How clear can I see the rings of Saturn?
177100
Depends on seeing conditions as well as the position of the planet in the sky. There are several planetarium software choices to determine this. i use solarsystemscope.com for solar system objects. It is a very nice online tool to see when is the ideal time to look for the planets. Under ideal conditions you see them clearly but they are tiny. Additional magnification decreases the sharpness of the image.
177101
You can see them fairly clear, i'll put a link at the bottom of my comment to a guy who takes photo's with his 4se. Keep in mind, when you're looking through the scope, the view is not as fuzzy as his photos and video. You can't magnify much more than 150x with the 4se but you can see Saturn with it's rings, and Jupiter very clearly. I'm not sure what the other person is talking about the motors jumping, mine tracks beautifully. This is a great starter scope, but, I also agree there are way better ones out there. For a first scope just to get you familiar with the sky and Astronomy, the 4se works great. If you're like me though, you'll probably want something bigger and faster within a year. I'm actually thinking about selling my 4se to step up to a much higher end scope for Astrophotography. May I ask where you're from? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7LIfGL0G50jj7sP_aktkHA
177102
It's relative. The humidity, the clarity of sky, the artificial light absence, the quality of the eyepieces, the seing, are fundamentals conditions. But, this telescope give you a good experience observing Saturn and his rings. In good ambiental conditions, even you can see Cassini's división, and four moons: Io, Calisto, Ganímedes and Europe. Regards from Chile.
1310868
Saturn's rings are always a treat! Glad you saw them. A 2x barlow and 4mm eyepiece will give you 200x on this scope, which is about the theoretical maximum usable magnification for a 100mm aperture scope like this one (about 50x/25mm). But in my experience with these smaller scopes, the image is rather poor at maximum magnification; you can see something, but very dim and very grainy, for instance. For my eyes, the max usable magnification is closer to 40x/25mm..... I think it's fun to use the max magnification (esp. on the Moon!) But I usually get the most satisfactory viewing at a lower power. Enjoy your telescope! Saturn's rings are always a treat! Glad you saw them. A 2x barlow and 4mm eyepiece will give you 200x on this scope, which is about the theoretical maximum usable magnification for a 100mm aperture scope like this one (about 50x/25mm). But in my experience with these smaller scopes, the image is rather poor at maximum magnification; you can see something, but very dim and very grainy, for instance. For my eyes, the max usable magnification is closer to 40x/25mm..... I think it's fun to use the max magnification (esp. on the Moon!) But I usually get the most satisfactory viewing at a lower... » Read More Saturn's rings are always a treat! Glad you saw them. A 2x barlow and 4mm eyepiece will give you 200x on this scope, which is about the theoretical maximum usable magnification for a 100mm aperture scope like this one (about 50x/25mm). But in my experience with these smaller scopes, the image is rather poor at maximum magnification; you can see something, but very dim and very grainy, for instance. For my eyes, the max usable magnification is closer to 40x/25mm..... I think it's fun to use the max magnification (esp. on the Moon!) But I usually get the most satisfactory viewing at a lower power. Enjoy your telescope! « Show Less
1460452
The eye is not very good in discerning colors when objects are dim, so don't expect to see Jupiter's red spot really red. But definitely you can see colors. You can even see Neptune much bluer than Uranus, for example. It also depends a lot on sky conditions.
459589
After unpacking, reading the manual, and following the hands controller instructions when using, I was able to use it with no problem. This was my first telescope, and my first time out I brought Saturn into view within about fifteen minutes. The only difficult part is viewing nebulae and deeper space objects; they will show up very faintly with this one, mainly because it is powerful enough for objects within the solar system, but not so much for outside it.I'd definitely recommend this as a telescope with a minimal learning curve.
459590
After unpacking, reading the manual, and following the hands controller instructions when using, I was able to use it with no problem. This was my first telescope, and my first time out I brought Saturn into view within about fifteen minutes. The only difficult part is viewing nebulae and deeper space objects; they will show up very faintly with this one, mainly because it is powerful enough for objects within the solar system, but not so much for outside it. I'd definitely recommend this as a telescope with a minimal learning curve.
2280903
Saturn is my favorite planet to view currently. Good detail with this scope(over my Orion SpaceProbeST)..and the more you time you spend observing, the more detail you will see.
2280902
Yes. Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will all show detail... especially Jupiter due to its size. The others further out will show as pin points of light. Though to be fair, most Earth based telescopes have a hard time seeing Neptune and Uranus. Get some nice eye pieces and on a dark clear night Jupiter and Saturn will look pretty amazing.
1491356
Short answer is that this is the best scope in its price range. It is incredible for moon viewing. As for other planets; using a high powered lens gives a great view of Saturn and it's rings. If this is your price range I'd say buy this scope.
1069762
U can burn your eyes out looking at the earths moon with this, u can barely see Jupiter and it moons are like little star dots around it. No way u can see Saturn without a Barlow lens with this and even with Barlow were talking barely visible. I suggest getting the xt6 definitely worth the money, Jupiter is smaller than a pea u can barely make out its stripes
212527
The moon was very nice through this telescope. Other planets were less impressive although Saturn blew my son-in-law away (He had never seen the rings.). That said, the additional lens sets have made impressive into spectacular as the moon now fills the scope and other planets are very distinguishable in a clear sky.
2121893
You'll be able to see globular star clusters, such as The Pleiades and The Hercules Cluster. Under really dark skies, you'll be able to see some of the brighter deep space objects (DSO), such as the Orion Nebula, and the Andromeda Galaxy. However, you will not see much in the way of details, as 70mm is a bit too small to resolve them. While star clusters will be fairly easy to see, the brighter nebulae will basically look like barely visible grey smudges, as will Andromeda. Here is a link to a discussion thread on Cloudy Nights that discusses what you can see through a small telescope: http://tinyurl.com/llw4jb8
1313979
This scope probably isn't the best choice for photos of planets. It doesn't have a motor to track objects for the time required to get a sufficient exposure for photos. You can see the rings several of the available eyepieces (don't recall specifically which eyepieces, as it's been a while since I looked at Saturn). If I recall, you can see them with the one that comes with the product; however the Earth's rotation causes Saturn to appear to move across the field of view fairly quickly. As far as ring detail, I would recommend a scope that has tracking capability...
1661998
Sorry, if you are looking in our solar system yes you can see the planets, but not other solar systems.
2042951
I have no problem making out Jupiter's stripes, but haven't seen the spot. I haven't had a clear enough night at a time of transit (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/3304091.html?page=1&c;=y). In addition to what comes in the package, I added a 3x barlow lens to increase the effective focal length.
345570
Mars has not been visible yet, but have looked at the rings a saturn and its moons.
64201
I suggest going to a planetarium if that is what you want to see. Great instrument for the moon and planets, but you won't get Observatory quality.
1146972
Hello Ashura, you can, but the details like a photo is not possible with your eye, the saturns photos are extremely edited with especial programs, however the view will not disappoint you