Product Description

60mm, 2.4 inch diameter refrctor / 700mm focal length f/12 / Altitude-Altazimuth Mount / 5x24 finderscope / 20mm & 4mm eyepiece / Glossy Silver Tube Color Adjustable aluminum tripod with accessory tray The Sky Level 1

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1334 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Celestron
• Model: 21041
• Dimensions: 29.50" h x 10.00" w x 16.50" l, 9.00 pounds

Features

• Affordable telescope for beginning astronomer; portable yet powerful
• All-glass optical components with high transmission coatings for enhanced image brightness and clarity
• Refractor optical design with a 60mm aperture and 700mm focal length
• Altazimuth mount suitable for terrestial viewing as well as astronomical use
• Includes 3x Barlow Lens (1.25"), 20mm eyepiece, 4mm eyepiece, aluminum tripod with accessory tray

Amazon.com Review
Celestron's value priced Powerseeker 60 telescope takes a basic "just the facts" approach to affordable entry level telescopes. The package includes an adjustable aluminum tripod with an alt-azimuth mount and stabilizer, a Kellner type K20 eyepiece, a Ramsden type SR4 eyepiece, a 3x barlow lens, and a 5 power cross-hair finder scope.

The Powerseeker 60 comes disassembled in a compact box, but it won't take long to put everything together. Go ahead and try it out in the daytime, that's the best time to align the finder scope while looking at a distant tree or telephone pole.

My first view of Saturn's rings and star cluster M13 in Hercules came with a 60mm telescope, and I enjoy celestial viewing with the Powerseeker 60 to this day. The secret is to use the low power K20 eyepiece and only extend the tripod legs half-way. This gives me sharp and steady views, whether I'm looking at nearby hills, craters on the Moon, the Double Cluster in Perseus, or even the Andromeda Galaxy!

With a 1.25" focuser and diagonal mirror, it's easy to add better eyepieces. The Kellner type K20 eyepiece yields a 1.1 degree true field of view, better than the Huygens or H-type eyepieces still found in many beginner scopes. Adding an optional Celestron 25mm E-Lux eyepiece is better still. With nearly 2 degrees true field of view, the 25mm E-lux makes it much easier to find objects, either on land or in deep space. The SR4 eyepiece is less impressive; it's like peeking through a pin-hole. Adding the 3x barlow to the SR4 to get that 525x proclaimed on the box is peeking through a dim, fuzzy pin-hole.

I'm surprised that a telescope this inexpensive can be this good. It's good enough to show me Saturn's rings at night or a Steller's Jay at 100 yards during the day. In my opinion, the Powerseeker 60 would be an even better bargain if it came with a K10 eyepiece in place of the 3x barlow and the SR4 eyepiece. Also take a look at Celestron's Firstscope 60AZ; it's only a little more expensive, but it includes two useable eyepieces, a red-dot finder, and planetarium software for your computer. –Jeff Phillips

Pros:

• Low cost
• Decent optics
• Accepts 1.25" eyepieces

• Too small for serious astronomy
• Only one good eyepiece

From the Manufacturer
Celestron's affordable Powerseeker line of telescopes are perfect for stargazers new to astronomy. Offering exceptional value, these telescopes feature portable yet powerful designs with ample optical performance to excite any newcomer to the world of amateur astronomy. The Powerseeker 60 has a refractor optical design with a 60mm aperture and 700mm focal length.

The PowerSeeker 60 comes with all glass optical components with high transmission coatings for enhanced image brighness and clarity. All PowerSeekers come with a full range of eyepieces plus a 3x Barlow lens, allowing an increase in viewing power hundreds of times greater than that of an unaided eye. It also features collapsable altazimuth mounts suitable for terrestial viewing as well as astronomical use.

What's in the Box
Powerseeker 60 Telescope, 5x24 finderscope, 3x Barlow Lens (1.25"), 20mm eyepiece, 4mm eyepiece, aluminum tripod with accessory tray

Customer Reviews

Great starter telescope
I am pleasantly surprised by the telescope I got for the price. It was intended for casual observing and I am getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. It has all the accessories needed for viewing. High powered eyepiece, low powered eyepiece, adjustable tripod (stable for this size) and fine adjustment control for easy panning. I have shopped telescopes before and noticed that the tripods and eyepieces aren't too good in quality. But this one is different. I love the way it is easy to use for land viewing and gives nice views of the moon and its craters, specially when I use the high powered eyepiece. Its pretty lightweight so I can take it outside easily. It assembles easily and in my opinion is a very easy to use telescope. Overall, a nice telescope at a great price.

Too Small, Poor Mount, Useless for Astronomy
This scope is not a good starter scope for anyone interested in astronomy. Here's why:

1. The objective is too small, only 60 mm, 2.36 inches, so it is too small to bring in the light necessary for even a beginning look at the universe. I suppose it is adequate for the moon, but that is it. The planets will appear as very small disks. One will be able to see Saturn's rings, but the image will be very small. Forget it for deep sky objects, clusters, galaxies, etc.

2. The mount is an altazimuth, which will not follow the celestial object in the sky. The earth is rotating, and anyone focusing on a star or moon will quickly find the object drifting out of the field of vision. A better mount is an equatorial mount which makes it much easier to track objects.

3. The 4mm eyepiece is too powerful for this scope. The observer will find it hard to look through (very small eye opening), and will in most cases cause blurred images. The 20 mm eyepiece is the only functional eyepiece. The barlow is a 3x, which again is too poweerful for this scope.

4. The mount will vibrate when touched, which will cause the image in the eyepiece to "shiver", which is very frustrating.

Even for the low price, don't be enticed by this scope; it has too many flaws. Save your money for a larger scope with a better mount.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig, astronomy buff

A Lot of Scope For The Bucks!
The first thing everyone comments on in seeing this scope and then learning what I paid for it is: "Wow- that's a lot of scope for the bucks!". Indeed, it's got all the attachments for a well rounded amateur's scope not only for star gazing, but also for terrestrial viewing.

Included in the accessories and all 1.25" diameter, is: (1) a Star Diagonal (90 degree angle adaptor). (2) a 20mm eyepiece. (3) a 4mm eyepiece. (4) a 3x Barlow Lens. (5) a 1.5 Erecting eyepiece for terrestrial viewing. (6) a 5x24 Finderscope. (7) and an Accessory Tray for the various lens.

By easily removing the accessory tray to allow full collapsing of the tripod legs, then tilting the scope to full vertical position, the whole assembly can be made ready for easy transport or storage. Celestron carries a full line of accessories from different eyepieces to filters, etc. This is a real bargain!