[Chaos-l] Celestron FirstScope

[D Gary Grady]

(My apologies if this has already been mentioned here and I missed it.)

A perennial question from parents and grandparents is what telescope 
makes a suitable gift for a kid and isn't too expensive. The usual reply 
from amateur astronomers is that there's no such animal, that cheap 
telescopes are such junk as to be worthless. Sometimes binoculars are 
suggested as an alternative, though inexpensive binoculars are 
frustrating to use for a beginner.

Well, based on reviews I just read in the October Sky & Telescope and at 
the Universe Today website, there may finally be a better answer to the 
question, namely the smallest member of the Celestron FirstScope series. 
Here's the review from Universe Today:

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/04/27/the-celestron-firstscope-telescope-official-product-of-international-year-of-astronomy/
or http://tinyurl.com/d4nz3e

It's a 76mm (3-inch) f/4 Newtonian with a stable quasi-Dobsonian 
table-top mount and two included 1.25" eyepieces, a 20mm (15x) and a 4mm 
(75x). All for just under $50, list price!

Unsurprisingly, the optics are acknowledged to be less than perfect (S&T 
says the mirror has a spherical figure rather than parabolic), but 
nevertheless quite acceptable (S&T also says the spherical aberration 
isn't objectionable, in part because the diagonal blocks the center of 
the mirror anyway). And I believe I recall reading one place on line 
that all the optics are glass, not plastic. Both reviews emphasize that 
the mount is simple but stable and sturdy.

Universe Today describes an accessory kit that S&T didn't mention. It 
comprises an attachable 5x24 finderscope, a 12.5mm eyepiece (24x), a 6mm 
eyepiece (50x), a moon filter, and a CD-ROM full of astronomical 
software. Since the base scope doesn't have a finder itself (though the 
S&T website suggests it's easy to fake one with tape and a soda straw), 
I'd consider the accessory kit close to a must-have. And remarkably, it 
costs only another $20.

The scope's tube is decorated with the names of major astronomers, a bit 
of an education in itself. Any kid using it can look up the names in an 
encyclopedia or on line, or there might be information on that CD-ROM.

I haven't put my hands on one of these yet myself, but I certainly 
intend to buy one and the accessory kit. And I have a nephew who's 
likely to get one whether he wants it or not! I imagine Celestron is 
barely breaking even on it and hoping many buyers move up to bigger 
instruments.


-- 
D Gary Grady
Durham NC USA
DGaryGrady at verizon.net