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A little telescope that remains popular year after year is the Celestron FirstScope.

This is a tiny, lightweight telescope. It's designed to sit on a table or other flat surface. The FirstScope is a Newtonian reflector, the same type that was invented by Isaac Newton way back in 1668. It was such a genius design that astronomer still use them almost unchanged to this day! 

The Celestron FirstScope could be easily handled by junior astronomer, as young as 6 or 7, however it's a real telescope and not a toy. This means you get great views of:

• Craters and mountains on the Moon
• Bright nebulae
• Star clouds in the Milky Way
• Star clusters, especially spectacular globular clusters
• Stars that are too faint to be see with your eyes alone

The Celestron FirstScope comes with two eyepieces for different magnifications.

You can learn more about the Celestron FirstScope here.

 

The $199 Meade Infinity 70 is affordable way to get started with a reflector telescope. It uses a lens at the front of the telescope rather than a mirror. The longer focal length of the Infinity means Solar System planets can be seen as small worlds in the telescope's eyepiece.

Also included is a full height aluminium tripod and mount with a slow motion control for fine adjustments.

You'll see 

• Craters and mountains on the Moon
• Bright nebulae
• Star clouds in the Milky Way
• Rings of Saturn and Jupiter with its moons
• Star clusters, especially spectacular globular clusters
• Stars that are too faint to be see with your eyes alone

Two eyepieces are included and a small finder scope to help you locate astro objects in the night sky. 

Find out more about the Meade Infinity 70 here.

Is there a slight more advanced option? 

Yes - there's a number of larger Meade beginner's telescopes going up to $349.

Find out more here.

For $349 with free Australia wide shipping , the Celestron FirstScope LT70 AZ is a remarkable telescope.

This is also a 70mm refractor telescope but it has a handy feature that learning and discovering the Universe much easier, especially from city and suburban locations. 

Place your Apple iPhone or Android phone on the special Celestron StarSense cradle and run an app that's included with the telescope and it show you how to point the telescope at any one of a vast array of objects in its database so it will be eyepiece ready for viewing. If you've ever used maps in your car, you'll be able to use the Celestron StarSense system.

Like to look at Saturn tonight, but not sure where to find it? Can I see a galaxy tonight? How to find the Great Orion Nebula? Celestron StarSense does all this and even offers personalised guided tours for your location. 

 

You'll see:

• Craters and mountains on the Moon
• Bright nebulae
• Bright galaxies - some millions of light years away
• Star clouds in the Milky Way
• Rings of Saturn and Jupiter with its moons
• Star clusters, especially spectacular globular clusters
• Stars that are too faint to be see with your eyes alone

Over the last few years we've sold thousands of Celestron StarSense Explorer telescopes and received overwhelming positive feedback from our customers who pop in buy additional accessories or upgrade to larger model. The ability to quickly find and discover astro objects - many of which you've even heard off - means you'll see more each nigh.

Highly recommended by BINTEL!

Learn more about the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT70 AZ here.

Are there more advanced models in the Celestron StarSense Explorer model line up?

Yes! The LT70 AZ is the more affordable model in the range. There's an entire series for a range of different types and sizes. Find out more here.

For example, the LT70 AZ telescope has a 70mm diameter lens which collects about 100 time as much light as your eye. The larger, $375 StarSense Explorer LT80 AZ has a 80mm diameter main lens. This might not sound like big difference, but it collects around 130 times as much light as your eye - a 30% increase for brighter and sharper views. 

We'll be covering sub-$1000 telescopes next week and chatting about some fully computerised models as well.

Cheers,

Earl White

BINTEL

28th November 2024