If you’re looking for a dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing, then the AstroMaster Series is for you. Each AstroMaster model is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. The AstroMaster Series produce bright, clear images of the Moon and planets. It is easy to see the moons of Jupiter
If you’re looking for a dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing, then the AstroMaster Series is for you. Each AstroMaster model is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. The AstroMaster Series produce bright, clear images of the Moon and planets. It is easy to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn with every one of these fine instruments. For views of the brighter deep space objects like galaxies and nebulae, we recommend the larger aperture and light gathering ability of the Newtonian reflectors. B000MLL6R8 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 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
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Not Too Shabby (4 1/2 stars) This telescope is great but daunting. This is my first telescope. It was very easy to assemble, and the instructions are very simple to follow. it is also very light weight and pretty compact making it easy to travel with. I live in Mesa, AZ and there are a few mountains around here that I can hike up, and taking this with me is no trouble at all. Red Dot Scope: The Red Dot Scope has proven itself pretty much useless. I cannot tell where i’m supposed to put my head in order to have it lined up with the view of the scope itself. it is slightly adjustable, but I have not been able to line it up with what I see in the scope. Because of this i usually find myself just pointing the red dot at an object and then moving the scope in mini circles while looking through the eye piece. *(Tip: if you are looking for a bright object you can pull the eyepiece all the way out of focus. This will make the object look like a big bright disc with a cross in it. When you see this…
Very good bang for the buck I bought this as my first telescope to explore the sky and I am VERY pleased. It’s a high quality scope, and the mount and tripod are the kind you get with higher end models. Mine came with an incorrect piece, I contacted the Celestron, and I had a new piece in 3 days. Very nice service. I to had problems finding stars at first, so I went to an astronomy forum and found out the correct way to do it. From there, I haven’t had a problem finding anything.The 2 main things are 1) calibrate your finder first and 2) use the right eye piece when looking for something (this scope comes with a 10mm and a 20mm, so you would want to use the 20 to find and 10 to magnify once you found what it is your looking for). I have found Astronomy is not a hobby where you can easily learn stuff through trial and error, and most frustration comes when you try just that.The only thing it’s lacking is an eyepiece that goes to it’s full magnification. I’m buying a 5mm for this, but if…
Good beginning-to-intermediate telescope I bought this as a Christmas gift for myself and my 7 year old son (OK, mostly for me). It’s put together very well. As a Newtonian, its hollow, which makes it feel somewhat odd, but certainly doesn’t have that “plasticy” feel. Feels nice and sturdy. The stand is great and makes for an overall good setup. It’s been cloudy throughout all of January, so we haven’t had much chance to actually use it. We did manage to get out and find Mars during a rare (albeit cold) clear night. The finder scope is nearly impossible to use, though. We spent about an hour just trying to point it at Mars, and by the time we got the planet aligned with the scope I couldn’t seem to be able to adjust the finder scope to actually be useful. I’ll play with the finder scope more on a warmer night – perhaps I’m just doing it wrong? Overall, though, I’m quite satisfied. A definite upgrade from the “toy” telescope I bought from a department store years ago. Also, it just looks like a scientific…