What is Reddit's opinion of Celestron AstroMaster Telescope Accessory Kit?

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I am very new to this but have always had an interest. My kids expressed a bit of interest in wanting a telescope so I bought my kids an Orion SkyScanner 100mm for christmas this year. I was wanting to get a little accessory kit with it as well. Is this a decent kit for the price? Celestron AstroMaster Telescope Accessory Kit Originally I was looking for a 2x barlow and a moon filter bit came across this kit and it seemed like a pretty good value.

I have the Cometron version of the Firstscope. Same exact telescope, but yours has a nicer finder scope. Jupiter will look very small. You should be able to see small points of light where the moons are. You might be able to distinguish some bands if you really focus, though I haven't tried looking at Jupiter lately without using a Barlow lens.

You might try purchasing a Barlow lens to double the magnification of your eyepieces. Against the suggestions of more seasoned astronomers, I purchased this: http://www.amazon.com/Celestron-AstroMaster-Accessory-Kit-Telescope/dp/B004KMC0UC

The filters are marginally helpful, in my opinion. Though I'm a very, very amateur astronomer. More seasoned viewers might be able to discern the differences brought about by filters. They do bring down the brightness a lot, which can be nice for viewing bright objects like Jupiter and the Moon. The combination of the 6mm Plössl lens which comes with that kit and the Barlow make Jupiter much bigger, though it's still small. Saturn also looks small, but good through that combination.

The consensus from seasoned astronomers when I asked about purchasing that kit was that it was too low quality to be worth it, and that I should just save my money and get some good lenses or a better telescope once I have enough money. I don't regret the purchase, as I use my Firstscope quite a bit and really enjoy using the kit. I usually bring out two lenses and keep them in the foam-padded kit box.

Maybe some day when I'm rich, I might buy a $400 8" dobsonian, as a big brother of the Firstscope. Until then, I find the Firstscope (with accessory kit), to be quite fun.

The way I see it, I spent ~$95 for a good beginner scope, for my needs. I use it really frequently, and frequency of use is the best measure of a telescope's worth. The best telescope is the one you use!

That's a tough call, actually. According to what I've read, the max magnification you can really expect is about 150x, which (according to here) means nothing smaller than a 6mm eyepiece (or a 12mm with a 2x barlow). I have a 6mm Plossl, and it works pretty well, leading me to believe you could probably push that a bit. But when I use my 2x barlow and my 6mm, the results are...not impressive (effectively 216x magnification). Much of that has to do with my local seeing conditions, though.

If you want to read a lot about the right eyepiece, this is a good place to start. There's a lot of info, though. Basically, it says for this scope (which has a focal ratio of f/5, making it a pretty "fast" scope), the cheapo eyepieces are not going to work well.

Now, having said that, there's an interesting thread over at CloudyNights (which you should totally sign up for) about some inexpensive eyepieces that have been proven to be pretty dang good, especially for the price (eBay is a good place to get them). Mind you, most of those guys are using "slower" scopes that tolerate "cheaper" eyepieces. Still, I'm considering getting them.

The eyepieces I have and use regularly are from the Celestron AstroMaster accessory kit -- which you can get on Amazon. I love the 15mm in it, great wide views.

If I were buying another scope today, I'd perhaps look for one that was "slower" (higher focal ratio) and longer (bigger focal length), and of course larger (bigger mirror). That said, I'm extremely pleased with mine. I got it from shopgoodwill.com for $75 shipped.

This is what I got, haven’t tested yet (cloudy skies) Celestron AstroMaster Telescope Accessory Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004KMC0UC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_udxFDbMTG7NBN

Hi :-)

Good advice so far!

Do not get that eyepiece kit.

Get a good, dedicated 6mm eyepiece. The kit's 6mm has very short eye relief, making observing hard.

• 6mm gold-line Aliexpress/China, eBay/China, Amazon US (Currently not in stock, $39), Agena Astro US

The gold-line has a larger apparent field of view, too.

More than that will result in issues due to the spherical aberration of the 130eq's main mirror (1, 2).

6mm + barlow will be pushing the telescope's capabilities, even if the optics were perfect. It's at the limit of the 130mm aperture. If you really want to try, get a 4mm HR Planetary clone. But again, it's too much magnification IMHO.

• 4mm HR Planetary (Aliexpress)

Color filters are pretty much not required. Yes, they can enhance the contrast, but at such high magnifications, the image is rather dim already, even without additional filters.

 

Mars is a tough cookie. Even in larger telescopes. Plus, dust storms can hide the little detail that's usually visible.

 

The lower the planets, the more atmosphere and thus seeing issues.

Check out http://stellarium.org :-)

 

Clear skies!