<p>I have recently purchased an Orion AstroView 90mm Equatorial Refractor telescope, also this is my first time having a telescope. The telescope came with a 25mm and a 10mm eyepiece, I also bought a Celestron OMNI 2x Barlow lens.</p>

<p>Just the other night I was looking through my telescope at the moon, and with all my eyepieces and Barlow lens the image of the moon comes out really clearly. But when I go to look at mars or venus (also in the western sky) the image of the two planets come out really blurry. The image of the planets through my telescope come out as a circle with a bunch of horizontal lines through the circle also a couple of black dots on the outer edge of the circle. </p>

<p>I know that these two circles that I was looking at were planets, and I know that they were not stars. I am really confused about the whole thing of me being able to see the moon clearly but not see any of the planets clearly.</p>

<p>Can someone please help me figure this out. I have also tried looking through the telescope without the star diagonal, to be honest I have tried all possibilities with my lenses and all of my parts. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-02T04:32:15.947Z
Can you take a picture of this phenomenon? It's a little difficult to diagnose problems based on description alone.
probably_someone
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-02T04:34:38.990Z
In the meantime, though, some questions to consider: Did your telescope go out of focus before looking at the planets? Were the planets particularly low in the sky? Are you sure you actually *should* see more than blurry dots? At the observatory in which I work, even the powerful 18-inch-objective refractor that we use can just barely resolve the stripes of Jupiter.
probably_someone
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-02T09:08:34.387Z
Are stars sharp and point-like? Can you see the moons of Jupiter? What you "should" see (with ideal conditions) http://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/what-can-i-see-through-telescope.html
James K
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-02T17:27:36.040Z
probably-someone=  My telescope did not go out of focus before looking at the planets, yes they were low in the sky, and I have not tried looking at Jupiter yet.
user15362
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-02T17:33:04.980Z
To respond to your question James K= The stars are very sharp and yes point like, i have not tried looking at Jupiter with my telescope yet.
user15362
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-03T14:22:08.057Z
@probably_someone  If you can't see Jupiter's stripes w/ a 46 mm primary, you've got severe problems.  (is it really a refractor and not a reflector?). Either the telescope is borked or you're dealing with local light interference and/or turbulence effects.  Paradoxically, a smaller 'scope will be less affected by turbulence.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-03T14:23:28.247Z
The answer is LOTS of local light interference. The thing was built a while ago, before a small city grew up around it.
probably_someone
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-04T00:44:18.500Z
Honestly none of you guys have answered my question, i looked into the turbulence effects and that doesn't seem to be the case, i can see the moon crystal clear but I can't see any of the planets clearly, i tried looking at Jupiter but still that same thing with all of the other planets. My telescopes diameter is 90mm and the F.L. is 910mm. PLEASE HELP.
user15362
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-04T13:39:32.643Z
If you are correctly reporting things, then your scope is out of focus. It appears to be focussed on the moon, and either you've gone to hyperfocus or it's got a really long "infinity" adjust the focus while looking at a planet.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-04T16:54:46.593Z
Also I do all of my observing inside, do I have to do it outside or does it matter.
user15362
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-03-12T13:22:37.467Z
I have the same problem with my 50 mm telescope. I see jupitor as bright point when focused at 30x or 60x and i see white disk when out of focus. Should i buy 3x barlow to see the biger image.
asif
<telescope><observational-astronomy>
Planets not visible
user15362
# Planets not visible

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-02)

I have recently purchased an Orion AstroView 90mm Equatorial Refractor telescope, also this is my first time having a telescope. The telescope came with a 25mm and a 10mm eyepiece, I also bought a Celestron OMNI 2x Barlow lens.

Just the other night I was looking through my telescope at the moon, and with all my eyepieces and Barlow lens the image of the moon comes out really clearly. But when I go to look at mars or venus (also in the western sky) the image of the two planets come out really blurry. The image of the planets through my telescope come out as a circle with a bunch of horizontal lines through the circle also a couple of black dots on the outer edge of the circle.

I know that these two circles that I was looking at were planets, and I know that they were not stars. I am really confused about the whole thing of me being able to see the moon clearly but not see any of the planets clearly.

Can someone please help me figure this out. I have also tried looking through the telescope without the star diagonal, to be honest I have tried all possibilities with my lenses and all of my parts.

**Tags:** telescope, observational-astronomy
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Can you take a picture of this phenomenon? It's a little difficult to diagnose problems based on description alone.  
> **username_1**: In the meantime, though, some questions to consider: Did your telescope go out of focus before looking at the planets? Were the planets particularly low in the sky? Are you sure you actually *should* see more than blurry dots? At the observatory in which I work, even the powerful 18-inch-objective refractor that we use can just barely resolve the stripes of Jupiter.  
> **username_2**: Are stars sharp and point-like? Can you see the moons of Jupiter? What you "should" see (with ideal conditions) http://www.deepskywatch.com/Articles/what-can-i-see-through-telescope.html  
> **username_0**: probably-someone=  My telescope did not go out of focus before looking at the planets, yes they were low in the sky, and I have not tried looking at Jupiter yet.  
> **username_0**: To respond to your question James K= The stars are very sharp and yes point like, i have not tried looking at Jupiter with my telescope yet.  
> **username_3**: @probably_someone  If you can't see Jupiter's stripes w/ a 46 mm primary, you've got severe problems.  (is it really a refractor and not a reflector?). Either the telescope is borked or you're dealing with local light interference and/or turbulence effects.  Paradoxically, a smaller 'scope will be less affected by turbulence.  
> **username_1**: The answer is LOTS of local light interference. The thing was built a while ago, before a small city grew up around it.  
> **username_0**: Honestly none of you guys have answered my question, i looked into the turbulence effects and that doesn't seem to be the case, i can see the moon crystal clear but I can't see any of the planets clearly, i tried looking at Jupiter but still that same thing with all of the other planets. My telescopes diameter is 90mm and the F.L. is 910mm. PLEASE HELP.  
> **username_3**: If you are correctly reporting things, then your scope is out of focus. It appears to be focussed on the moon, and either you've gone to hyperfocus or it's got a really long "infinity" adjust the focus while looking at a planet.  
> **username_0**: Also I do all of my observing inside, do I have to do it outside or does it matter.  
> **username_4**: I have the same problem with my 50 mm telescope. I see jupitor as bright point when focused at 30x or 60x and i see white disk when out of focus. Should i buy 3x barlow to see the biger image.  

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## 0 answers

