filter either 1.25" or 2" (depending on your eyepiece size). The meade 4000 (below) is an excellent Lunar filter. The reason I suggest two of them is that you can vary the light pass by screwing them together at different intervals during the lunar phase cycle. I even use this filter for observing Venus and Jupiter to cut the glare from them. See below

https://www.amazon.com/Meade-Series-4000-Filter-ND96/dp/B00020XAK0



I understand your disappointment with the planets. You will find that they will be small like stars. Venus is completely covered in clouds so the best you will ever be able to detect from the planet is it's phase. Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will show their best details on at Maximum Opposition. Uranus and Neptune will only a appear as stars.



The Moon of course you should be able to view in great detail and I love to observe it myself.



Next you could turn your attention to the Messier class of Deep sky objects. The Orion Nebula is one of my favorites. The Messier list is always a fun list to pursue.



I'm going to give you some tips below to help you get started and then you can drop me a line if you have any questions.



Good Luck and I hope you keep observing!



Getting Started with your Scope

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A) Read the user guide and perform the setup procedure for the scope several times during daylight hours before you go out at night. At night your vision is severely limited and unless you know how to set it up really well you will most likely spend the entire evening going through the setup procedure and not observing.



B) Make sure the finder is aligned with the main scope.

- During daylight hours center the top of a far off light pole in your main scope.

- Adjust the spotter scope such that the cross-hairs are centered on the object (as best as possible) in your main scope.

- Now using you finder scope move the scope to another far off light pole and center the finder scope on the top of the light pole.

- Look into your main scope the top of the light pole should be centered (albeit upside down) in the scope. if not repeat the steps above until you can center a far away object with your finder scope and have it appear centered in your main scope. This is an essential step that you must get right else finding deep sky objects will be very difficult.



Note: objects may appear upside down and / or reversed ion your scope. This is normal. In space there is no up, down, left, or right. You'll get use to it.



C) Make sure the scope is collimated. This will keep objects crisp and clear wen focused. (2nd and 3rd source links below)



D) Next Download a free application like Stellarium (see the 1st source link below). Use it to locate objects you wish to observe before you go out at night. For instance two easy objects to find are the Moon (btw you should get a double ringed 1.25" lunar filter for your eyepieces) and Venus.



E) Many deep sky objects are visible to the naked eye. However, not all are. You will need to learn how to star hop. "Turn Left at Orion" is a great book for star hopping. Terrence Dickenson's book (Get the Spiral Bound copy) "Nightwatch" is also excellent and has a decent set of begining star charts for you to work from.

Use you finder scope to find the general location that you want to look in. Use your 25 mm Plossl (in your focuser) for finding the object with your main scope Then once you've found the object use your 10mm eyepiece (if provided) to study it. Some other easy late fall objects are The Ring Nebula (M57) constellation Lyra, Dumbell nebula (M27) constellation Vulpecula and the Orion Nebula (M42) constellation Orion.



Don't get frustrated if you can't find these objects at first. I had difficulty when I first started. So give yourself some time.



F) Once you've found the "easy" objects I've pointed out You might want to checkout the Astronomical League (Source Link 4, 5, and 6 below) they're got some great challenge programs for Beginners.



G) Find your local Astronomy Club and join it. They can be a great resource for nurturing your passion in Astronomy.





1) http://www.stellarium.org

2) http://www.schlatter.org/Dad/Astronomy/collimate.htm

3) http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/diy/3306876.html

4) http://www.astroleague.org/

5) http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/lunar/lunar1.html

6) http://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/messier/mess.html

Answer 17

Take lens caps off and look into the small lens

Answer 18

if you point it at a tree, you will be able to see a tree. Telescopes are brilliant arent they

Answer 19

Look through the small end at the night sky.