It’s no question that the aperture is one of the most crucial, as it affects how much light gets through and the resolution of the objects you see.

It’ll also provide a viewing experience that’s more than satisfactory and will deliver hours of interest by getting a closer look at objects in our solar system. I don’t know why most companies still send 5×24 finders. They are not helpful by any means. Same as the 3x Barlow, the lenses are low quality and extremely small. A simple, red dot finder without any magnification would be much better. If you’re looking for an affordable and lightweight telescope that’s easy to assemble, the Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ might be perfect for you. This refractor telescope is part of the Celestron AstroMaster AZ line and offers good value for beginner astronomers interested in observing the moon and planets.

Main Features of the Celestron PowerSeeker 70AZ

The Celestron Astromaster 70az telescope comes with two eyepieces: a 20mm eyepiece and a 10mm eyepiece. These are Kellner eyepieces, which provide clear and sharp views of celestial objects. The eyepieces provide magnifications of 45x and 90x, respectively. What is the field of view of the Celestron Astromaster 70az telescope? With its 70mm achromatic refractor objective lens and focal ratio of f/13, this telescope produces natural-looking views of celestial objects without distracting false color. It also includes an erect image diagonal for easier observation from a standing position. What you’re able to see with each telescope doesn’t vary too much and isn’t the biggest differentiating factor. Setting up the telescope is a breeze, so you can begin observing in no time. Even on your first time out, you can assemble the telescope and its accessories in just a few minutes. The adjustable tripod legs allow you to customize the telescope’s height or place it on raised surfaces like a picnic table.

You won’t have to compromise on the optical design between the two telescopes, and each will deliver similar capabilities. It is not technically a portable telescope, but the Celestron 70AZ is light enough that you should have no trouble transporting it when necessary. Where the Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ shines is actually using the telescope. With the alt/az mount there is nothing to learn, point it at something and look through the eyepiece, simple as that. The Celestron Astromaster 70az telescope has a focal length of 900mm. This gives the telescope a focal ratio of f/12.7, which makes it ideal for observing bright objects like planets and the moon. With a long focal length, the telescope can also provide good views of deep-sky objects like galaxies and nebulae. What is the aperture of the Celestron Astromaster 70az telescope? So now let’s switch to astronomy; you buy them a great book on astronomy and a cool map showing where some amazing objects are, then you give them a telescope that even when used by a professional could not identify a car across a football field much less the planet Jupiter in the night sky. It wobbles, it’s blurry, and it is extremely hard to navigate. What do you think their reaction would be?The accessories are just disappointing. If the accessories were just decent, I would easily recommend this telescope. But they are not. They are complete garbage and useless. Never look directly at the Sun with the naked eye or with an optic (unless you have the proper solar filter). Permanent and irreversible eye damage may result.

The PowerSeeker mount comes with two slow motion control knobs that allow you to make fine pointing adjustments to the telescope in both Right Ascension and Declination axes, also referred to as RA and DEC. We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. On top of that, the AstroMaster 70az also comes with a 10mm eyepiece, and the PowerSeeker 70az includes a 4mm eyepiece. There are numerous features on a telescope that have an effect on the quality of your viewing experience. It’s also important to note that due to this telescope’s shorter magnification range, you may not be able to see as much detail as you would with the PowerSeeker.Whether you’re trying to see groups of celestial objects or specific details, you’ll want to always review the focal length of a telescope before you buy it. Magnification

Similarities are important to review, as it shows what you’ll benefit from regardless of which telescope you choose. So let’s delve into them. Aperture Unless it’s extremely cheap and you’re willing to deal with its shortcomings, a used Celestron PowerSeeker 70AZ is probably a waste of your time and money. Alternative Recommendations You can see many large celestial objects within our solar system with the Celestron PowerSeeker 70az, but you won’t be able to view Neptune or Pluto. The 3x Barlow is not a “real” 3x Barlow. It is just some glass that has been fitted inside a plastic tube. It is clear that Celestron sends this just to make this telescope seem more powerful. In reality, a legitimate 3x Barlow is extremely hard to make. (The accessories are infuriatingly bad.)

The Bad

Comparing the Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ to something like a Celestron Powerseeker 127eq reflector telescope it does not require near the cool down time (the 127eq has two mirrors which need to acclimate to the outside temperature before use or extremely blurry images could result) and requires no maintenance or adjustments such as the collimation required by the 127eq. The 127eq also requires learning how to use an equatorial telescope mount whereas the alt/az mount on the 70AZ is pretty much intuitive even to children with no experience. This makes the Celestron Powerseeker 70AZ a better choice for kids and first time telescope users. Using the scope Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value. However, it struggles when it comes to deep sky objects due to its limiting magnitude of 11.7. Overall, the Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ Telescope offers good value for beginner astronomers interested in observing planets and the moon.