Customer Reviews

Celestron 21041 60mm PowerSeeker Telescope

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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

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 thing everyone comments on in seeing this scope and then learning what I paid for it is: "Wow- that's a lot of scope for the bucks!". Indeed, it's got all the attachments for a well rounded amateur's scope not only for star gazing, but also for terrestrial viewing.

Included in the accessories and all 1.25" diameter, is: (1) a Star Diagonal (90 degree angle adaptor). (2) a 20mm eyepiece. (3) a 4mm eyepiece. (4) a 3x Barlow Lens. (5) a 1.5 Erecting eyepiece for terrestrial viewing. (6) a 5x24 Finderscope. (7) and an Accessory Tray for the various lens.

By easily removing the accessory tray to allow full collapsing of the tripod legs, then tilting the scope to full vertical position, the whole assembly can be made ready for easy transport or storage. Celestron carries a full line of accessories from different eyepieces to filters, etc. This is a real bargain!

Perfect first telescope--and not just for kids--I bought this for my husband who has always talked about getting one but we never wanted to shell out too much $. This was the perfect solution. It looks "cool" (apparently a hit with my husband and boys!) and has already been getting many trips outside to get a good look at the stars and moon!

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. Seems well constructed, tripod is nice. As others have mentioned, you won't get anywhere near the max mag specified. Best images are using the 20mm eyepiece. I get decent, if dark, images using the 4mm piece. The Barlow lens is worthless, even using the 20mm (though i'm not sure why--should be less magnification with Barlow + 20mm than with 4mm alone). All in all, pretty good for the money.

We purchased this telescope for our son as an 8th birthday present. We were a little skeptical due to the scope being so inexpensive. Not wanting to spend a fortune on a telescope if our son was not interesed, this one had the right price. We definitely make the right choice. We are thrilled with the quality! We can see the moon so clear and in great detail. We and our son love using it. I would highly recommend this scope as first.

The smaller eyepiece for finding the object you want is easier to use than the larger for detailed viewing, but this is a very nice starter telescope for your kids.

I bought this Telescope for my son, expecting to be able to see the stars...

These are a couple of problems related to telescopes in general, this one in particular is not an exception:

* Telescopes are difficult to use, locating stars/planets is quite difficult, and requires a lot of patience (not all kids come with this!)

* When you get to, say, the Moon, what you see is a bit disappointing... It is only a bit bigger, you see more detail, but nothing else.

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 telescopes.

The price is right for this type of instruments.I am pleased that it has a metal tube instead of plastic ones and comes with two eye-pieces. The tripod is okay---I weigh it heavier with a stone kept on the accoessory tray in the middle!