The Celestron AstroMaster 114 equatorial reflector proves that you don't have to pay a big scope price to get a big scope's performance.
The Celestron AstroMaster 114 is a great gift for the young budding astronomer, one that won't break Grandma or Grandpa's birthday or holiday budget. It's also the right size scope for the grownups to plop down on the patio for quick glimpses of the sky between dunks in the pool on a hot summer night.
The optical quality of this Celestron is surprisingly good, considering its very modest price. You'll see detailed and high contrast views of the Moon, planets, binary stars, and star clusters - as well as the brighter nebulas and galaxies outside the solar system. The rugged and stable CG-2 equatorial mount has manual slow motion controls in both axes. These let you easily locate solar system and deep space objects and manually track them across the sky. At only 17 lbs., it's lightweight and compact enough to fit in virtually any storage space, but it's optically big enough to keep an observer happy for years.
This Telescope's Optical System . . .
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Reflector optical tube: 114mm (4.5") aperture f/9 focal ratio Newtonian reflector. All-glass mirrors, coated with highly reflective aluminum and overcoated with quartz for long life. There are no plastic optical components. 20 inch long 1000mm focal length aluminum tube with protective tube end rings. The reflector design of the scope is totally free of the purple haze of spurious color visible around the Moon and planets in lesser refractor scopes. Images are sharp and clear. You can even collimate (align) both mirrors for the sharpest images. This will have to be done only rarely, thanks to the special design of the cell holding the lightweight primary mirror.
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Rack and pinion focuser: The 1.25" focuser has dual focusing knobs for precise image control with either hand. The large focus knobs are easy to operate, even while wearing gloves or mittens in cold weather.
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Two eyepieces: You get a medium high power 1.25" 10mm (100x) eyepiece and a lower power 1.25" 20mm (50x) erect image eyepiece with a 1.4° field of view (almost three times the diameter of the full Moon). The 50x erect image eyepiece lets you use the 114EQ terrestrially, as its images are not upside-down as they are with most reflectors. Both eyepieces are a higher quality optical design than you'll find in most other telescopes in this price range. They have antireflection coatings on their lens surfaces for sharp images and very good contrast. Instead of providing low quality eyepieces that give unrealistically high (and generally unusable) 200-300x magnifications, Celestron has chosen to provide higher quality eyepieces with sensible powers you can use and enjoy every time you take your AstroMaster out to observe.
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Finderscope: A non-magnifying red dot finder is permanently attached to the side of the optical tube. The battery-operated red dot finder seems to project a dot of red light on the sky or on the daytime landscape exactly where the telescope is pointed. The red dot will help you center distant objects in the telescope so you don't have to search for them using the narrow eyepiece field of view. Collimating knobs on the finder let you line up its red dot precisely with the main telescope optics to make centering distant objects easy and painless.
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Supplied software: The AstroMaster includes a comprehensive CD-ROM called TheSky Level 1. This is a computerized sky map for your PC that features a 10,000 object database, 75 color images, and custom sky chart printing. It lets you print out star charts for use with the telescope that make it easier to find difficult objects by comparing the appearance of the sky through the eyepiece with the star field on the star chart. It is for use with a PC only (Windows 95 and newer).
This Telescope's Mount . . .
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Equatorial mount: The sturdy CG-2 equatorial mount is designed for astronomical observing. By aligning the mount on the north celestial pole, you only need to turn one slow motion control knob to follow planets and stars as they travel across the sky. Two counterweights on the opposite side of the mount from the telescope balance the weight of the optical tube and makes it easy to move the scope effortlessly from one part of the sky to another. No tools are required to adjust the position of the counterweights to quickly and precisely balance the optical tube. A micrometer control lets you adjust the altitude of the scope mount for fast alignment on the north celestial pole with no tools required.
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Split Ring Optical Tube mount: The optical tube is fitted with a split ring dovetail system that fits into a quick-release dovetail groove on the top of the mount. Installing the optical tube on the mount is quick and easy, even in the dark. The optical tube locks securely in place with no tools needed.
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Setting circles: Setting circles (graduated scales marked in either hours and minutes or degrees) are provided in both right ascension (the east/west position of objects in the sky measured in hours and minutes) and declination (the north/south position measured in degrees). These allow you to align the scope on the approximate position of an object in the sky by using its r. a. and dec coordinates from a star chart - before you search for it in the red dot finder and eyepiece. Setting circles can reduce the time it takes for you to find the fainter and more difficult deep space objects.
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Manual slow motion controls: There are two slow motion control knobs conveniently positioned on the mount so they are easy to reach while observing. One controls the scope's motion in right ascension (the east/west direction in the sky). Turning this knob enables you to follow the motion of celestial objects as they travel from east to west across the heavens. The second controls the scope's motion in declination (the north/south direction in the sky). Turning this knob enables you to correct for any north/south drift a celestial object may take as it drifts across the sky, due to an improper alignment of the scope on the north celestial pole when you first set it up. The two controls combine to give you complete access to any part of the sky. They give you the ability to star hop from a known object to any other object by using a star chart. They let you center objects in the field of view, and track them effortlessly with only an occasional quick turn of the r. a. knob.
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Tripod: The very rigid tripod has 1.25" diameter stainless steel legs for vibration-free observing. The legs easily adjust in length to put the eyepiece at the most comfortable height for virtually any observer, young or old. The no-tool locking knobs that adjust the height of the tripod are located on the inside of the tripod legs. This keeps them from snagging clothing in the dark, a thoughtful touch sure to be appreciated. The tripod includes an accessory shelf with cutouts to hold three eyepieces. A lip on the shelf keeps accessories from falling off during use.
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Two year warranty: As an expression of Celestron's confidence in the quality of their products, the AstroMaster is protected by Celestron's two-year limited warranty against flaws in materials and workmanship.
