Celestron 21041 60mm PowerSeeker Telescope

Celestron's value priced Powerseeker 60 telescope takes a basic just the facts approach to affordable entry level telescopes. The package includes an adjustable aluminum tripod with an alt-azimuth mount and stabilizer, a Kellner type K20 eyepiece, a Ramsden type SR4 eyepiece, a 3x barlow lens, and a 5 power cross-hair finder scope.The Powerseeker 60 comes disassembled in a compact box, but it won't take long to put everything together.

The Saturn's rings and star cluster M13 in Hercules came with a 60mm telescope. The secret is to use the low power K20 eyepiece and only extend the tripod legs half-way. This gives a sharp and steady views, whether looking at nearby hills, craters on the Moon, the Double Cluster in Perseus, or even the Andromeda Galaxy!

With a 1.25 focuser and diagonal mirror, it's easy to add better eyepieces. The Kellner type K20 eyepiece yields a 1.1 degree true field of view, better than the Huygens or H-type eyepieces still found in many beginner scopes. Adding an optional Celestron 25mm E-Lux eyepiece is better still. With nearly 2 degrees true field of view, the 25mm E-lux makes it much easier to find objects, either on land or in deep space.

The SR4 eyepiece is less impressive; it's like peeking through a pin-hole. Adding the 3x barlow to the SR4 to get that 525x proclaimed on the box is peeking through a dim, fuzzy pin-hole. It's good enough to show the Saturn's rings at night or a Steller's Jay at 100 yards during the day.

It includes two useable eyepieces, a red-dot finder, and planetarium software for your computer.

Pros:

• Low cost
• Decent optics
• Accepts 1.25 eyepieces

Cons:

• Too small for serious astronomy
• Only one good eyepiece