Recently I have been trying to get a good look at Jupiter through my 6" Orion reflector, but the image seems to always come out as an oblong white streak. I've tried changing the lenses I'm using, but that only changes the size of the oblong streak. I looked at the moon with the same lenses to see if it was a general problem with the reflector, but the image of the moon came out clear as usual. What sort of problems could be causing this?
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Most likely would be the the main mirror needs collimating. On big things like the moon you won't notice bad collimation as much as something small like a planet or star.
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$\begingroup$ Yes. It's probably not mirror astigmatism brought on by improper tightening in the mirror mount. That usually gives an image more complicated than a simple oblong. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 19, 2016 at 15:17
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$\begingroup$ I've heard that a reflector that is not well aligned can lead to a disruption of the image... I'll try it out on the mirror. $\endgroup$ Commented Apr 19, 2016 at 15:18