Archive for June, 2009
Celestron NexStar 8 SE review: perhaps the best telescope money can buy?
Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope Review
The Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope is highly portable and can be set up and ready to go in minutes. This very efficient piece of equipment will display neighboring Galaxies, the moon, planets and Nebulae in respectable detail. For those looking to buy this telescope, I highly recommend you buy it online through Amazon here. You won’t find a new one this cheap anywhere.
The times of difficult telescope assembly and setup are over. Celestron NexStar SE Telescopes can be set up and broke down in a matter of minutes, and no tools are required. The well-built steel tripod has an integrated wedge for optionally EQ alignment, and these telescopes combine exceptional user-friendliness with sophisticated features that result in an unbelievable stargazing experience.
The Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope is equipped with SkyAlign telescope alignment technology. Just pick an object from the menu and the telescope will locate it for you. This product can help you find thousands of galaxies, stars, planets, and much more at the touch of a button. If you choose to use the “Tour” feature, it will offer a tailored list of the best objects in the sky to view from your exact time and location, no matter where in the world you might be. Simply enter the date and time, along with your location, into the hand held control panel, and position the telescope towards any three bright objects in the night’s sky, and the telescope does the rest. Not only can the Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope find objects for you, but it will educate you about them as well. You don’t even need to know the names of the stars, because the Information on the most popular objects will appear on the LCD screen of your telescopes hand held control panel.
Want to buy this telescope? I highly recommend buying from Amazon as they have the cheapest prices found here.
The Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope incorporates revolutionary enhanced coatings for maximum light transmission and clarity, is GPS compatible, and comes with a 2 year warranty.
If you’re starting your astronomy journeys for the first time, or if you’re a veteran astronomer looking for a portable scope with highly developed features, a Celestron NexStar 8 SE Telescope is a sound choice of equipment.
The Orion Spaceprobe 130ST EQ Telescope is great for the casual star gazer!
Orion SpaceProbe 130ST Telescope Review
I am really liking my Orion 130ST for somewhat casual backyard viewing. It’s reasonably small in size, but gives amazing views, and the value for the price is quite good. There is some light in my neighborhood, but even so, I am able to see everything I am hoping to view. I can easily see Saturn’s rings with this scope, and I have seen Mars in great detail. You can buy this telescope cheapest through Amazon here.
Since the scope is only about 24 inches long, it is easy to move and simple to place on the mount. It doesn’t weigh as much as other scopes I have used, which I like, as well. This would be a great scope to take with me on a trip, which I plan to do soon. It’s pretty fast to set up; I can have it ready to go usually in under five minutes.
The 130ST has a diffraction-limited F5 parabolic primary mirror, which produces a lot of light and produces crystal-clear images with excellent depth. The secondary mirror has advanced technology that provides more light and helps to eliminate diffraction spikes. The eyepieces are made by Plossl, which most people generally think are better than the Kellner eyepieces you would usually find in a scope in this price range. The scope’s focal length is 650mm, which is great because it makes for really wide fields of view and brighter images, too.
If you are trying to buy this telescope, I highly recommend you buy it from Amazon here. You will not find this cheap anywhere
.Overall, I would highly recommend the 130ST telescope to beginners who are looking for a high-quality scope and to intermediate stargazers who are looking for great performance. The value for the price is exceptional. It comes with a one-year warranty, which is good in case something goes wrong, although my 130ST has never given me any trouble.
Celestron 21061 Astromaster Telescope review: surprisingly clear images for the price.
Celestron 21061 puts the enjoyment back in stargazing by saving your pockets~
The Celestron 21061 AstroMaster Refractor Telescope is a great value in its price range and worth the money for children or amateur stargazers. Capable of giving clear Earth-based or outer space images, this telescope can provide hours of educational entertainment. Good news for those looking to buy this telescope - you can it really cheap on Amazon through this link.
The product comes with a unique software program called The Sky. It features more than 10,000 items in the planetarium database to help identify celestial objects.
The AstroMaster uses glass optics in the refractory component of the scope, which means light is gathered and bent to provide an enhanced image of a far away object. Rather than viewing through a straight eyepiece at the end of the telescope, the 21061 has an optical viewer that a person can look down into by simply leaning over. When used with the affixed StarPointer feature, it is easier to find magnified objects.
The long scope mounts on a preassembled tripod. A handle just below it allows for panning movement to a particular view. The height can be adjusted to meet the needs of the viewer, even children. While adult assembly of the unit is required, no tools are needed and the telescope can be used with little or no supervision, depending on the age of the youth. The unit weighs about 20 pounds and can be moved or repositioned fairly easily by grown-ups.
Want to buy this telescope? I highly recommend you buy it from Amazon because it is cheapest online there.
Unlike most tripods, the 21061 model is sturdy. With legs 1.25 inches in diameter, it will withstand movement during use without tipping over.
A handy utility tray located on the tripod may be used to stow small items while stargazing or bird watching.
Celestron NexStar 114 SLT Telescope: Space never looked so amazing!
Celestron NexStar 114 SLT Telescope Review
I was always impressed with tech toys as a kid. That inspired me to learn, and later to go and obtain engineering degree which permits me now to live comfortably while doing exactly what I like. Now I feel obligated to do the same for my children, to direct them so that they devote their time to learning and not just entertaining themselves. So I decided to get them a gift that will sincerely stimulate them, fully aware that no cheap gimmick would do.
So I selected to get them a telescope, Celestron’s NexStar 114 SLT to be exact. It proved to be a good idea.
Setting it up was easy and done in minutes. And it was light enough so we could easily move it around. Right away, with the first look though it, I was impressed at how much these new models had advances since I was a kid. The lens with the 114 mm reflector works so much better than the old models based on a 90 mm design. It has over twice the light-gathering capacity and color-corrected feature that makes everything look closer and color rich.
However, the true surprised came with its computerized mount features. It uses something called SkyAlign alignment technology and the StarPointer Finderscope together with a red LED to pinpoint objects in the sky. Most impressively, it has memory of more than 4,000 objects. This way I could swiftly locate ones like the globular cluster in Hercules (M13), or the Orion’s Great Nebula in (M42).
All of these meant that once my children got hold of it, it was hard to get them off and send them to sleep. Now they know better to operate the telescope than I do. Even when their friends come over, they run to it to show them this or that. It proved to be not just a toy, but a great learning tool, exactly what I wanted.
I do not know for how long their obsession with this will be…maybe I will have to feed it with other gadgets soon. But then maybe it is the best thing I can do for them.
