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In daylight tests, I see very little blue fringing with the standard equipment 10mm eyepiece (90X), and none at all with the 20mm eyepiece (45X). The views of stars and planets are also quite good. Bright double stars like Castor (one of the "twins" in the constellation Gemini) and Algieba in the constellation Leo are cleanly split at 90x with the 10mm eyepiece. I can begin to see detail in Saturn's rings and I've even watched the shadow of Jupiter's smallest moon Europa glide across the planet's cloud belts. This performance is close to the theoretical limit of any 70mm telescope. The Firstscope 70 EQ features a classic achromatic refractor design. The performance of the Firstscope 70 EQ is limited somewhat by the included accessories. The equatorial mount needs to be assembled when it comes out of the box, the instruction booklet has sketches rather than photos to guide the assembly. This telescope "kit" is easier to assemble than the typical model airplane, which is good because model airplanes usually come with better instructions. The included "star pointer" finder scope is easy to use when looking for bright stars and planets, but it's hard to use for spotting faint objects like galaxies. The best accessory you could get for this telescope would be an introductory guide book like Nightwatch by Terrence Dickinson, or NightSky magazine. The best additional eyepiece would be a 7. 5mm plossl eyepiece (120X) to bring out more detail on the moon and planets. I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality and value of Celestron's imported telescopes. Reviewers often recommend avoiding any telescope under $300, but I have to tell you, if all beginner telescopes had optics as good the Firstscope 70 EQ, beginner telescopes would have a much better reputation. - Jeff Phillips Pros: Classic refractor design delivers great views of the moon and planets. Package includes everything you need to get started. Cons: Equatorial mount could be more solid. Instruction booklet could be more user friendly. FirstScope 70 models are powerful optical instruments that have 100 times the light gathering ability of the naked eye. This ability allows the FirstScope 70 to deliver images 37% brighter than those produced by a 60mm refractor telescope. The objective lens is designed to yield the finest images available in this class of optical instrument. The accessories are all made of glass with metal construction, to ensure good image quality. These telescopes have all glass components, coated optics and smooth functioning mounts, with the added benefit of slow motion controls on the mount for easy adjustments. The FirstScope 70 telescope tubes are glossy black aluminum. Refractors     This is a refractor telescope. Refractors (also known as a dioptrics) capture light with a lens at the front of a long tube and send it to an eyepiece at the other end. They look, in other words, just like what most people think of when they hear the word "telescope. "     Refractors offer-potentially, at least-the cleanest images of any telescope design. They are simple and reliable (the sealed tube is maintenance-free), and are good for both celestial and terrestrial viewing.    Read more about different telescope designs in our buying guide The German equatorial mount features setting circles and slow motion controls on the R. A. and DEC axes. These controls will enhance your viewing experience by simplifying both locating and tracking objects. When you're looking for a telescope offering a bit more versatility and control than the altazimuth models, these are the telescopes to consider. These telescopes yield breathtaking views of the moon, Saturn with its ring structure, Jupiter and its belts, and hundreds of deep-sky objects including: galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. Add an optional solar filter and you can observe activity on the sun. The FirstScope 70EQ Specifications: 70mm (2. 8") Aperture 900mm Focal Length, f/13 Equatorial Mount with Setting Circles and Slow Motion Adjustment Cables Sturdy Adjustable Aluminum Tripod with Accessory Tray Telescope Weight: 17 lb. The FirstScope 70EQ Standard Accessories: 1-1/4" 20mm (45x), 10mm (90x) Eyepieces 90° Star Diagonal – 1-1/4" Star Pointer Finderscope Equatorial Mount The Sky L1 CD ROM Moon Viewing 101 The moon is often one of the first celestial objects a beginner will look at through his or her telescope. Here are a couple hints for you once you get your hands on your new FirstScope 70. Often, it is tempting to look at the Moon when it is full. At this time, the face we see is fully illuminated and its light can be overpowering. In addition, little or no contrast can be seen during this phase. One of the best times to observe the Moon is during its partial phases (around the time of first or third quarter). Long shadows reveal a great amount of detail on the lunar surface. At low power you will be able to see most of the lunar disk at one time. The optional Reducer/Corrector lens allows for breath-taking views of the entire lunar disk when used with a low power eyepiece. Change to higher power (magnification) to focus in on a smaller area. Choose the lunar tracking rate from the NexStar's MENU tracking rate options to keep the moon centered in the eyepiece even at high magnifications. Observing the Planets Other easy targets include the five "naked eye" planets of our solar system, so called because they can be spotted in the night sky by the unaided eye. You can see Venus go through its lunar-like phases. Mars can reveal a host of surface detail and one, if not both, of its polar caps. You’ll be able to see the cloud belts of Jupiter, perhaps even the great Red Spot. In addition, you’ll be able to see the moons of Jupiter as they orbit the giant planet. Saturn, with its beautiful rings, is easily visible at moderate power, as is Mercury. All you need to know is where to look. Most astronomy publications indicate where the planets are in the sky each month.

