Celestron Firstscope 60AZ 60mm Refractor Telescope
Celestron Firstscope 60AZ 60mm Refractor Telescope Product Description: The Celestron Firstscope 60 AZ is a great value as starter scopes go, in fact it’s just what I purchased for my own ten year-old grandson. Instead of wildly exaggerated claims of 500X magnification, Celestron packages the Firstscope 60 AZ with the basics: two decent eyepieces, a finder, and a simple alt-azimuth mount. The best objects for small telescopes are bright objects like the moon and planets. I find the little orange disk of Mars, the moon-like phases of Venus, the moons of Jupiter, and the rings of Saturn all show up quite nicely with the included 10mm eyepiece (about 70x). The low-power 20mm eyepiece (35x) is best for finding objects and for viewing star clusters. Even a small telescope like the Firstscope 60 AZ reveals hundreds of craters on the moon, and turns the Summer Milky Way into a glittering river of stars. The alt-azimuth mount included with the Firstscope 60 AZ is both lighter and easier to use than low cost equatorial mounts. An Alt-Az telescope moves up and down (altitude) and left or right (azimuth)–there’s no counter-weight to balance or polar axis to align before you can start observing–just point the telescope and look. As soon as you get the moon or a planet centered in the field of view, you’ll find it starts drifting toward the edge–this is caused by rotation of the Earth. Celestial objects will stay in the low power field of view for three or four minutes, but with a high power eyepiece they may disappear in a minute or less. For this reason, alt-az telescopes are best used at lower magnifications. Would I recommend the Firstscope 60 AZ for a young person? Definitely. It’s easier to use than low-cost equatorial mounts and has much better optics than the so called “500 power” “professional” models you find in toy stores. Would I recommend the Firstscope 60 AZ for an older student or adult with a serious interest in the night sky? Not really. If you want to see the divisions in Saturn’s rings or resolve globular clusters into individual stars, take a look at the telescope buyers guide for some larger recommendations. –Jeff PhillipsPros:Low cost Ease of use Low maintenance design Cons:Too small for serious observing Does not track stars and planets
