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We have been selling a lot of the Celestron C130 spotting scopes due to the great price and it's easy to understand why. The C130 scope has to be one of the best values in a dual purpose, day-night observation scope. Last time we ran a special on this type of scope with the Meade ETX-125 spotting scope, they were sold out in a month. Not sure if the C130 will top that record, but it is doing, well.

So is 4-PC Day / Nighttime Astronomical Observation Gift Kit, which includes the Celestron Heavy Duty Alt-Azimuth Tripod 93607 Despite the reference to the "heavy Duty", I would not rate this in the same class as a good Bogen tripod, such as the Bogen 3180N tripod. However, for the intended use of the C130 as a backyard or living room scope to view scenery, wildlife and do some limited astronomy, the Celestron 93607 Alt-Az will do fine and, fortunately, Celestron has made some improvements to the design of the Alt-Az since it was first introduced a few years, ago.

Max height on the tripod is a measured 49.5", which is about right to put the C130 at eye level for all but the tallest adult. The tripod slow motion controls on the Alt-Az are a big plus for folks wishing to do some astronomy, especially at the higher magnifications needed for observing planets - a task the C130 was born to handle. If you are serious about using the C130, though, a better choice is a standard equatorial mount, such as the Celestron CG5 mount. The C130 spotting scope will mount directly to this telescope mount, no adapters needed.

On yesterday's post, I looked at the optics on the Celestron C130 Mak spotting scope. For those of you just getting in on the action, we purchased a special run on this spotting scope model of the popular C130 Maksutov telescope from Celestron and are offering it either as just the C130 spotting scope or as our 4-PC Day / Nighttime Astronomical Observation Gift Kit.

Today, I would like to report on the mechanical side of the C130 spotting scope.

It was about what I expected for the price. The optical tube is aluminum in construction, with the rear cell housing and focuser knob being plastic. No surprise, there, and, to be honest, I was not expecting much from the focuser. Wrong! The knob was large and easy to grip, but most importantly, the focusing was smooth and effortless. Why should this matter?

As magnification goes up, focusing becomes more critical. Just a touch too much or too little movement on the focusing knob at high magnifications and the image goes out of focus. A rough focusing telescope is of little use and a bear to work. Celestron did a good job, here.

For those of you thinking of using the C130 as an OTA (optical tube assembly) and adding it to an existing telescope mount, the good news is that the C130 has Celestron's standard dovetail wedge. Nothing else to buy when adding the C130 to a mount, such as the Celestron CG5 mount. Just slide it into the dovetail on the telescope mount and go.

More to come. Stay tuned.

OpticsPlanet recently made a great purchase on the Celestron C130 spotting scope. This is the same optical tube as used on the Celestron Advanced 130 Mak GT telescope, but is supplied with an erect image, 45 degree prism and a 32mm Plossl eyepiece for terrestrial use. I put the C130 spotting scope version through some optical tests, yesterday.

For the price, I was pleasantly surprised. Resolution was very good for a scope at this price, as was contrast. It scored favorably with some much more expensive Mak spotting scopes and telescopes in this regard. Also, I could detect no image shift during focusing, as sometimes occurs on Maksutovs. Good job, Celestron! This scope will make a great high power observation scope for home or office .

My only negative on the optics was the supplied 32mm Plossl eyepiece. It rendered images with a distinct yellowish tinge. This disappeared completely when I substituted a Meade 26mm SuperPlossl eyepiece, though. This scope definitely deserves better eyepieces.

Try a good Plossl, such as the Televue 32mm Plossl (63x) or the Meade 26mm Series 5000 SuperPlossl (77x) to see what the Celestron C130 can really do.

Another option is to try our special Nighttime Astronomical Observation Gift Kit which includes a barlow lens and an additional eyepiece. This turns the C130 into a quite usable astronomy telescope for casual viewing of the moon, many deep-sky objects and planets.


More to report, soon.

