Unbeatable for the small price

Unbeatable for the small price

Celestron Telescope FirstScope 76 (Toys)

Customer Review

I got this small telescope as a birthday present, together with the Additional kit. To equal one to emphasize first: the Firstscope makes to its name: it can enable enterprises wonderful first insight into the fascinating world of astronomy, in any case, if the colored, sharp and rich in detail glossy images (recorded with expensive equipment and long exposure) banished from the head - that has to do with warm namely visual astronomy bit.

With realistic expectations that FirstScope is a pleasure experience, but first some information on accessories. Included are two eyepieces of rather meager (albeit useful) quality (Huygens / Ramsden) with 20 mm and 4 mm focal length. Additional kit in two of these eyepieces with 12.5 mm and 6 mm focal length are again included. For the moon observation (resp. Planet) the small focal lengths are quite suitable, because planets are bright enough. Unfortunately, however, the so-called deep-sky observation (ie more distant objects, for example, star clusters.) So that - at least from my location, a relatively dark terrace on the edge of a major city - hardly sensible feasible. Only with a 4 mm Super Plössl I could recognize stars sufficiently bright even at 75x magnification, but here comes the little telescope clearly reached its limits.

A light came to me - in the truest sense - on when I was a Skywatcher Ultra Wide Angle eyepiece indulged the Firstscope with 9 mm focal length. So I see - thanks to a large field - almost 'as much as before with the cheap 20mm Huygens eyepiece, only natural in a higher (33x instead of 15x) magnification. Although cost me the ocular extra money, but that is very well invested in this case.

I would recommend that a decent 9mm eyepiece (eg. Plössl or Skywatcher Wide Angle) At length one and also invested in a good viewfinder, then that makes the observation with the small and sweet Firstscope only really fun. I bought a cheap LED Red Dot Finder, so you can make objects very easy to find: simply align the red dot on the target area and you're done.

The viewfinder of the accessory kit, however I had no joy (see review for accessory). My telescope is currently on a converted flower stand, but I'm considering whether I should build a simple tripod itself, an interesting way with instructions can be found on the Internet. (Searches for construction manual would 'Firstscope ow budget tripod assembly instructions', direct links may unfortunately not be specified). For more experienced observers of the viewfinder may nevertheless be sufficient, but for an Astro-beginners (like me), it was a relief to be able to operate with the Red Dot Finder (Celestron red dot sight viewfinder Star Pointer). Very experienced observers will probably garkeinen seekers need because they can already flush with the 20mm eyepiece the desired objects, but this is for an inexperienced observer certainly hardly feasible, because you can see through the eyepiece many more stars than the naked eye. Another reason why the LED red dot finder is useful; it does not increase, so you can fine based on the constellations.

While I'm at constellations: a rotatable sky map as an additional acquisition extremely helpful indeed is the telescoping a beautiful and detailed instructions with good observation examples and useful information with, but once you get visitors find themselves in the sky and also an idea of ​​the movement of the Stars would win (metaphorically speaking), then is a Planisphere Sky quasi the ticket to the world of astronomy. And so that you can read in the dark the map (resp. Instructions), without losing by a flash flashlight the dark adaptation of the eye at once, even a red light should be purchased.

Now it is clear that we still have a lot of accessories (but all very inexpensive snacks basically) needed with the telescope - just a beginner - to have a real pleasure. All in all I have so spent about 100 Euro in addition, but I did not regret it. After all, you would buy all those things anyway and in others they are also not favorable telescopes at, so it is an investment for the future.

Operation of the First Scopes is easy, and the build quality has convinced me. The image is - even with the simple Huygens eyepieces - sharp, at least as far as I can judge it as Astro rookie.

My observations so far in the night sky:

The moon is a worthy object, here you can already many details (craters) recognize. Jupiter could be seen only a small, bright white dot even with 75x magnification in the Super Plössl which was entwined with a few tiny dots (the moons). Cloud bands I could not tell if they are (with filters, for example.) Actually occasionally should recognize (with good visibility and increased observation of experience), but then probably only suggested, because the visible point (Jupiter) is really at 75x magnification still very small, Here one should not raise any false illusions. Saturn I - season conditions - can not watch, but I suppose that the ring here also - if any - will be guessed only partially.

The strength of the telescope is for me, that ever holds as Astro rookie a very flexible and easy to use device in hand. So you can find some - albeit far from the sample image in the instructions - objects such as globular clusters M13, this I see (but at less than ideal observing conditions) as murky, wattebauschigen point, single star I can not even recognize. Still, for me, it's already been an impressive experience.

Otherwise, it gives me great fun when I walk on a clear night in peace through the Milky Way and the twinkling stars (the one in Firstscope at low magnification of course much more impressive looks than with the naked eye) can be admired. As I said at the beginning: if you banished the glossy images of astrophotography from the head, then the observation pleasure nothing stands in the way.

But what one absolutely needs to have fun with the small telescope: patience and interest. After the spectacular viewing pleasure in my opinion is only when one is able to perceive the seemingly unspectacular little things. Then one feels for example, a small high feeling when you successfully separated a binary star or a distant star cluster has captured as a barely visible spot in the eyepiece.

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