Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker 70EQ Telescope

by Celestron

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 39 x 13 x 10 inches ; 21.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 22 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001592LFC
• Item model number: 21037
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,529 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
  • #27 in Camera & Photo > Binoculars, Telescopes & Optics > Telescopes > Refractors
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Product Review

Product Review Celestron’s PowerSeeker 70 EQ telescope combines the solid optical performance of a classic achromatic refractor with a light weight equatorial mount. This telescope has half the light gathering power and half the weight of Celestron’s classic C102 refractor telescope, for much less than half the cost.

With fully coated optics and an image correcting diagonal prism, the PowerSeeker 70 EQ shows delightfully crisp daylight views when I use the low power 20mm eyepiece (35x magnification). With my Powershot camera I can take pictures of birds as close as 30 feet away, and with my NexImage CCD the Moon and planets show only a little false color at high magnification. The high power 4mm eyepiece (175x magnification) shows surprisingly good close-up views of the planets. When I look at the Moon for instance, I can easily pick out details like the mountain peaks and terraced walls inside Crater Copernicus. My view of Saturn shows Saturn’s rings plainly separated from the planet, and bright double stars like Castor in the constellation Gemini and Algieba in Leo are cleanly split into two tiny beads of light.

The PowerSeeker equatorial mount is a light weight model but it handles the 70mm optical tube reasonably well. Vibrations are noticeable when I touch the focus knob, but the image stabilizes in about two seconds which is quite acceptable. Some of the other accessories included with the PowerSeeker 70 EQ are less inspiring. The finder scope seems to be all plastic; I needed to wrap a little tape around the finder to make it fit properly in its bracket. The worst accessory in my view is the 3x barlow. No doubt Celestron includes this 3x plastic barlow to compete with the so-called '500 power' 'professional model' telescopes found in toy stores. I'd prefer to see a nice 10mm eyepiece for 70x magnification included instead of the 3x barlow.

Overall the PowerSeeker 70 EQ is a really nice addition to Celestron’s value priced PowerSeeker series. Of all the PowerSeekers I like this one best because of its fine optical performance and because the accessories are solid enough to be truly usable. This is a real telescope and it’s capable of serving up delightful views to the junior astronomer or the family on a budget. --Jeff Phillips

Pros:

• Surprisingly good optics
• Correct image diagonal included
• EQ mount with slow motion controls
• High and low power eyepieces

Cons:

• Plastic finder scope
• Plastic 3x barlow

Product Description

70mm (2.8") diameter refractor, 700mm focal length (f/10), German equatorial mount with RA and DEC slow-motion controls and setting circles, 5x24 finderscope, 20mm eyepiece (35x) - 1-1/4", 4mm eyepiece (175x) - 1-1/4", erect image diagonal - 1-1/4", Barlow lens 3x - 1-1/4", adjustable aluminum tripod with accessory tray, "The Sky Level 1" CD-ROM. Metallic charcoal black tube color.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Beginners Scope, January 7, 2009

By 

N. B. Dyches (Southern U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker 70EQ Telescope (Electronics)

I bought this as a christmas present and also wound up putting it together and checking it out.

You can see the moon very clearly and very vividly, but that is about it. Any other stars are simply too far away to really get a good view of. As a beginners scope this is fantastic. Relatively easy to put together, fun to look through. Highly recommended for astral enthusiasts.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is not for kids as usability is concerned, May 13, 2010

By 

B. B. Talukdar "Cosmiccop" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker 70EQ Telescope (Electronics)

I ordered this item for my nephew who is around 12 year old. I set it up myself first and realized that it would be too hard for a kid to use it to its effectiveness. It's a good product for the price you pay especially the build quality is really good. I would like the eye-pieces to be little more advanced to help to see things easily in case of much ambient light around the user. Focusing this telescope this is not an easy job for the beginners. One has to spend time with it to actually make use of it. I had to return it.

5.0 out of 5 stars simple design, works, January 23, 2012

By 

Julie Miller (oklahoma) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celestron 21037 PowerSeeker 70EQ Telescope (Electronics)

a nice scope for the price. its sturdy (at least mine is) hard to locate a star or distant planet, all the wigglys and wobblys kinda over the mark. but a good sound scope.