Every now and then, I get a customer that wants a telescope or spotting scope that is as good to look at as it is to look through. The instrument must not only perform to the highest standard, it must also make a statement about the owner's commitment to owning a fine piece of equipment.

Of course, as salesperson, this is a dream customer for me. I had just such a gentleman the other day. He wanted something for his Manhattan high rise and he made a point of telling me that he didn't have time to waste on alternatives - he wanted to go right to the top. What else could I do? I matched up my dream scope for my dream customer.

For the spotting scope (which will also work just as well as a telescope), we went with the excellent TeleVue-85 Telescope 85 mm APO Package and, since looks were also an issue, we went with the model in brass, the BXC-3370. Now, everyone knows that a good scope deserves a good mount, so we went with the TeleVue Walnut Panoramic Mount WPT-4012. The walnut, of course, compliments the brass better than the ash version, the TeleVue Ash Panoramic Mount APT-4011. That would have been suitable for the white or evergreen version of the TV-85, buut not the brass (the woman's touch, here).

Just as a good telescope deserves a good mount, it also deserves to be fitted with good telescope eyepieces. Naturally, this meant Televue eyepieces. We started with one of my all time favorite telescope eyepieces, the TeleVue Panoptic 24.0mm Eyepiece EPO-24 and added two sensational Televue Nagler eyepieces, the TeleVue Nagler 7.0mm Type 6 Eyepiece EN6-7 and the TeleVue Nagler 11.0mm Type 6 Eyepiece EN6-11.

How would you like to have this setup in your living room? It would look great in mine.

I am sometimes asked to name my favorite telescope eyepiece. That's a bit like asking me to name my favorite outfit to wear or my favorite bird spot to visit - just depends on the occasion and what I am trying to accomplish.

If you had me cornered, though, I would probably say something like the Televue Panoptic 24mm eyepiece or the Pentax XW 20mm eyepiece. Why? I like eyepieces with enough eye relief to use with my glasses, with a wide field of view, though not necessarily the widest field of view and, of course eyepieces with outstanding resolution, edge sharpness and image brightness. I also use spotting scopes that can take telescope eyepieces, so the eyepiece I choose must be free of kidney bean (blackening and blinking at the edge of the field) and must not be overly fussy about eye placement. I can live with these shortcoming when doing astronomy, but not when I am using a scope by day. So far, the Panoptic and XW have been my favorites, but I also like the Meade Series 5000 SuperPlossl 26mm eyepiece, for an inexpensive option.

Try any of these in a Televue telescope or Celestron that takes telescope eyepieces, such as the Celestron 80ED Refractor and they will bring out the best in your scope.

As often happens when I am biking along the local trails, the trail will emerge from the dense cover of forest and open to a wide expanse of prairie. This always brings a smile to my face, since I am an open country gal at heart from out west. How I miss those wall to wall horizons.

Last night, I not only smiled when this happened, I interrupted my strict bike training regimen by stopping. What brought me to a halt was the song of a Bobolink, one of my favorite prairie birds. The "Bob" has such a distinctive, crazy call. Once you've heard one, you won't mistake it for anything else. It's as if the bird is trying to say more than one thing at a time. A friend of mine calls them the R2D2 bird, after the popular robot in Star Wars, because the Bobolink's song has a distinctive "electronic" tone.

So, there I stood with a big smile on my face, enjoying the Bobolink show through my Nikon 5x15 High Grade monocular (every ounce counts on a bike and optics don't come much smaller than this monocular). A few minutes later, the Bob flew off to a more distant perch and I hit the trail, again. Just as well, since I had another 15 miles to go before dark.

The great weather continues here in the Chicago area, so I've been spending some nice evenings under the stars. As always, the light pollution, here, limits any attempt at serious deep-sky observing, though it has much less effect on planetary viewing. Still, I am a deep-sky observer at heart, so what's a girl trapped in the big city to do?

