First I will explain the benefits and uses of the Barlow Lens. Later in the article, I will provide a list of best Barlow lenses based on price points. Note that there are other devices called focal extenders that provide a similar function but their optics are somewhat different. However, from a practical point of … Read more
Celestron’s PowerSeeker 127EQ is the perfect example of why our website exists, and why some Amazon reviewers are not knowledgeable enough to review complicated telescopes. The PowerSeeker 127EQ is possibly the worst telescope I’ve seen amateurs recommend frequently, probably because they see its specs and think it’s a great deal. But specs aren’t everything, and … Read more
If you look at the list of best selling telescopes on Amazon you’ll see low grade telescopes mostly reviewed by enthusiastic newbies who have probably never used another telescope in their life. Most of these newbies are content seeing a few craters on the moon and spotting the 4 moons of Jupiter … yet they … Read more
Celestron’s PowerSeeker 50AZ is possibly one of the most deplorable telescopes the company offers in its current lineup. Most experienced astronomers would tell you to stay away from Celestron’s PowerSeeker series, and in this case, with the 50AZ they are once again correct. The PowerSeeker 50AZ is little more than a cheap toy designed to … Read more
Meade’s Lightbridge Minis are some of the best beginner telescopes available for under $200. Unlike many cheap instruments which include complicated and wobbly equatorial mounts, poor optics, unusable finderscopes and plastic eyepieces, the Lightbridge Mini telescopes all come with easy-to-use and stable tabletop Dobsonian mounts, decent red dot finders, and good MA eyepieces with glass … Read more
Meade’s Infinity 90AZ is my favorite of the three larger Infinity AZ scopes. It has enough aperture to show you a fair amount of things, but its slightly longer focal ratio makes for lower chromatic aberration and thus better planetary performance. It seems to be the least-purchased of the “big” three Infinity refractors, a pity … Read more
Orion’s SkyQuest XT4.5 is the smallest of their XT-series Dobsonians. While arguably my least-favorite scope in the XT line, the XT4.5 has a number of features that make it appealing, particularly to children. Unlike most other tabletop scopes the XT4.5 is tall/long enough that it doesn’t necessarily need a table, per se. Small children can … Read more
The Orion 7” Maksuov-Cassegrain is a telescope manufactured and sold by Orion telescopes in the USA. It is not very commonly known amongst dedicated astronomers, but it may be interesting for a few looking for a specific purpose telescope. It is based on the unusual Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope design typically only seen in smaller telescopes due … Read more
Zhumell’s Z100 is about the lowest price telescope we would highly recommend for an adult user. It offers nearly all the features of a larger reflector except in a much smaller package and much lower price. The Z100 is similar to the Orion SkyScanner (second-best choice in <$100 category), which we have also reviewed. Compared … Read more
If you don’t mind the slight inconvenience and increased complexity of using an equatorial mount, Orion’s StarBlast II is certainly a great choice for the beginning astronomer or a serious enthusiast looking for a smaller and more lightweight instrument to complement a larger telescope. The StarBlast II uses the same optical tube as Orion’s regular … Read more