New telescope blurryness questions

[umbralumina]

Hi to you all!. Just yesterday i got my new Celestron PowerSeeker 127 EQ (Newtonian). And last night was quite clear for several hours until it became cloudy around 2:30 am.<br /><br />The problem I have is that i cant get sharp images when I use the 4mm eyepiece (250x) or when i use the 20mm eyepiece with my 3x barlow lens (150X). Jupiter and the other planets appear fuzzy with all eyepieces exept the lone 20mm eyepiece (50X) same goes for the Moon. I dont know if this is normal or theres some problem with the optics, the telescope says its max useful magnification is 250x<br /><br />Before this telescope I had a 60mm refractor, with very simple mechanisms with no way to measure the position, and smaller than 1.25inch eyepieces. So im rather unexperienced with more advanced telescopes.

 

[MeteorWayne]

It's actually pretty rare that you can use 200X magnification.<br />Most times, the turbulence of the atmosphere will make such high magnification useless.<br /><br />I only go to 200X once or twice a year, on a really perfect night.<br /><br />Have you collimated the scope? That is essential if you are to get the best out of it. The material with the scope should tell you how, if not there are plenty of web resources. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[Testing]

These are the kind of informative comments I was talking about Wayne. I'm going to spend a few weeks looking at the used market to see what pops up before I buy. Right now it is very high or very low end instruments. I'm going to get back in after a long time. Fair to good observation area at home but a 45 degree horizon. But the killer will be the access to the campsite at 7000' in the SW Sierra's. Last Sunday night the stars were throwing shadows on the ground. 7x50 hurt my eyes. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[umbralumina]

Yeah i mostly stick to the 20 mm eyepiece to look at everything, last night was quite clear and looked aroung again, this time I used the UHC/LPR Filter i also ordered. I didnt saw so much of a difference with the filter on, I could see just a little bit more brightness from the nebulas. And stars seemed the same, and the sky didnt turn black as i imagined it would. Is 127 mm too small to see M31?? or is it because of light pollution here, last night I looked at it and i saw a big blur that seemed lighter in color than the rest of the sky, It took me a long time to find it because I didnt notice it. I had to focus on nearby stars to find it, i used mostly 50x and 150x to look at it.

 

[MeteorWayne]

That's too much magnification to see the most out of M31, and light pollution has more affect at lower powers. On a clear night, even here in NW NJ, it's visible with the naked eye.<br />To see the most of it you can, binoculars are best.<br /><br />With higher powers you can see the satellite galaxies, but lose the big picture.<br /><br />IIRC, it is much larger than the full moon, but too faint near the edges to see. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[umbralumina]

Light pollution is pretty bad here, the sky looks pinkish all night long, and low clouds are bright enough to let you see easily at night. I live in the center of the city everything north or south is pretty bright. So near horizon its almost impossible to see anything brighter than apparent magnitude 2. <br /><br />As for the magnification, which eyepiece would you recommend? I only got 20mm and 4mm