I am a person who enjoys the simple things in life and after many years on this glorious planet, I have learned that taking a step back, now and then, and going back to basics is a wonderful way to renew the soul and spirit. There are times when I enjoy nothing more than pulling out a lawn chair and looking up at the stars and constellations. I did this very thing last night and, once again, it worked it's magic. I know well over 50 stars by their names and saying hello to the ones I can see on any given night is like meeting old friends. It gives my astronomy a wonderful, personal touch.

It saddens me greatly that many beginners try to bypass this basic step in their astronomy education by insisting on a computerized telescope. I suppose it is a symptom of our contemporary "drive-up window" mentality, but I do my best to convince them that learning to navigate through the stars and constellations is not a chore, but rather a joy in itself. I tell them to buy that computerized telescope if that's what they want, but I also advise them to use the computer as a teaching tool, rather than a substitute for basic knowledge of the night sky. The goal is to be able to keep observing on that fateful night when the computer does not work Murphy's Law applies on all things electronic).

Anyone can learn celestial navigation, though, on their own. It's fun and relaxing. There are countless books at the local book store devoted to this very subject. We carry a couple here at OpticsPlanet.net. One is the Celestron Sky Maps and the other is the Meade Star Chart Guide.(Don't buy them both - they are nearly identical). If you want to go digital, you can also buy many star maps on CD, such as the Celestron CD-ROM The Sly Level 1. Lastly, every beginner should also visit the Astronomy magazine website and the Sky&Telescope magazine website for current star maps and updates on the latest in astronomy.

When the discussion turns to digiscoping (taking pictures through the eyepiece of a spotting scope with a small digital camera), most people think in terms of great bird pics. After all, it was an adventurous birder who got digiscoping started and great bird pics remain the holy grail of most digiscopers. In the great "let's see what happens" spirit of digiscoping, though, many of us have expanded our horizons to include other subjects and even to experiment with other optical instruments, including telescopes, microscopes, binoculars and monoculars.

For example, one of my favorite subjects, after birds, are butterflies. Now it might seem silly to use a spotting scope on an insect that allows such a close approach. In fact, most avid butterfly watchers look for a binocular with a close focus of 5 feet or less. Hey, this is a close in game with a binocular. Trying to photograph butterflies, though, is a bit tougher. Once in a while, you can get close enough with a standard digital camera to fill the frame, but getting that close typically spooks the butterfly and upsetting the subject to get a good pic violates my personal code for responsible wildlife photography. A spotting scope allows me to keep my distance and that makes for a more relaxed subject and a more natural pose.

As with a binocular, a spotting scope with a good close focus is a big plus for butterfly digiscoping. My Kowa 663 spotting scope has a close focus of about 18 feet, according to Kowa, though mine does a foot or two better with the 20x TSE-21WD wide angle eyepiece I typically use for digiscoping.

Next time you are out in the field, digiscoping for birds, keep an eye on the local wildflowers and butterflies. You may get some great shots to add to your collection.

We are approaching new moon this week, so it's a good time to get out under the night sky and do some astronomy.

One of the things that disappoints me, greatly, is the notion many beginners have that you need an expensive telescope and lots of equipment to start doing astronomy. Nothing could be more untrue. If you have a clear sky and any interest in astronomy, the time to start is right now.

Don't have any optical equipment? No excuse. You can still do a lot of astronomy just by learning constellations and star names. For this, all you need is a basic star chart and book on constellations, such as the Meade Star Chart or Celestron Sky Map. What you learn with these simple tools is not only fun in its own right, but also something that will prove invaluable if you add a binocular or telescope at a later date.

The good news, though, is that most people already own some basic astronomy equipment. You can do a lot of astronomy with a common binocular. A binocular - any binocular, even a compact - will show you far more objects than your unaided eye, but the most common full size binoculars found in the home, such as an 8x42 or 10x50 will do a better job. If you don't have one, you don't need to spend a lot of money, either. You can get a very usable astronomy binocular in something like the Celestron Outland LX 10x50 for under $100 and still have a binocular that can be used for many other applications.

