Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope
B000MLL6R8Celestron’s AstroMaster 114 EQ reflector telescope offers more than three times the light gathering power of 60mm beginner scopes in a system that is compact yet powerful. The package includes a new version of Celestron’s CG-2 equatorial mount with a rugged steel tripod. Two eyepieces are included, the 20mm eyepiece is an erect-image design with 50x magnification and the 10mm eyepiece produces 100x magnification. The AstroMaster 114 EQ also features a built-in red dot finder, fully illustrated instructions, and easy no-tool setup. The package even provides a student version of “The Sky” astronomy software to help you find stars and planets.The AstroMaster 114 is a modified Newtonian design. Using a short focal length primary mirror and built in corrector lens, the AstroMaster 114 has an effective focal length of 40 inches (1000mm) in a tube only 18 inches long. Both eyepieces provide images that are pleasingly sharp. The 20mm eyepiece (50x magnification) nicely frames the Moon, and daylight images are sharp with plenty of contrast. The 10mm eyepiece (100x magnification) does a nice job zooming in on lunar craters or on the planets. With the 10mm eyepiece or with my own 6mm eyepiece (166x) I can clearly focus in on Saturn’s rings and pick up details like the shadow cast by the rings on the planet.I also like the solid design of Celestron’s new CG-2 equatorial mount. With the help of Celestron’s fully illustrated quick set-up guide it took only a few minutes to assemble the equatorial mount and clamp the optical tube in place. The whole telescope is compact enough to carry outside in one trip. Aligning the telescope is a simple matter of pointing the equatorial axis at Polaris, the North Star. Then I can track the motion of stars and planets by simply turning one slow motion knob. The AstroMaster 114 EQ seems quite stable on its CG-2 mount, a little wobble while focusing damps out quickly as soon as I let go of the focus knob.With good optics, a solid mount, two eyepieces, and fully illustrated instructions, the AstroMaster 114 EQ reflector telescope is a very good introductory telescope. The one feature that is not so easy to use is the built in star pointer, which is best suited only for finding bright objects like the Moon and planets. I can overcome the narrow field of view somewhat by using an optional 32mm plossl eyepiece while looking for deep space objects because its wider field of view makes stars and planets easier to locate. --Jeff Phillips