Viewing Jupiter, Moon thru binoviewer on Nexstar 6se

[Picnic]

These few nights, I have been testing my Denk II with 19mm pan optic eyepiece binoviewer on my Celestron Nexstar 6se.

On Jupiter

1) From my observation with the binoviewer and 2x barlow, Jupiter was somehow pulled nearer but image was sensitivly wavy and blur.
2) Without the 2x barlow, the image was further away but much clear sharp and not wavy.

On Moon

1) Without 2x barlow, the moon was clear, sharp and occupies the full both eyepieces. ( Wow! like viewing ontop of the sky down the moon! )
2) With 2x barlow, the moon was pulled nearer wavy and blur. The only bit of sharpness was on the lower edge of the moon and wavy.

I don't know if any of the brothers and sisters have any experience on binoviewer using same or higher inch scope can share experience/observation with me?

Thanks!

[Gary]

Remember to take note of the different sky conditions on different days when testing your combinations - seeing and transparency. Higher magnification also magnifies the column of air between your scope and target object. Temperature differences in this column can cause the waviness.

[leechriz]

I'm just wondering whether the "waviness" that you're experiencing could be due to vibration on the mount. Does it settle down after a couple of seconds? Tiny vibration gets magnified when viewing at higher magnification. It happens because the combined weight of the OTA + binoviewer + barlow + eyepieces may have exceeded the ideal supportable weight of the single-fork mount. Using vibration suppression pads may help to dampen it out.

[Pete]

I don't think it's related to the binoviewer. At 9.5mm (19mm with a 2x) you're pushing the limits of your scope, and I think this is reducing the sharpness (as well as making the image darker).

That said, if you want to use that magnification, wait until the object is as high in the sky as possible (ideally overhead). This reduces the impact from unstable atmospheric conditions (differences in air temperature etc.), which can also cause that wavy/blurry effect (as mentioned by Gary).

[guangwei]

try focusing till you get the sharpest image

[Airconvent]

Wavy can also be due to atmosheric turbulance. Have you tried it with Jupiter higher up or near zenith? When you push up the magnification, all these effects become even more pronounced.

[fizzy123]

To solve the problem of the shaky tripod, you can either take off some load from you setup of do so simple modification to your setup.

Take a 1L bottle, fill it up either with sand or water, then tie one end to the bottle and the other end to the middle of the tripod, thereby suspending it. It helps to reduce the CG of your eqpt. Or try observing in the field where by the tripod legs can anchor into the soil

[Picnic]

@Gary : Noted, will try it out on different weather conditions. The above observation was noted during last 2 days on (14th & 15th lunar full moon).
Sky was somewhat abit cloudy sometimes but still can see the full moon.

@leechriz : Yes, you are right about the vibrations being magnified. I do see there is vibration even a slight touch on the tripod, But, when it is almost no vibration, the image I see is still wavy. It could be due to atmospheric temperature as pointed out by Pete & Gary.

@ Pete : Haha, I really push the limit of the equpment as it is the only equipment I have.
That's why I'm trying to see if anyone with 8" scope above will also encounter this problem.

@airconvent : Maybe it is. But without th 2x barlow, the jupiter and the 4 moon looks sharp and clear on the binoviewer. I was thinking it maybe due to limits on the magnification when use ing 6" scope, binoviewer and 2x barlow together.

@fizzy123 : noted. Thanks!

[wucheeyiun]

Hi bro, i think pete is right, it is over magnified...btw the denk ii is going to also increase your focal length of the scope by at lease another 130mm, and the magnification is also going to increase as well. Good to use about 50x per inch of aperture. by barlowing ... you will have image breaking up. and the amplification of the turbulance will make it worst. I am using c11 ( 2800mm fl ) with 20mm eyepiece for binoviewing, and the views are nicely optimised.

[Picnic]

@wucheeyiun: I guess you and Pete are right. I over magnify the image. So, I guess using the c6 with the bino without the 2x Barlow is the best I can get as the image is clear sharp and stable. 

To all, thanks for the valuable advice. 