Want to check this out a bit more? See my article on astronomy binoculars, Astronomical Binoculars

Get out under those stars and start observing!

The best advice I can give to someone just getting started in astronomy is to keep it simple. With that in mind, let me make a pitch for a telescope design that may not advertise as well as all the models loaded with bells and whistles, but that will offer more performance for the dollar than any other telescope design. I am talking here about the Dobsonian telescope. It is my first choice for a telescope for a beginner.

A Dobsonian telescope is, in truth, a Newtonian reflector. What makes it a Dobsonian or "Dob" is the mount. A Dobsonian mount is a bare bones, ultra simple, all manual, no electronics, no gears and no controls telescope mount. Don't let that fool you, though - it is amazingly effective. To follow and track a celestial object, you just nudge the telescope tube up and over. Unlike other mounts, when you nudge a Dob, it moves and stops and it does it smoothly. No overshooting and need to fuss. Following an object becomes second nature. Sure, it means you have to learn to navigate the old fashioned way - with a star map and some patience - but learning the constellations and how to use a star map has always been one of the most enjoyable aspects of astronomy for me.

A Dobsonian mount is also durable. Really nothing to wear out or fall apart. Unlike so many "beginner" telescopes, a Dob will still be going strong long after the department store models loaded with electronics and gadgets stop working and disappear into the closet or show up on the garage sale.

The best reason to buy a Dobsonian, though, is performance. In telescopes, the name of the game is telescope size in terms of the diameter of the lens or mirror and a difference of 1" in size is significant. Since a Dobsonian mount is simple, it is also less expensive to produce. Bottom line is that you can buy a serious size telescope with a Dobsonian for the same amount of money you would spend on a small beginner's telescope loaded with gadgets and electronics. A great example of this is the Celestron Starhopper 8" Dobsonian telescope. An 8" telescope like this Starhopper is generally regarded as the starting point, size-wise, for dedicated observers of deep-sky objects - galaxies, nebulae, star clusters - and these objects are the things that fill the observing agenda for the majority of amateur astronomers. Considering that the Celestron 8" Starhopper costs only a bit more than $300, it may be one of the best buys in a telescope, today. It will make those 114mm (4.5") reflectors that most beginners buy look like toys.

For many years, I did my galaxy hunting with a 10" Meade Dobsonian and loved it. That model is no longer made, but you can get an even better Dobsonian telescope in the new Meade LightBridge 10" Dobsonian. The LightBridge is even better because it can be taken apart easily and transported in a compact car. You will see one in my Geo, soon.

Last night was actually clear and sky transparency good! Yes, miracles can happen. Although I was tired and the hour was late, how could I resist? Out came several binoculars and I stepped out onto the lawn for a look. Remember, my sky is almost as light polluted as it gets, so don't expect me to casually report seeing 10th magnitude galaxies. As so many of us know, binocular astronomy in the big city involves more common fare, but it is binocular astronomy none-the-less. Besides, I have a lot of fun just getting out with the equipment on a beautiful night and any night under the stars is better than a night under a roof.

For comparison sake, I started off with a Nikon Premier LX 10x25 compact binocular. Okay, no one thinks of compacts when you think of astronomy binocular, but ANY binocular is better than NO binocular and even a compact will show you things invisible to the unaided eye. Also, for testing purposes, a compact provides a baseline for comparison.

So, I turned the little Nikon Premier LX compact on Jupiter and was rewarded with a tiny disc, though I struggled to see the dots that are Jupiter's four largest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Just not enough image brightness with the 10x25's tiny little 2.5mm exit pupil or resolution with its small 25mm objective to get the job done from my location, but at least a beginner using a compact could say that the "bright star" in the southeast was not a star, but a planet. Next came M13, the Great Cluster in Hercules with a reputation as an object sure to please. Well, not with a compact from my location. Although I was just able to detect M13 with averted vision, thanks to my many years of experience with this famous globular, I doubt a beginner would have seen it at all with any small binocular. Clearly a case of not enough optical muscle.