close focus: 16 ft; Built-in angled eyepiece that rotates. long 25 mm eye relief and flip-down eyecups are perfect for glasses and non-glasses wearers alike; Sunshade with attached lens cover reduces glare on bright days; Extendable panhead lever tripod for fast, easy set-up; Includes soft-sided carry case; Approx. 24 1/4", 2 1/2 lb. ; An outstanding value in a top-quality spotting scope. Order Today! Barska 20-60x60 mm Spotter SV Spotting Scope with Soft-Sided Case.

At 40X magnification where some low cost spotting scopes are starting to seem fuzzy, the C90 is just getting started. The C90 uses the same 1. 25 inch eyepieces used in astronomical telescopes. The standard equipment 32mm plossl eyepiece gives a magnification of 38X, but many other eyepieces can be used to vary the magnification. A nice upgrade is Celeston’s 8 to 24mm Zoom Eyepiece , which allows you to dial in any magnification from 50X up to 150X. A unique feature of the C90 is the internal flip mirror which allows viewing astronomical objects overhead or terrestrial objects with the 45 degree correct image prism. When I focus on the Moon and planets at night the view is crisp and clear; I can easily make out details like small craters and mountain peaks inside some of the Moon’s large craters. When I looked at Jupiter the other night with an optional 12. 5mm X-Cel eyepiece (about 100X magnification), I could easily see Jupiter’s major cloud bands. The C90 also makes a handy spotting scope in the daytime because it’s small and portable. I can easily transport the scope and a tripod to the lake when I want to do a little wildlife spotting. High magnification viewing requires a solid tripod, of course. Celestron’s Photo and Video Tripod seems steady enough for visual use but it seems a little light for photography. The other drawback to high magnification viewing is a narrow field of view; high magnification makes it harder to follow moving targets like birds in flight. Overall the Celestron C90 Maksutov Spotting Scope does a fine job as a companion to good pair of binoculars. With my 8x40 binoculars I could see two Western Grebes on the lake; with the C90 I could zoom in and watch as the adult grebe offered a freshly caught fish to its offspring. The C90 also doubles as a portable astronomy scope; it won’t show the flag on the Moon but it will show thousands of craters on the Moon as well as showing the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn. -Jeff Phillips Pros: Compact yet powerful Upgradeable with 1. 25" eyepieces Adaptable for astronomy and photography Cons: Narrow field of view Needs a solid tripod.

This is good advice. Using a Firstscope 90 refractor, I found I could get some nice snap shots of hummingbirds at a nearby feeder. The LPI's real-time display allows for more accurate low-light exposures. The LPI feature I like the most is real-time control of the exposure setting. Real-time display literally takes the guesswork out of adjusting focus and exposure times. I tested the LPI system by using my eight-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and 2x Ultima Barlow to photograph Jupiter and Saturn. Sunlight reaching Saturn, for example, is only one percent as bright as sunlight here on Earth. By increasing my exposure time and letting Autostar Suite automatically align and combine the best images, the Lunar and Planetary Imager easily brought out detail like the Cassini division in Saturns rings and cloud bands on the planet itself. When I turned my telescope to Jupiter, I was able to reduce the exposure time and still see Jupiter's moons. The Lunar and Planetary Imager is based on affordable Web-cam technology, but it has been redesigned and optimized for use with a telescope. The LPI acts like an electronic eyepiece and is designed to fit standard 1. 25-inch eyepiece holders. The LPI simply connects to a PC with an included USB cable, but the cable is only about five feet long. The Autostar Suite package includes a number of special features. The "par-focalizing" ring allowed me to use an eyepiece to pre-focus my telescope before connecting the LPI. The package even includes cables and adapters for updating Autostar controllers and operating Autostar based telescopes by remote control from your PC. Realistically, however, the cables are much too short to operate the telescope from inside the house. Meade likes to claim that you can get great results "your first night out. " It might be true. My first LPI images turned out very well indeed! -Jeff Phillips Pros: Easy to use Very good image quality Wide exposure range Cons: Short cables CMOS (not CCD) sensor.

