Product Description

Perfect for the amateur astronomer, for an amazing look at our closet celestial neighbors.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2474 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Gold
• Brand: Bushnell
• Model: 40060675
• Dimensions: 8.50" h x 11.00" w x 38.00" l, 18.70 pounds

Features

• Powerful, economically priced for advanced beginners and amateur astronomers
• Includes 6 x 24 finderscope
• 675x zoom magnification
• Features Tasco SkyWatch CD-ROM with 10,000 object database, diagonal, moon filter, and solar projection screen
• Weighs 18.5 pounds

Amazon.com Review
Tasco's Luminova 675 is an affordable 60mm refractor telescope on a lightweight equatorial mount. The complete accessory package includes three 1.25" eyepieces (H25, H12.5, and SR4), a mirror diagonal, a moon filter, a solar projection screen, and even a program disk that turns your computer into a desktop planetarium.

For the more advanced observer, an equatorial mount makes it easy to track the moon or a planet at higher magnifications. Simply point the polar axis at Polaris, the North Star, and the telescope will track planets with a simple turn of the slow motion knob. In practice, however, the light weight equatorial mount has its drawbacks. This telescope is tall enough that it becomes wobbly and difficult to focus at high power. (Young astronomers might prefer a simpler alt-azimuth telescope, such as Celestron's Firstscope 60 AZ.)

The standard equipment lenses and 3x barlow can be combined for a range of magnification from 36x with the H25 eyepiece all the way up to 625x by combining the SR4 eyepiece with the 3x barlow. Realistically, I get the best views of Saturn's rings at 120x using my own 7.5mm eyepiece. An optical effect called diffraction shows up as little rings around the stars, and this limits the useful magnification of any telescope. With the Luminova 675, when I use magnifications over 120x bright stars no longer focus to sharp points, they look more like little bulls-eyes.

The generous accessory package included with the Luminova 675 includes two Huygenian or H- type eyepieces. Unfortunately, these are an old fashioned design with 27 degrees apparent field of view, about half the field of more modern Plossl and MA designs. The narrow field means that some of my favorite deep space objects like the Pleiades and the Double Cluster don't quite fit, even with the low power eyepiece. –Jeff Phillips

Pros:

• Good planet views up to 120x
• Complete accessory package
• Low maintenance design

• Narrow field H-type eyepieces
• Wobbly tripod

From The Manufacturer
Notably lightweight and extremely portable, this powerful Luminova refractor telescope offers many advanced features that make lunar details crystal clear. Easy-to-use, slow-motion controls work with either an alt-azimuth or an equatorial mount. The 1.25" eyepiece delivers sharp images and a wide field-of-view along with excellent eye relief.

A powerful but economical 900mm focal length refractor telescope, this model is a good choice for beginning amateur astronomers. It features:

• 675x magnification
• 60mm objective lens
• Included accessories: Tasco SkyWatch CD-ROM with 10,000 Object Database, Diagonal, Moon filter, Solar Projection Screen

Tech Talk
When selecting a telescope, consider which target objects you plan to explore as well as your level of experience. For viewing most night sky objects, you'll want a telescope with as much aperture as possible. Keep in mind that as the size of the objective lens or mirror increases, so does the size of the telescope. So be sure to select a telescope that isn't too heavy to manage or too complicated for you tot set up - especially if portability is a necessity.

• Refractor Telescope: A refractor telescope collects light though a large objective lens and directs it through the telescope to the eyepiece for magnification. Invented by the famous astronomer Galileo, refractor telescopes are noted for bright, high-quality images with excellent resolution.
• Reflector Telescope: Reflectors use a large concave mirror to collect and focus light back to a diagonal mirror which redirects the light to the eyepiece for magnification. Reflectors deliver the most magnification in a compact design because they achieve a longer focal length through the use of mirrors.
• Eyepieces: Lower power eyepieces provide a wider field-of-view and a brighter image making them ideal for viewing the full Moon and planets, star clusters, nebulae and the constellations. To focus in on the finer details of the Moon and planets such as mountains, ridges and craters, use an eyepiece with higher magnification.
• Mounts: There are two basic types of telescope mounts, the altitude-azimuth (also referred to as alt-azimuth or altaz) and the equatorial. Altaz mounts are the easiest to maneuver and are ideal for first-time astronomers. Equipped with a manual control or motor drive that allows you to follow the movement of objects across the night sky, equatorial mounts are ideal for more experienced astronomers.