draculaz opened this issue on Sep 24, 2004 ยท 18 posts
GROINGRINDER posted Fri, 24 September 2004 at 7:54 AM
Can't see the image, but it sounds like you have the classic 60mmm beginners refractor. Before too long, if you take it out regularly, you will be hankering for a Newtonian reflector. With scopes it is the light gathering power, and not the magnification which allows you to see the deep space stuff. The light gathering power is a product of the size of the objective lens, which in your case is 60 mm (pretty small). I think that is about 4 inches. If you upgrade to an 8 inch reflector you will get a helluva lot more light gathering(and magnification as well). I do not mean to knock your scope. I would like to have a refractor myself. It is fun to buy a sun filter and watch the sunspots dance across the face of the sun and your first view of the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn will be remembered for the rest of your life.(PS do not expect much from the barlow. It is like a teleconverter on 35mm cameras. Yes it increases magnification, but at the expense of image sharpness and brightness.)