Celestron 21061 AstroMaster 70AZ Refractor Telescope

The celestron Astromaster 70 As is just an astronomical marvel .First of all the packaging was very good taking care that non of the components were damaged during transit. The components of the scope were very easy to assemble requiring no use of the manual at all. The tripod is sturdy,heavy and made of cast iron which gives this awesome tripod a lot of stability. The pan handle of this tripod makes movement both in horizontal and vertical direction very easy. The tripod comes with lock capability to stabilize the scope at a particular site in the sky. Coming to the telescope itself,its just a beauty with a dark glossy blue paint which gives the scope a lot of glamour. The optics are fully coated to give crisp view. The objective is covered with a 2 inch collar which prevents scattered light to enter the objective . its also has its own cap to prevent dust entry. The scope comes with fully coated 20 mm and 10 mm eyepieces of 1.25 diameter. Even though both are Kellner eyepieces the 10 mm gives excellent view of both land and sky objects. The 10 mm is a bit letdown. However upgradation to 15 mm super plossl gives awesome views. The moon has gotten so near coz of this scope.All craters are easily visible and the smooth rack and pinion focuser makes focusing a glory. Venus going through its lunar like transits are easily visible, Jupiter with its moons.the cloud band of Jupiter can be easily appreciated. Saturn with its rings is just a sight to take ones breathe away.mars with a little adjustment reveals its ice caps with this scope. The orion nebula and deep sky objects like Andromeda galaxy are visible through it. The scope also has its own utility tray for keeping spare eyepieces.The scope comes along with a led finderscope which can be adjusted with two finger screws to bring the finder's dots in alignment with the telescope. This telescope even comes with its own sky software which is also very easy to use. One can chose his own location in the pc and locate objects in the sky with ease.However there is always room for improvement by celestron.The telescope is little jerky at high magnificatins which needs correction. The 10 mm eyepiece should be changed.it has very little eye relief. Since its a 70 mm f13 objective so one should not hope of getting useable magnifications above 140x. I had a 6 inch reflector but this gives much clearer images. Another great part of all refractors is that they don't need any maintenance. The reflectors require constant collimation which is a pain. Then the mirrors slowly lose their optical abilities requiring realuminization which is an even greater pain. But such tragedies are avoided if one buys any refractor telescopes. Overall its a great scope , worth the price. Only thing is that one should buy a plossl 15 mm for best results.....

Excellent telescope for beginners with best quality product.If you want to view the telescopic view of planets, you can visit my youtube channel- "Astro Pahwa".Moon, Rings of Saturn, Jupiter with its 3 to 4 moons and Mars are clearly visible through it.I reside in Delhi-NCR which is well known for air and light pollution. But within 2 days of my purchase, I was able to see Rings of Saturn and Jupiter with 4 moons.Next Day I saw Mars too.However, the expectations of a fresher/ beginner astronaut use to be very high. A fresher/beginner astronaut (like me) expect a large view same as of Internet Pics....Whereas the real view is as small as a Dot. Still very clear and beautiful.I have also used Celestron 60az power seeker. This telescope is far-far better than that.For beginners, it's value for money.

This is good for a beginner as well as for a semi-experienced. The packaging came good,but the lens of the main tube was slightly loose. I fitted it,however. It has a long and heavy tripod, perfect for astronomy. But, if a strong wind is blowing,then it slightly vibrates. The aperture of the telescope is 70mm and focal length is 900mm. U will get a maximum magnification of 90x,which is not too good and not too bad. Still u will see rings of Saturn and Andromeda galaxy in clear skies. The coating of the telescope is very beautiful. And the most liking fact is that, u can see all planets of solar system. For galaxies,u need very clear and stable atmospheric conditions. Images are significantly clear. If u r beginner, go for it. Also keep limited expectations.

Unable to fit finder scope

Epic telescope for beginners, I've been using this since 2 years and this telescope is easy to set up except if you cant pick more then 7-8, it'll be little hard for you to set cause the stand itself is heavy but overall the telescope is insane as I observed Moon(a lot of times and with more and more clarity each time I use it), Jupiter, Saturn(the rings were beautiful), Venus and some Stars like Sirius, Rigel, Beetlejuice and others, anyway this telescope is worth it to buy if you want to start stargazing but if you're already pro you should try Celestron Astromaster 130 eq md, hope you like this review.

Best scope for beginners, easy to assemble and very good optics. Moon is so beautiful to watch, used a T-Ring adapter with my DSLR to take my first shots and it came out good, and believe me it is too good from naked eye.Saw Jupiter and it’s moons, but they were tiny with given eye pieces 20/10mm, will get 2x barlow soon to check how it looks.The mount is not good, struggled to fit it in one place….I was reading thru AZ vs EQ mounts and went for AZ for ease of assembly and use, but now I understand EQ mount with slow motion control is better and much needed while viewing….now can’t don’t anything..have got AZ now have to live with it…..On the packaging there was damage, but nothing happened to the scope so I am ok, but seller and shipper need take some care on this….Anyhow i am very happy with the optics and my longtime wish is attained, will continue my hobby with this astromaster 70AZ

The photo I have posted could have been better, as the actual view is.It is not that great to watch Jupiter / Mars or Saturn.Jupiter looks like a White Ball lit up having not more than 2-3 mm in diameter. So don't expect much.The moon looks pretty cool with the craters looking clearly.But after a week or so, you would run out of options for what to look out for in the sky as other things like the nearest / brightest galaxy or starts are out of reach and would like just like white balls.