On to a more conventional astronomy binocular. With a full size Swift 926 10x42 Ultra lite porro prism binocular, Jupiter looked a bit sharper and I could see Jupiter's moons well enough to count them and get a positive lock on their positions. (Never though I'd see the day when I felt this was a big accomplishment, but I never planned to live in a big city, either). Mind you, the view was not spectacular, but at least we were in business. As far as M13, well, it was barely visible as a cloudy smudge and I would have to say that with the Swift Ultra lite 10x42, as with any usable 8x42 or 10x42 binocular, a persistent and determined beginner could pick it up, though it would not be recognizable as a globular cluster. Just not enough optical muscle to resolve stars under my light polluted skies.

Now for the big gun, the Nikon 10x70 Astroluxe binocular. This is my baby. When I turned the Astroluxe on Jupiter, the planet's disc burned brightly and the moons just popped into view as a string of brilliant diamonds. Now that's more like it. As for M13, yes, I could resolve stars at the edge and say positively it was M13, the great globular cluster in Hercules, though it far from what I am used to seeing. Still, score one for the big guy.

Did I learn anything new last night? No, I test equipment like this all the time and I having been using binoculars for astronomy for more years than I care to say. Still it reaffirms the principle that, although bigger is not always better in a binocular, sometimes bigger can make all the difference. Last night, optical muscle showed its stuff.

One of the nice things about biking through the local Forest Preserves here in the Chicago suburbs is hearing the birds sing as a I pedal along the trail. Since I know my bird songs and calls well, I can keep a mental tally of all the species I hear on every outing. This time of year, the forest and prairies are alive with bird song. I can't even begin to list them all the species I hear, but I will say that it is rare to go more than a few minutes without hearing some song and, more often than not, I can hear several songs at once. It is truly music to my ears.

If you are new to birding, there is a trick I learned some time back that will help you learn your songs and calls and it won't cost you a great deal or burden you down with a lot of weight or size. Just download bird songs onto a conventional mp3 player from one of the many bird song CDs on the market. You can even download songs directly from many bird websites where allowed (but check before you copy).

Since bird songs and calls are minimal size, file-wise, you don't need a high capacity mp3 player to do this. I know of several birders who just use a small, inexpensive, low capacity models, such as the Sandisk Sansa C100 Digital Music mp3 player and reserve their high capacity iPods for their music files. That way, if the mp3 player is lost out in the field, they are not too upset and even a 1 GB model will hold all the bird songs and calls you will ever need. The nice thing about an mp3 player, compared to a CD player, is that you can instantly select any call you want and compare it directly with what you are hearing at the time.

Just a note of caution, though, for you bicyclists. I do not recommend listening to any mp3 player while riding. You need to hear what is going on around you at all times for safety's sake. If you want to plug in to your mp3, pull off the road and do it right.

We've had great weather for our wild flowers here in the Chicago area this spring. The daisies, for instance, are as glorious as I have ever seen them. As I ride along one of our many bike trails each night, I sometimes find it hard to keep my on the road (okay, trail) with all the beauty springing up around me. Sooner or later, I succumb to temptation, though, and stop to take a pic with my little Pentax Optio A10, now evolved into the Pentax Optio A20 digital camera.

As a bicyclist on a performance road bike, keeping weight to a minimum is critical (and that includes me). Yes, when I am deadly serious about pic quality, I will always grab an SLR, but no way will I add the weight of an SLR to my load when I ride. On the other hand, a small digital point and shoot takes up no more room than my cell phone (which I also carry) and a good one like the Pentax Optio A10 will do a nice job on wild flowers - certainly good enough to keep me warm when I review my wildflowers pics on those long cold winter nights.

If you are in the northern suburbs of Chicago and see some gal stopped by the bike trail, leaning over a flower, or getting back on her bike with a big smile on her face, that's probably me. See you on the trail!