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Technical Details
- Affordable telescope for beginning astronomer; portable yet powerful
- All-glass optical components with high transmission coatings for enhanced image brightness and clarity
- Refractor optical design with a 60mm aperture and 700mm focal length
- Altazimuth mount suitable for terrestial viewing as well as astronomical use
- Includes 3x Barlow Lens (1.25"), 20mm eyepiece, 4mm eyepiece, aluminum tripod with accessory tray
Product Details
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Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Celestron's value priced PowerSeeker 60 is an affordable entry level telescope with some nice extras like a correct image prism and "The Sky" astronomy software included. The package also includes an Alt-Azimuth mount with adjustable aluminum tripod, high and low power eyepieces, a 3X barlow lens, and a 5 power cross hair finder scope.
The PowerSeeker 60AZ comes disassembled in a compact box, but the fully illustrated quick set-up guide makes it easy to assemble. Go ahead and try it out in the daytime, that's the best time to align the finder scope while looking at a distant tree or telephone pole.
The optics of the PowerSeeker 60AZ are surprisingly good, especially when I use the low power 20mm eyepiece. The correct image prism and the 20mm eyepiece give me a magnification of 35X, so backyard birds seem five times closer than with my seven power binoculars. My first view of Saturn's rings and globular cluster M13 in the constellation Hercules came with a 60mm telescope similar to the PowerSeeker 60, and the new PowerSeeker 60AZ is just as good showing me literally hundreds of craters on the Moon.
The PowerSeeker 60 can be upgraded with standard 1.25 inch telescope eyepieces. A 25mm plossl eyepiece for example gives a true field of view of almost 2 degrees for delightful views of star clusters like the Pleiades, while a 6mm eyepiece provides a magnification of 117X, just right to see the rings of Saturn or the cloud bands on Jupiter. The Alt-Azimuth mount included with the PowerSeeker 60AZ is lighter and easier to use than an Equatorial mount, but it does not track stars and planets. As soon as you get the Moon centered in the eyepiece it starts drifting toward the edge, this is caused by rotation of the Earth. The Moon may stay in the low power eyepiece for two or three minutes, but with the high power 4mm eyepiece (175X magnification) a star will disappear in only twenty or thirty seconds.
Celestron's PowerSeeker 60AZ is a real value because it has surprisingly good optics in a package that's light, portable and affordable. The drawback is that it has a lot of plastic parts, including the finder scope and the 3X barlow. For a more rugged alternative, take a look at Celestron's AstroMaster 70AZ which has more powerful optics, better eyepieces, and a much sturdier Alt-Azimuth mount. --Jeff Phillips
Pros:
- Surprisingly good optics
- Correct image prism
- Easy no tool set-up
- Light, portable, and affordable
- Does not track stars and planets
- Plastic finder and barlow lens
- Light weight tripod
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Product Description
Offering exceptional value, these telescopes feature portable yet powerful designs with ample optical performance to excite any newcomer to the world of amateur astronomy.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
110 of 116 people found the following review helpful
I am pleasantly surprised by the telescope I got for the price. It was intended for casual observing and I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. It has all the accessories needed for viewing. High powered eyepiece, low powered eyepiece, adjustable tripod (stable for this size) and fine adjustment control for easy panning. I have shopped telescopes before and noticed that the tripods and eyepieces aren't too good in quality. But this one is different. I love the way it is easy to use for land viewing and gives nice views of the moon and its craters, specially when I use the high powered eyepiece. Its pretty lightweight so I can take it outside easily. It assembles easily and in my opinion is a very easy to use telescope. Overall, a nice telescope at a great price.
31 of 37 people found the following review helpful
This is a good example of the kind of scope astronomers warn beginners away from.
The first red flag is the ridiculously high advertised magnification of "600x." Do you know what you will see at 600x in this scope? Nothing but a dim blur. Note that the objective (main) lens is 60mm. All telescope optics have inherent limitations; maximum useful magnification per millimeter of aperture is about 2x. Therefore, with any attempt to use this scope at magnification of over 120-140x, the increase in image size will be more than offset by breakdown, and that's even assuming the quality of the objective lens is any good.
The finder is useless; a 6x30 is barely adequate, and this is not even that big. Finding any object other than the moon will be an exercise in frustration. the 1 1/4" size of the eyepiece is creditable, but too high a mignification for this scope. And the field of view is in doubt, and don't even think of using the barlow. Buy this scope, and after a few outings, it will most likely sit in the attic. The review immediately before mine is correct. This is no way to get started in astronomy.
In a way, it is hard to fault Celestron for making and marketing this scope. Their upper-tier instruments are quite good, but the big money appears to be made on mass market toys like this. In one sense the sale of these scopes subsidizes their good models. Just make sure, gentle reader, to stay away from the toys.
Using an astronomical telescope is not like playing an MP3 file and but rather like playing a guitar. It is a learned skill. And you must do a lot of homework before you buy a telescope. Buying without prior experience is like buying a car without knowing anything about driving. If you want to see the wonders of the sky, contact your local astronomy club and attend one of their star parties. The members love sharing their hobby and can set you straight as to how to get started. The best way is to learn the sky with the unaided eye and 10x50 binoculars (decent ones are available on this website), then graduate to something along the lines of a 150-200mm (6-8") Dobsonian; Celestron's own 6" Starhopper can be found on Amazon for under $290.
For more information on buying telescopes, see my encyclopedic guide on Amazon: "So you want to buy a telescope."
The first red flag is the ridiculously high advertised magnification of "600x." Do you know what you will see at 600x in this scope? Nothing but a dim blur. Note that the objective (main) lens is 60mm. All telescope optics have inherent limitations; maximum useful magnification per millimeter of aperture is about 2x. Therefore, with any attempt to use this scope at magnification of over 120-140x, the increase in image size will be more than offset by breakdown, and that's even assuming the quality of the objective lens is any good.
