is this scope suitable for casual astronomical use?
1844556
Yes this is a great scope for casual viewing I Sold a much more sophisticated scope to get this one because it is much easier to set up and faster to use (using star charts). The scope can use any 1.25" astronomy eye pieces. The scope is also perfect for Bird watching and of course as a spotting scope . The optical quality is as good as scopes costing two and three times as much and there are lots of reviews on birding sights and astronomy sights to back that up. It's just a great all around scope. I have owned one for five years and it is my goto scope for all my hobbies. Astronomy, Birding and Shooting. Yes this is a great scope for casual viewing I Sold a much more sophisticated scope to get this one because it is much easier to set up and faster to use (using star charts). The scope can use any 1.25" astronomy eye pieces. The scope is also perfect for Bird watching and of course as a spotting scope . The optical quality is as good as scopes costing two and three times as much and there are lots of reviews on birding sights and astronomy sights to back that up. It's just a great all around scope. I have owned one for five years and it is my goto scope for all my hobbies. Astronomy,... » Read More Yes this is a great scope for casual viewing I Sold a much more sophisticated scope to get this one because it is much easier to set up and faster to use (using star charts). The scope can use any 1.25" astronomy eye pieces. The scope is also perfect for Bird watching and of course as a spotting scope . The optical quality is as good as scopes costing two and three times as much and there are lots of reviews on birding sights and astronomy sights to back that up. It's just a great all around scope. I have owned one for five years and it is my goto scope for all my hobbies. Astronomy, Birding and Shooting. « Show Less
1844557
This is a nice scope for the money. It is my second one. However, it does not have viewfinder if that is important to you. I use it for viewing wildlife and birds and take it with me everywhere.
1844558
I own this scope and several of their eyepieces, primarily for Birding, but happened to "check out some stars" one early evening and was quite amazed at what I saw. One of the reasons I selected this scope was for its highly rated eyepieces, supposedly well-liked by those interested in astronomy. Good viewing!
1844559
Though designed for terrestrial viewing, it would work fine for casual astronomical use. Astronomical scopes are typically of higher magnification (I wouldn't recommend the zoom as the image quality on this older design is simply not that good). BUT the fixed eyepieces are excellent. The SMC XW14 offers 37x and is sharp- probably best suited for astronomical use due to the higher magnification. The SMC XW10 gives 26x and has a really wide bright sharp field of view. As a multipurpose eyepiece this one is great but might be a bit low on magnification for your purpose (and even 37x isn't much for astronomical use). I loved the XW10 though- it's a joy to look through. Though designed for terrestrial viewing, it would work fine for casual astronomical use. Astronomical scopes are typically of higher magnification (I wouldn't recommend the zoom as the image quality on this older design is simply not that good). BUT the fixed eyepieces are excellent. The SMC XW14 offers 37x and is sharp- probably best suited for astronomical use due to the higher magnification. The SMC XW10 gives 26x and has a really wide bright sharp field of view. As a multipurpose eyepiece this one is great but might be a bit low on magnification for your purpose (and even 37x isn't much... » Read More Though designed for terrestrial viewing, it would work fine for casual astronomical use. Astronomical scopes are typically of higher magnification (I wouldn't recommend the zoom as the image quality on this older design is simply not that good). BUT the fixed eyepieces are excellent. The SMC XW14 offers 37x and is sharp- probably best suited for astronomical use due to the higher magnification. The SMC XW10 gives 26x and has a really wide bright sharp field of view. As a multipurpose eyepiece this one is great but might be a bit low on magnification for your purpose (and even 37x isn't much for astronomical use). I loved the XW10 though- it's a joy to look through. « Show Less
1844560
Absolutely, even with my very poor vision, I can see detail of the moons surface. Not huge but bright enough to make you wonder why you are not wearing sun glasses. LOL
2107778
While it is NOT a telescope I have used mine to look at the moon and Jupiter. You will need a good tripod of course. But it was quite clear at looking at the craters of the moon. A bit shaky if bumped. Like I said, it is not a telescope.
730729
Yes and no. It depends on what you want to do. This is a great starter scope. If your ideal night is looking out and seeing nothing more than planetary objects, then this will be the scope for you. If you have no experience with other telescopes, and this'll be the scope for you. I enjoyed this telescope however there are two big drawbacks. One is the telescope will only hold a 1.25 inch eyepiece. Once again this is ideal if you're just looking at planetary objects, however larger objects like Andromeda will require at least a 25mm to 35 mm eyepiece. The other drawback is the tripod, unfortunately it's very shaky despite what you do. When trying to look at things through the eyepiece a simple bump or even a little wind will knock it around, this is something that you would adjust to overtime. The upside are that it is very portable, Gives you a fundamental idea of how to use a telescope if you have no idea, and it has good imaging. I would highly recommend investing into new pieces as the two that come with it are very poor. Remember, your telescope is only as good as your eyepieces. If you are newer to telescopes then I would suggest this one, it's a cheap way to get an idea of what you're doing and will give let you know if you want to invest more into this fairly pricey hobby.
