Locate and observe objects in the night sky with this telescope that features StarBright XLT coatings for optimal light transmission and a StarPointer finderscope that helps you find and align objects easily.
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This is an excellent telescope for the serious amateur, and even for the intermediate astronomer. Though the aperture is a little on the small side, it has very good optics, The maximum useful magnification is 241x with a 5.5mm lens. Note that at this magnification, the image is a little fuzzy and a little dark, but all that should be expected for a scope of this size. Several bands of Jupiter are visible, and its moons appear as bright stars. A satisfying image! I have read that your best images through earth's atmosphere are limited to 300x magnification, but I don't really know how true that is. This is also an excellent terrain telescope. With the $100 rebate, it is more than your money's worth- an outstanding buy! Its size allows you to take on trips and enjoy views over land or overhead. The GoTo and auto-tracking are also dead on! The GoTo takes a little practice to achieve good accuracy. Once you're sure of how deep you want to go into astronomy, opt for at least an 8" to 12" scope if you're in an area with little light pollution. Lower magnifications of 300x would give very clear images with a scope this size. Keep in mind that Dobsonians are not terrain scopes, and are not for use in areas with a lot of street lights, and they're not very portable. But this Celestron scope is very portable, and for that reason, along with its very good optics, makes it a very good addition to any astronomer's collection. Be sure to get the Power-Pack. NOTE: I'm using Meade 5000 Series lenses.