This versatile beginner's telescope is suitable for astronomy and wildlife viewing. It has nice-quality traditional optics but is limited by its tripod and mount.
The Celestron Astromaster 102AZ might seem like the ideal compromise for a beginner's telescope, but being okay at everything means it doesn't really stand out for any particular subject.Up front is a four-inch diameter objective lens, which is unusually large for a refractor telescope. Most telescopes of this size and above are reflectors, using mirrors rather than lenses.
This dual functionality is a key aspect of the design. The telescope is intended to be equally useful for astronomy and naturalism, potentially saving the buyer money. The telescope comes with a 90-degree diagonal onto which a variety of eyepieces can be fitted. The two supplied eyepieces, 10mm and 20mm focal lengths provide magnifications of 66x and 33x, respectively, so the user has wide-field and close-up viewing options straight out of the box.
First impressions are that the telescope looks pretty sweet but in reality it is too low to the ground for an adult. It feels as if there should be a second extension on the tripod.Instead of a conventional finderscope, Celestron packages a red dot finder with the Astromaster 102AZ. Not all astronomers are enthusiastic about this device but it works perfectly well once it is aligned and used properly.
The quality of the optics is severely let down by the tripod and telescope mount. The tripod is so short that a seat or chair is necessary, which makes finding targets a bit clumsy. It is also less stable than an astronomy tripod should be.
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