Model: Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ LT Refractor Telescope Kit with Smartphone Adapter and Bluetooth Remote, Ideal Telescope for Beginners, Capture Your Own Images, Tripod plus Bonus Accessories Included
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I have this, and can make out craters on the moon; not able to see Saturn's rings or Jupiter's red spot.
"can make out craters" is not promising. I can do same with pair of binaculars or a good optical zoom camera. Unless we can see rover tracks, I am not sure what's the purpose of looking up.
Whats the best one you cna buy that you can see space station clearly (I guess it has to move automatically or lock), or see saturn rings, say if you had $500 budget?
While this is a very cheap price, this is what they call a hobby killer telescope. It will be so frustrating to use that you will stop with astronomy. For this price, a pair of binoculars are better. After that, most recommend a dobsonion. The cheapest ones are tabletop (like the great astronomers without borders one (awb ~$200?) , but ones that sit on the ground start around 6in diameter. I personally prefer tracking GEM mounts, but that is not a common preference in astronomy circles. But a decent telescope with a tracking mount starts in the $600 range if not higher since COVID.
"can make out craters" is not promising. I can do same with pair of binaculars or a good optical zoom camera. Unless we can see rover tracks, I am not sure what's the purpose of looking up.
Whats the best one you cna buy that you can see space station clearly (I guess it has to move automatically or lock), or see saturn rings, say if you had $500 budget?
You'll be very lucky to catch a passing glimpse of the space station with an amateur telescope. It moves far too quickly across the sky. On a good night it takes 5 minutes to cross the sky. When you do see it with the naked eye, you'll get an idea of the relative speed.
This telescope will allow you to make out one big ring around Saturn, but not individual bands. You certainly won't see the Giant Red Spot. But the fun first thing that you should see is the Galilean moons whizzing around Jupiter. On successive nights you'll see they've changed position. Io orbits in 1.8 days, so will move from one side of Jupiter to the other each night. The other 3 inner moons are also pretty zippy, so the alignment of the 4 moons changes nightly.
I bought this last year to take on a trip to Utah. I also bought an accessory kit with different eyepieces and color filters. It took some work but we were able to see Jupiter and it's moons. We couldn't make out any colors and it was a challenge to keep up with how fast everything moves. Early in the morning one day we were able to see Saturn and just make out it's color and rings. Basically looked like a blue blob with bumps on each side. Our location was fairly remote and very dark.
It's great at this price for looking at the moon. Using it on the trip had me wanting to get something more powerful at some point.
So what's good telescope that people have actually used and are super happy with?
It will really depend on your use. Are you looking to get the kids out and interested in the sky when the planets are easy to see, etc? These entry level telescopes are perfect for that. I had an older celestron model at this price point for 15 years that just started malfunctioning and we got good use out of it. I was able to hook up my canon for some good pictures. I am looking to get the next step up though myself so I am curious what ones others suggest. My now 16 year old may be interested in going into astronomy/astrophysics so I am going to upgrade
My parents bought my son this particular telescope as a "starter" scope to learn on (they didn't really consult me beforehand as I had no issue with just letting him use my more expensive telescopes).
I found that the scope itself isn't half bad optically, it's the included eyepieces that they cut costs on and aren't really that good. I put one of my old Meade Super Plossls Meade Series 4000 Super Plossl
My parents bought my son this particular telescope as a "starter" scope to learn on (they didn't really consult me beforehand as I had no issue with just letting him use my more expensive telescopes).
I found that the scope itself isn't half bad optically, it's the included eyepieces that they cut costs on and aren't really that good. I put one of my old Meade Super Plossl eyepieces on it and the scope suddenly became much better. Of course, a good single high quality eyepiece can exceed the price of the rest of this kit....
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"can make out craters" is not promising. I can do same with pair of binaculars or a good optical zoom camera. Unless we can see rover tracks, I am not sure what's the purpose of looking up.
Whats the best one you cna buy that you can see space station clearly (I guess it has to move automatically or lock), or see saturn rings, say if you had $500 budget?
Whats the best one you cna buy that you can see space station clearly (I guess it has to move automatically or lock), or see saturn rings, say if you had $500 budget?
This telescope will allow you to make out one big ring around Saturn, but not individual bands. You certainly won't see the Giant Red Spot. But the fun first thing that you should see is the Galilean moons whizzing around Jupiter. On successive nights you'll see they've changed position. Io orbits in 1.8 days, so will move from one side of Jupiter to the other each night. The other 3 inner moons are also pretty zippy, so the alignment of the 4 moons changes nightly.
It's great at this price for looking at the moon. Using it on the trip had me wanting to get something more powerful at some point.
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I found that the scope itself isn't half bad optically, it's the included eyepieces that they cut costs on and aren't really that good. I put one of my old Meade Super Plossls Meade Series 4000 Super Plossl
I found that the scope itself isn't half bad optically, it's the included eyepieces that they cut costs on and aren't really that good. I put one of my old Meade Super Plossl eyepieces on it and the scope suddenly became much better. Of course, a good single high quality eyepiece can exceed the price of the rest of this kit....