Is this a good telescope?

Question

It is a celestron powerseeker 50 with the follwoing spicefactions:
OPTICAL DESIGN Refractor
APERTURE 50 mm (1.97 in)
FOCAL LENGTH 600 mm (23.62 in)
FOCAL RATIO 12
EYEPIECE 1 20 mm (0.79 in)
MAGNIFICATION 1 30 x
EYEPIECE 2 12 mm (0.47 in)
MAGNIFICATION 2 50 x
EYEPIECE 3 4 mm (0.16 in)
MAGNIFICATION 3 150 x
BARLOW LENS 3 x
FINDERSCOPE 5x24
STAR DIAGONAL 0.92 in
MOUNT Altazimuth
TRIPOD Aluminum
CD ROM The Sky Level 1
WEIGHT 6 lb (2.72 kg)
LIMITING STELLAR MAGNITUDE 11
RESOLUTION 2.77 arc seconds
RESOLVING POWER 2.32 arc seconds
PHOTOGRAPHIC RESOLUTION 167 line/mm
LIGHT GATHERING POWER 51 x
ANGULAR FIELD OF VIEW 1.4 °
LINEAR FIELD OF VIEW (@1000 YDS) 72 ft (21.95 m)
OPTICAL COATINGS Fully-Coated
OPTICAL TUBE LENGTH 24 in (609.6 mm)
TELESCOPE WEIGHT 6 lb (2.72 kg)

this is the picture to see it http://www.celestron.com/c2/product.php?ProdID=1

Answer 1

No. It is too small, the eyepieces are not standard 1.25 inch size and the offered magnifications are too high for such a small telescope. I don't think any $50 telescope is a good idea. It would just be too small. You pretty much want to go with at least a 125mm telescope and that will set you back at least $150.

Answer 2

No.

While it's made by Celestron, which is a good brand, this is still basically a junk telescope.

You'd be better of buying a good pair of 7x50 binoculars.

The problem with this telescope is it only has an aperture of 50mm. This is way to small for viewing anything but the moon...though you might be able to make out Saturn's rings and see Jupiter's moons but all in all you'll be very disappointed with this telescope.

The smallest aperture your telescope should have is 4.5", and if you use a barlow it should be bough seperately, of good quality, and only a 2x barlow.

You should be looking to spend around $300 at least on a telescope.

Answer 3

The Barlow and 4mm lens EXCEED the limit of magnification which is 50x per inch (98x maximum for that scope).

Other than that it's not a bad scope so long as you aren't paying more than $80 for it.

Edmunds had a 3" refractor with equitorial mount from Celestion for $120 at close out.

Answer 4

I second what Campbell said. The aperture is too small to be of any use. I'm surprised Celestron even makes such a device. I might consider using it as a finder scope on my 12.5 inch Dobsonian.

Hey, Campbel, I'd like to know more about you. I've been around here for awhile. Are you amateur or pro? Pretty impressive record on A&S. E-mail me sometime.

Answer 5

email the astronomer!!

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