Saturn's rings looked blurry until I tried the 3-second focus trick

I spent three weeks fighting with my 8 inch dob, thinking the mirror was bad or my eyes were tired. A guy at the Lockhart park observing night told me to tap the focus knob lightly until the star stops wobbling, and suddenly the rings snapped crisp last Tuesday. Anyone else had a simple habit change that fixed their views overnight?

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mary_patel593d ago

I read a thing on Cloudy Nights about this exact problem, some guy with a 10 inch Skywatcher said his views were mush for months until someone told him to stop cranking the knob like a jar lid. The tip was to turn it slow past focus, then come back, so your eye catches the sharp point instead of hunting for it. I tried that plus the tap thing on Jupiter last week and the bands popped out way better than before. Also checked my collimation after reading that thread, and it was off just a hair, which added to the blur. Funny how one little habit does more than a new eyepiece sometimes.

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