The finder is useless; a 6x30 is barely adequate, and this is not even that big. Finding any object other than the moon will be an exercise in frustration. the 1 1/4" size of the eyepiece is creditable, but too high a mignification for this scope. And the field of view is in doubt, and don't even think of using the barlow. Buy this scope, and after a few outings, it will most likely sit in the attic. The review immediately before mine is correct. This is no way to get started in astronomy.
In a way, it is hard to fault Celestron for making and marketing this scope. Their upper-tier instruments are quite good, but the big money appears to be made on mass market toys like this. In one sense the sale of these scopes subsidizes their good models. Just make sure, gentle reader, to stay away from the toys.
Using an astronomical telescope is not like playing an MP3 file and but rather like playing a guitar. It is a learned skill. And you must do a lot of homework before you buy a telescope. Buying without prior experience is like buying a car without knowing anything about driving. If you want to see the wonders of the sky, contact your local astronomy club and attend one of their star parties. The members love sharing their hobby and can set you straight as to how to get started. The best way is to learn the sky with the unaided eye and 10x50 binoculars (decent ones are available on this website), then graduate to something along the lines of a 150-200mm (6-8") Dobsonian; Celestron's own 6" Starhopper can be found on Amazon for under $290.
For more information on buying telescopes, see my encyclopedic guide on Amazon: "So you want to buy a telescope."
83 of 105 people found the following review helpful
This scope is not a good starter scope for anyone interested in astronomy. Here's why:
1. The objective is too small, only 60 mm, 2.36 inches, so it is too small to bring in the light necessary for even a beginning look at the universe. I suppose it is adequate for the moon, but that is it. The planets will appear as very small disks. One will be able to see Saturn's rings, but the image will be very small. Forget it for deep sky objects, clusters, galaxies, etc.
2. The mount is an altazimuth, which will not follow the celestial object in the sky. The earth is rotating, and anyone focusing on a star or moon will quickly find the object drifting out of the field of vision. A better mount is an equatorial mount which makes it much easier to track objects.
3. The 4mm eyepiece is too powerful for this scope. The observer will find it hard to look through (very small eye opening), and will in most cases cause blurred images. The 20 mm eyepiece is the only functional eyepiece. The barlow is a 3x, which again is too poweerful for this scope.
4. The mount will vibrate when touched, which will cause the image in the eyepiece to "shiver", which is very frustrating.
Even for the low price, don't be enticed by this scope; it has too many flaws. Save your money for a larger scope with a better mount. I suggest the following: Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ Telescope; Orion Observer 70mm EQ Refractor Telescope
konedog
1. The objective is too small, only 60 mm, 2.36 inches, so it is too small to bring in the light necessary for even a beginning look at the universe. I suppose it is adequate for the moon, but that is it. The planets will appear as very small disks. One will be able to see Saturn's rings, but the image will be very small. Forget it for deep sky objects, clusters, galaxies, etc.
2. The mount is an altazimuth, which will not follow the celestial object in the sky. The earth is rotating, and anyone focusing on a star or moon will quickly find the object drifting out of the field of vision. A better mount is an equatorial mount which makes it much easier to track objects.
3. The 4mm eyepiece is too powerful for this scope. The observer will find it hard to look through (very small eye opening), and will in most cases cause blurred images. The 20 mm eyepiece is the only functional eyepiece. The barlow is a 3x, which again is too poweerful for this scope.
4. The mount will vibrate when touched, which will cause the image in the eyepiece to "shiver", which is very frustrating.
Even for the low price, don't be enticed by this scope; it has too many flaws. Save your money for a larger scope with a better mount. I suggest the following: Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ Telescope; Orion Observer 70mm EQ Refractor Telescope
konedog
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great telescope for the price!!
The telescope arrived in a timely manner. My husband and daughter enjoy looking at the stars and the moon. It is a great telescope for the price.
Published 4 months ago by Rebekah
Celestron - Christmas present
Delivery quick. It was a Christmas present for my grandson.
My son set it up, however, took a little time as there were no
written instructions inside the box.
My son set it up, however, took a little time as there were no
written instructions inside the box.
Published 4 months ago by jvsfhvn
Telescope
I bought this telescope for my son as a birthday present. He had been asking for one for a while. So far we used it only once and had no problems. Read more
Published 6 months ago by E
A great value for beginner telescope
I bought this telescope in spite of some negative comments here for the features of this telescope which is meant for beginners. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Pramila Srinivasan
A GOOD BEGINNER'S TELESCOPE
This is indeed a good beginner's telescope in the range of 50 to 70 mm aperture; it is easy to use;great for children; dont expect too much ,compared to bigger reflector or mirror... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Srinivasan Nenmeli Krishna
So bad products
I am so ungry y sad, because was birhtday gifs to my son; this telescope has very bad focus, is impossible seen the moon, less the planets, more bad impossible. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gustavo Rivas
This is Christmas present for my 10 year old grandson.
Thia is a Christmas present for my 10 year old grandson. We have not opened it yet.We will on Dec 25!
Published 17 months ago by BetsyJ60
Doesnt work at night??
It was an easy assemble process and I have used it during the day and it works just fine but for some reason (manufacture error or my own) at night you cant see a thing weither the... Read more
Published 17 months ago by sarah
Not worth the money
I bought this telescope with the idea to use to see the moon with it, and maybe do a little bird watching, and things like that. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Charlene
Not bad for the $$$
I bought this for terrestrial viewing. First, this is a $40 scope. Don't expect the Hubble here...
For my purposes this works fairly well. Read more
For my purposes this works fairly well. Read more
Published on April 27, 2010 by Nola Mike
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