When your kid begins to wonder and starts asking curious questions about the night sky, the stars, and the moon, then it is time to encourage the kid’s natural curiosity. The Celestron Firstscope Telescope is specially designed for kids and aspiring astronomers. It is a great tool to introduce and guide your kids to the wonders of the night sky and the secrets of the universe.
Celestron 21024 FirstScope Telescope
Celestron presents with the FirstScope Telescope a compact and portable 3″ Newton reflector with 12″ focal length on a solid Dobsonian table mount. Quality optics from Celestron provide sufficient light gathering and resolution to view details on the moon, see Saturn’s ring, and see star clusters. It is easy to use for beginners thanks to its simple design which makes operation intuitive.
Features of the Celestron 21024 FirstScope Telescope
- 3 “/76mm opening
- 12″/ 300mm focal length
- 3.9 Focal ratio
- Parabolic primary mirror
- 2 eyepieces, 20mm 15x + 4mm 75x
- Stable Dobsonian mount
The FirstScope from Celestron has a primary mirror with a diameter of 3 inches or 76 mm and a focal length of 12 inches/300mm. The resulting focal ratio of 3.9 puts this telescope with the faster ones making it suitable for observing faint objects and stars of up to about 11 magnitudes.
Two eyepieces are included, the f 20mm ocular provides a 15x magnification, and the f 4mm ocular provides a magnification power of 75x. Use the lower magnification and take advantage of the large field of view to scan larger parts of the sky and use the higher magnification eyepiece to get detailed views of objects of interest. The optics produce decent quality and sharp images. You can see details of lunar craters, see Saturns ring, Jupiters 4 large moons, phases of Venus, or see our neighbor galaxy Andromeda.
Not much in terms of assembly is necessary. Simply place the FirstScope Telescope on a table and start watching. The Dobsonian mount allows quick and easy navigation in all directions over the starry sky.
There is no Finderscope in the basic package. The low magnification eyepiece must do.
However, the FirstScope Accessory Kit includes a Finderscope, two additional eyepieces, a moon filter, and a carry bag for everything.
Advantages
- Lightweight and portable
- Simple swift set up
- Very easy to use
- Stable Dobsonian mount
- Great value beginner telescope
Disadvantages
- A pure beginner’s instrument
Verdict on the Celestron Firstscope Telescope
The Celestron First Scope is a great little telescope for beginner hobby astronomers. Setting it up requires no special knowledge just place it somewhere on an elevated stand or table and it’s ready to go. The operating of the instrument is easy and comes intuitively to the user.
Considering the affordable price of the Celestron Firstscope Telescope, the optics provide good sharp and detailed enough images. Its compact dimensions make it also suitable as a small travel telescope. For the occasional observation of the night sky, this telescope is a great choice.
It is a nice gift for children that are curious about celestial objects and want to begin to explore the night sky. Once they start to show a further and deeper interest in the secrets of the universes, they may ask for a more powerful, and larger telescope.
- High quality Dobsonian style stand with a 76 mm reflector optical tube make FirstScope an ideal entry level astronomical telescope
- Portable and lightweight tabletop design make it easy to store, transport and setup your FirstScope Telescope
- FirstScope is very easy to observe with, the user simply navigates the night sky by moving the tube in the direction of their desired object
- Stylish and decorative design makes FirstScope a wonderful keepsake for anyone interested in astronomy
Never look directly at the sun with a Telescope or Binoculars!!!
Eye damage or blindness could result.
You MUST use Special Sun Filters!!!
