Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope

by Celestron

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 32 x 16 x 10 inches ; 17 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 21 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000MLL6R8
• Item model number: 31042
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,236 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
  • #15 in Camera & Photo > Binoculars, Telescopes & Optics > Telescopes > Reflectors
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Celestron’s AstroMaster 114 EQ reflector telescope offers more than three times the light gathering power of 60mm beginner scopes in a system that is compact yet powerful. The package includes a new version of Celestron’s CG-2 equatorial mount with a rugged steel tripod. Two eyepieces are included, the 20mm eyepiece is an erect-image design with 50x magnification and the 10mm eyepiece produces 100x magnification. The AstroMaster 114 EQ also features a built-in red dot finder, fully illustrated instructions, and easy no-tool setup. The package even provides a student version of “The Sky” astronomy software to help you find stars and planets.

The AstroMaster 114 is a modified Newtonian design. Using a short focal length primary mirror and built in corrector lens, the AstroMaster 114 has an effective focal length of 40 inches (1000mm) in a tube only 18 inches long. Both eyepieces provide images that are pleasingly sharp. The 20mm eyepiece (50x magnification) nicely frames the Moon, and daylight images are sharp with plenty of contrast. The 10mm eyepiece (100x magnification) does a nice job zooming in on lunar craters or on the planets. With the 10mm eyepiece or with my own 6mm eyepiece (166x) I can clearly focus in on Saturn’s rings and pick up details like the shadow cast by the rings on the planet.

I also like the solid design of Celestron’s new CG-2 equatorial mount. With the help of Celestron’s fully illustrated quick set-up guide it took only a few minutes to assemble the equatorial mount and clamp the optical tube in place. The whole telescope is compact enough to carry outside in one trip. Aligning the telescope is a simple matter of pointing the equatorial axis at Polaris, the North Star. Then I can track the motion of stars and planets by simply turning one slow motion knob. The AstroMaster 114 EQ seems quite stable on its CG-2 mount, a little wobble while focusing damps out quickly as soon as I let go of the focus knob.

With good optics, a solid mount, two eyepieces, and fully illustrated instructions, the AstroMaster 114 EQ reflector telescope is a very good introductory telescope. The one feature that is not so easy to use is the built in star pointer, which is best suited only for finding bright objects like the Moon and planets. I can overcome the narrow field of view somewhat by using an optional 32mm plossl eyepiece while looking for deep space objects because its wider field of view makes stars and planets easier to locate. --Jeff Phillips

Shot at 50X with Powershot camera	Shot at 200X with NexImage camera
Shot at 200X with NexImage camera	Shot at 50X with Powershot camera

 

 Pros:

Compact yet powerful optics

Easy no-tool setup

Fully illustrated instructions

Three times brighter than 60mm scopes

Cons:

Star pointer not so easy to use

Product Description

If you're looking for a dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing, then the AstroMaster Series is for you. Each AstroMaster model is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. The AstroMaster Series produce bright, clear images of the Moon and planets. It is easy to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with every one of these fine instruments. For views of the brighter deep space objects like galaxies and nebulae, we recommend the larger aperture and light gathering ability of the Newtonian reflectors.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good bang for the buck, February 1, 2008

By 

Jesse Block (UT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope (Electronics)

I bought this as my first telescope to explore the sky and I am VERY pleased. It's a high quality scope, and the mount and tripod are the kind you get with higher end models. Mine came with an incorrect piece, I contacted the Celestron, and I had a new piece in 3 days. Very nice service. I to had problems finding stars at first, so I went to an astronomy forum and found out the correct way to do it. From there, I haven't had a problem finding anything.

The 2 main things are 1) calibrate your finder first and 2) use the right eye piece when looking for something (this scope comes with a 10mm and a 20mm, so you would want to use the 20 to find and 10 to magnify once you found what it is your looking for). I have found Astronomy is not a hobby where you can easily learn stuff through trial and error, and most frustration comes when you try just that.

The only thing it's lacking is an eyepiece that goes to it's full magnification. I'm buying a 5mm for this, but if they included that, they would have to up the price. So all in all, this in my opinion is the best bang for the buck telescope out there for beginners on a budget!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good beginning-to-intermediate telescope, February 2, 2010

By 

G. Gonzalez (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope (Electronics)

I bought this as a Christmas gift for myself and my 7 year old son (OK, mostly for me). It's put together very well. As a Newtonian, its hollow, which makes it feel somewhat odd, but certainly doesn't have that "plasticy" feel. Feels nice and sturdy. The stand is great and makes for an overall good setup. It's been cloudy throughout all of January, so we haven't had much chance to actually use it. We did manage to get out and find Mars during a rare (albeit cold) clear night. The finder scope is nearly impossible to use, though. We spent about an hour just trying to point it at Mars, and by the time we got the planet aligned with the scope I couldn't seem to be able to adjust the finder scope to actually be useful. I'll play with the finder scope more on a warmer night - perhaps I'm just doing it wrong? Overall, though, I'm quite satisfied. A definite upgrade from the "toy" telescope I bought from a department store years ago. Also, it just looks like a scientific instrument - so much so that my wife doesn't mind it standing quietly on display in the corner of our living room. (Of course, we're both aerospace engineers, so our tastes for decor might be a bit different than the norm.)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very pleased, December 16, 2009

By 

John L. Montes "John Montes" (McKinney, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope (Electronics)

The telescope was definitely easy to setup with the quick setup guide, was ready to go in 15 minutes. We looked at the moon first with the 20mm supplied lens, saw lots of detail, craters etc. The user manual could be simplified a bit related to more of the technical setup/balancing methods.

The second night out we viewed Jupiter and at least 3 of the 4 moons with the supplied 10mm eyepiece after initially getting it into the field of view with the 20mm eye piece. The Jupiter images looked white, will probably have to add filters and a different eye piece to the set in order to bring out more of the color and gas cloud bands of Jupiter.

This is our first family telescope and the kids really enjoy it.