1025720
This scope is good for the price and you will not be able to see the planets as you might with the professional ones. It is great watching the land marks and the moon. I hope this helps.
1283679
Yes, the image is sharp and clear on a considerably bigger distance. But I doubt that you can use reading tables or use it for target shooting in order to spot holes left from gun shots. It is a job for x20-80 scopes.
2010229
It is an upgrade compared to eyepieces that come with the scope. It is not a bad eyepiece. I was comparing the different focal lengths to my Explore Scientific eyepieces and the view is not much different other than the field of view. At lower focal lengths it has a decent FOV. I think it is worth what they sell for.
2236144
Definitely probably. Depending on your application, you may never need less than about 15mm focal length. I'm not familiar with the hyperion zoom. Normally zoom eyepieces are more expensive and give a lower quality image than similar fixed focal length eyepiece. But they are popular for their convenience. I bought an orion sirius plossl 17mm eyepiece that is about as much magnification as can be used on a normal sunny day due to mirage and thermal effects. If you plan to seek and find those occasional days with perfect seeing, either at dusk or dawn or at night doing astronomy or similar, then you can possibly find a use for more magnification. In mornings with my 17mm eyepiece I can resolve a 1/4" hole in a piece of paper at 600 yds. This is only 73x or 15x/in. Theoretically, with good seeing you might use up to 50x/in or 250x. So to achieve 250x you'd need a 5mm eyepiece or a 10mm eyepiece with a 2x barlow. High power and barlows work best with bright objects--the moon or planets, bright double stars, etc. I think the 8mm of the zoom will likely be all you'll ever need. OTOH, you might find using the zoom, or a longer focal length eyepiece, with the barlow to achieve higher magnification to be more comfortable. So yes, they will both work. they are both designed to work with a scope like this. But they might be overkill. --Jerry
426447
Yes, it is great for birding, hunting, shooting and star gazing. I've used mine for all those and I love this scope.
1612169
Hi Charles, No, you would have too much magnification. I would get a 10x 20x 40x scope that is used for coins and other solid objects. they are also usually less expensive :)
1706393
I cannot, but I can give you my perspective on the StarMax 90 mm by Orion. It is small, portable, and clear, but I wear glasses, and it is hard to see through with the 10x eyepiece. I think all of the small scopes will be. I wish I had spent the extra $100 and bought the 6" Dobsonian mounted reflector, but I wanted to use this during the day for spotting animals from a distance. I gave this as a present to my wife who hasn't worked with the telescope yet, and she may have different opinions. I did get her the camera mount, polar lens, and an extra eye piece that doubles the magnification. I think that you'll find that both are probably one in the same IMO. I do like the table top mount that the Orion has. I think once the weather warms we will be able to give a more thorough opinion. I think I will end up getting the reflector with the Dobsonian mount the color CCD eyepiece from Orion, and a few extras. If you have room I'd suggest the 6" reflector, or this http://www.telescope.com/Orion-XT45-Dobsonian-Telescope-amp-Beginner-Barlow-Kit/p/102027.uts . I feel that we may outgrow the Starmax 90, but I think the 4.5 or 6 with Dobsonian would well used for the lifetime of star gazing.
239456
I wear bifocals and also use this indoors and outdoors, and find it to be quite a good scope out to 200 yards for 22 caliber and up. Anything farther this isn't what you would want.
598847
Short answer = yes to both questions Long answer = you get the most out of this hobby by doing your research, having lots of patience, asking lots of questions, and most of all enjoying what you do. I own this scope and I love it. My daughter and I have photographed the Orion Nebula from our backyard with terrible light conditions. We used a Canon T5i mounted to the 2x Barlow. I did purchase the Canon T-Ring adaptor to connect my camera to the Barlow. Most nebulae require long exposures and that is the weakness of this telescope. This scope's motor will cause some small blur as it tracks the object in the sky but short exposures (~20sec) work great! Unless you modify the scope, you can not get "Prime Focus" with this scope. You'll need to modify the mirror screws or shorten the tube. (there's online forums about this). Visually, you can see the cloud shapes on Jupiter, detailed craters on the moon, Rings of Saturn, etc.
508331
In short you can use this telescope for simple astrophotography like getting photos of moon and brighter objects like Jupiter and Saturn. You can't use this for faint objects because it needs tracking mount for long exposure. The manufacturer also mentioned that this scope is optimized for visual use rather than for photography. Visually it is superb. Clear Skies....!
1441566
Yes. Works decently well, though not quite as good a view as with a professional grade scope. Something about the quality of the light.
1951044
Medium work best. You could be introduced to the half moon club with the hi profile with a short eye relief on your scope
1203099
Probably not. The Eyepiece Magnifier is designed to help help with fine focus rather than something as large as a star field. I doubt it would hurt anything but I also doubt it would help
2032522
Not great but more symptomatic of a monocular (telescope) than this particular model as the view width is of a small diameter, hence requiring a very steady hand. If prolonged viewing is your objective get something with a tripod or a wide angle pair of binos. If your question is about the "eye cup"; average. Best eye cup I've found are on high end mariner binos.