Celestron 31042 AstroMaster 114 EQ Reflector Telescope

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Product Specifications

Made of highest quality material
Manufacturer: Celestron
Celestron astromaster 114Eq reflector telescope

Product Description

Style:114EQ Newtonian Product Description Celestron AstroMaster 114EQ telescope is a great dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing. The AstroMaster 114EQ is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. This telescope can produce bright, clear Images of the moon and planets. It is easy to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with this fine instruments. This telescope is great for beginning and advanced astronomers

Amazon.com Celestron’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

Shot at 50X with Powershot camera

Shot at 200X with NexImage camera

Shot at 50X with Powershot camera

Pros:

Compact yet powerful optics Easy no-tool setup Fully illustrated instructions Three times brighter than 60mm scopes

Cons:

Star pointer not so easy to use

See all Product description

Product Reviews

Great beginner scope for the price

I think this is a very fair telescope for the price. I used to own a 10” telescope that cost $3000 and had the full electronic controls. I was looking for something more portable as the other one was very large and weighed at least 50 pounds. I was surprised that this one worked pretty well, again for the price. Its not a substitute for $1000 or $3000 scope.Here’s what I would want to know if I was new to telescopes and considering buying this. You MUST by the extra lense kit for an additional $150. The lense that comes with it is not that powerful. You’ll thank yourself by taking the time to learn how to set up the equitorial mount correctly. And also learn about lenses - you can’t just pop in the most powerful lense and get a clear image. Download the celestron app and plan out what you want to see before you’re standing outside excited to see something. Astronomy is a lot of fun, but there’s a lot to learn.Finally, temper your expectations. You will get great close-ups of the moon. Mars will appear as a reddish dot with no detail. You won’t see the colors of Jupiters stripes like a picture from NASA. You’ll see that Saturn has a ring, yes it will appear as one light band, not several. And with this scope, nebulae will appear as more of a haze than a colorful exploding cloud. Unlikely be able to make out a galaxy except if you’re on a mountain top on a very clear night.If you’re a beginner, buy this scope with the additional lense kit and patiently learn how to use it. If you’re not a beginner, save your money and get an 8” at least.

Perfect for Newbies, like us!

We have been very impressed with this telescope. We can see the moon in full detail, Mars (as a red dot) and most of all we can see the rings of Saturn. Jupiter hasn’t been in the right part of the sky for us to try yet, but so far we are very pleased. My only recommendation is to upgrade the lenses if you buy this model. The kit lenses aren’t very great, but do work well. Great for beginners!

Awesome I’m very happy but has only one CON

I just received this telescope today and couldn’t wait for tonight…. Having said that I haven’t had a telescope since I was a kid(a very long time ago) I researched telescopes for a long time looking for one I could use with my Nikon D5200. After about 3 weeks I decided on this one mainly for the price and having the basic requirements for astrophotography other than being a refractor.After about an hour of putting it together, which wasn’t to bad seriously tho how much fun is putting anything together but it was painless and easy.Tripod fairly sturdy better than I expected, mount is heavy duty and simple to install, telescope is big (or at least I thought) but we’ll build and simply slides and you lock it in place. This makes it easier to move around in your house and to the great outdoors.After setting up outside when the sun went down I had a little trouble finding Saturn, but a little patience and very slight tuning here and there I found it in about 15 minutes. I could see clearly the round planet with a perfectly visible ring. I used a 20mm to find it and switched out lenses to get a closer view. It was spectacular! I have never seen it through my own telescope.CONSThe finder scope is kinda useless it’s hard to tell where to put your head to align, after giving on that I stood behind the telescope and bent way down looking straight up the tube on the top and aligned it that way and found Saturn within a few minutes.Now I’m waiting on the T adapters for my camera to see what I can capture. My viewing ended early tonight due to clouds rolling in or I would have stayed out there instead of writing this review.Definitely worth the money and a great starter telescope. If I can work it so can you.I now can’t wait for the moon( it’s a new moon right now so I have to wait)

Five Stars

Awesome for 200$, pretty easy to assemble and works great. My first scooe and have really enjoyed it.

Sweeeeet

Once the learning curve was over, this telescope is a lot of fun to use. Read how to set it up and your good to go. Planets are very easy to see. The eye pieces are more than enough for you to gaze into the night. Being new to this hobby, I am more than happy to say it works great and really enjoy this telescope. Very happy with it.

so far this has been a great telescope, able to see much more than with …

so far this has been a great telescope, able to see much more than with my other. However, unless you are familiar with an equatorial mount you will be completely LOST… there needs to be MUCH better instructions with this type of mount on HOW to use it not just setting up the telescope. and I thought the motor would be great but does not track well and causes major vibrations in the scope. Celestron is replacing the motor and will see if that helps, but another problem with that motor attached is no matter which way you move the scope it is in the way for certain objects.

Five Stars

excellent!

product was fine but too difficult to

had for a year and still not been able to use. directions not clear at all…..product was fine but too difficult to use

Great scope. Spotter sight is completely worthless.

Great scope. Spotter sight is completely worthless. Which makes using this scope practically impossible unless you like searching for celestial objects through the main lens.

Five Stars

I love it a lot!!!!!!!

going to have to get a smart young kid to help me

Can’t figure it out. Too complicated for me… going to have to get a smart young kid to help me !

no fopr saturn

this no see saturn

Five Stars

Sweet telescope, user friendly, quick set up, LOTS of features for a fair price

Very easy to set up

Very easy to set up. Takes between 45 minutes and and hour if you take your time and read the instructions. Was able to take a nice photo of the moon through the viewfinder.