Most exciting is the wide variety of deep sky objects (stars, clusters, nebulae). Because of their optical design, reflectors are best suited for astronomical use. - All you need to know is the general direction of North, your closest major city (included in the instruction manual), plus the date and time, and you will be observing planets, stars and more within moments. - NexStar computerized telescopes are so straightforward, astronomers at all levels can locate over 4,000 pre-programmed stars, planets, and other celestial objects right out of the box. Plus, fully assembled tripod ad pre-installed electronics make set up quick (taking only seconds) and simple. - All of our NexStar Telescopes come equippped with 2- 1. 25" eyepieces and everything you need including the hand controller. - Limited Quantities Available - On Sale Now! Celestron likes to say, "the only simple thing about NexStar is its operation," and we have to agree. The sophisticated NexStar 114 GT is quite easy to assemble, even for a complete novice. Once you put the scope together and mount it on the sturdy aluminum tripod (also included), simply take the hand control with illuminated dual 16-character LCD display, and dial in the date, location, and position of north. Using its quiet, high-precision servo motor, the NexStar automatically aligns itself with the night sky. Reflectors     This is a reflector telescope. Reflectors (also known as Newtonian reflectors or catoptrics) capture light with a mirror at the bottom of a tube, which sends the image to the eyepiece at the top of the tube.    First-time telescope users sometimes have difficulty with the idea of looking through the side of a telescope, but the big draw for reflectors is that they are by far the cheapest to manufacture-and thus offer the best value-of all telescope types. They also generally have zero chromatic aberration.    Read more about different telescope designs in our buying guide From there it is a breeze to select what you want to see using the computerized hand control, which features automatic slewing to over 4,000 celestial objects, as well as manual high-speed slewing and fine-centering at the touch of a button. Even a beginner can master this telescope within just a few observing sessions. Also provided: a Star Pointer finderscope designed to help you point the telescope while scanning the sky with both eyes, the Sky Level I CD-ROM with a database of 10,000 celestial objects, and a sturdy, adjustable aluminum tripod with an accessory tray. Featuring a 114mm (4. 5-inch) diameter Newtonian reflector with a focal length of 1,000mm (focal ratio of f/9), this telescope affords approximately 265 times the light-gathering power of the naked eye. And, with the two eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) included here, it offers maximum magnifications of 40x and 100x, making it capable of revealing fine detail within galaxies and nebulae. The NexStar 114 Newtonian reflector has 265 times the light gathering power of the average human eye, revealing fine detail within galaxies and nebulae. This compact design brings objects into view with a 114mm aperture, 1000mm focal length capable of achieving magnifications of 40x and 100x with the included eyepieces. Its large 4. 5" diameter outshines smaller scopes. Polar caps on Mars become visible along with the cloud belts on Jupiter. The rings of Saturn are also clearly visible. Perhaps most exciting is the sheer variety of deep sky objects (stars, clusters, nebulae). Because of their optical design, reflectors are best suited for astronomical use. Specifications summarized: 114mm (4. 5") diameter Newtonian Reflector Focal Length of 1000mm Focal Ratio of f/9 Weight: 15. 5 Lbs. Standard accessories for the NexStar 114 GT: 25mm (40x) and 10mm (100x) 1. 25" SMA Eyepieces Star Pointer Finderscope The Sky Level I CD-ROM Sturdy, Adjustable Aluminum Tripod with Accessory Tray GT models come with the complete Go-To computer hand control Moon viewing 101 The moon is often one of the first celestial objects a beginner will look at through his or her telescope. Here are a couple hints for you once you get your hands on your new NexStar 114. Often, it is tempting to look at the Moon when it is full. At this time, the face we see is fully illuminated and its light can be overpowering. In addition, little or no contrast can be seen during this phase. One of the best times to observe the Moon is during its partial phases (around the time of first or third quarter). Long shadows reveal a great amount of detail on the lunar surface. At low power you will be able to see most of the lunar disk at one time. The optional Reducer/Corrector lens allows for breath-taking views of the entire lunar disk when used with a low power eyepiece. Change to higher power (magnification) to focus in on a smaller area. Choose the lunar tracking rate from the NexStar's MENU tracking rate options to keep the moon centered in the eyepiece even at high magnifications. Observing the Planets Other fascinating targets include the five naked-eye planets. You can see Venus go through its lunar-like phases. Mars can reveal a host of surface detail and one, if not both, of its polar caps. You will be able to see the cloud belts of Jupiter and the great Red Spot (if it is visible at the time you are observing). In addition, you will also be able to see the moons of Jupiter as they orbit the giant planet. Saturn, with its beautiful rings, is easily visible at moderate power. Remember that atmospheric conditions are usually the limiting factor on how much planetary detail will be visible. So avoid observing the planets when they are low on the horizon or when they are directly over a source of radiating heat, such as a rooftop or chimney. The Nuts and Bolts of the NexStar 114 GT Lens Cover Optical Tube Fork Arm Tripod Accessory Tray w/ hand control holder Hand Control Collimation Adjustment Knobs Tube Ring Eyepiece Star Pointer Finderscope.