| | |  | Reflectors | Home » » » Celestron 21045 114mm Equatorial PowerSeeker Telescope | | | | | | | Description: | | Celestron PowerSeeker telescopes are a great way to open up the wonders of the Universe to the aspiring astronomer. The PowerSeeker series is designed to give the first-time telescope user the perfect combination of quality, value, features and power.
Amateur astronomy is a great family hobby that can be enjoyed year round, and Celestron’s PowerSeekers are the ideal choice for families looking for an affordable and high quality telescope that will provide many hours of enjoyment for children and adults alike.
PowerSeekers are quick and easy to set up – even for the novice. No tools are required for assembly! | | | Features: | |
• Affordable telescope for beginning astronomer; portable yet powerful
• All-glass optical components with high transmission coatings for enhanced image brighness and clarity
• Newtonian optical design with a 114mm aperture and 900mm focal length
• Equatorial mount for tracking the sky
• Includes 3x Barlow Lens (1.25"), 20mm eyepiece, 4mm eyepiece, aluminum tripod with accessory tray
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 37.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 16.0 inches | | Product Height:
| 10.0 inches | | Product Weight:
| 30.0 pounds | | Package Length:
| 37.01 inches | | Package Width:
| 15.35 inches | | Package Height:
| 10.24 inches | | Package Weight:
| 27.6 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 26 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 It's money's worthJul 28, 2010
I was a complete beginner when I bought this scope and a relative newbie now. I bought the scope because I was fascinated with developing astronomy as a hobby, but reluctant to spend a fortune in case I lost interest. I also knew that you needed a scope with a reasonable appeture to stand any chance of seeing anything. The 114 seemed to fit the bill then.
First time out we aimed it at the moon and were blown away at the detail of the craters even with the lowest magnifications. Next time we tried to find Saturn and mars and spent a couple of hours to no avail. However, I persevered and have now been able to see saturn (with it's rings clearly visible) and, last night Jupiter and it's dour moons (just being able to make out the colour of the northern equatorial belt). Still haven't been able to find any nebulae or galaxies despite being pretty confident of their location, but will keep trying.
My biggest piece of advice for those struggling would be download some software like stellarium (free and awesome) to help you with location.
In summary, people are right... It is pretty flimsy and not the best scope, but you get your moneys worth. For me it has been an excellent choice because it's made me want to see more, in more detail and now I know I won't be wasting my money when I can eventually afford a decent computer aided scope with a bigger appeture... For the patient beginner on a budget you can't go wrong... Just don't expect to see images like the Hubble produces on a £100 scope.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 I am glad I bought this.Jul 16, 2010
I did three years of research before I bought this telescope. I needed some thing suited for a first timer within his budget. I read several reviews about this telescope before I put an order. First couple of days after I received it, it was just a frustraion because using a telescope requires lots of patience and some practice (to be able to see something interesting). Now, me and my family enjoy this very much. Through practice, I can now locate and see moon's craters, saturn's rings and its moon (Titan), and jupiter and its four moons. If you are a first time telescope buyer, this is the best one to start with for less than $100. However, before you buy one, research about sky, constilations, stars, planets, and best time to view them. If your expectation is realistic, buy this. If you want to see Neptune's land scaping, forget about any telescope; just go visit NASA webpage for high resolution pictures.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 OK telescope, but ...Mar 06, 2010
I bought this telescope for my son as a starter telescope. The price was quite reasonable and it seems like a reasonable telescope. Well, appearances are not all that they seem to be. We put it together, which was quite simple, and noticed a couple of things right away. The instructions are reasonably clear and assembly was quite easy. The tripod is a bit wobbly if you don't tighten everything up and the rotary base of the telescope has a bit too much slack. That makes aiming a bit tricky. The finder scope pretty useless. The finder base has two elongated holes in it for the mounting and is always getting knocked out of alignment. It also feels really cheap, especially since the plastic base used to mount it to the telescope is hollow underneath and can't really be tightened adequately without breaking it. Still, what do you expect from a telescope that cost under $100.
There are also some shortcomings in the hardware. The biggest problem is the elevation adjustment screw. The screw started to gall after only three uses. Fortunately I had some very high tech (and high cost) teflon grease (it's called Krytox and it's $35 for two ounces)that pretty much stopped the galling. Also, there is excess slack in the rotary base that fits into the tripod. If you tighten it enough to pull out most of the slack, you can't turn it. Not a good start.
The big disappointment was looking at the stars and moon. After setting it up and aligning the finder scope, the stars were horizontal smears and the moon was fuzzy: lunar features were indistinct. Checking into it, I found tat the collimation was completely off. The secondary reflector was far out of position and the main mirror was adjusted to compensate for the problems with the secondary mirror. After about 3 hours of fidgeting with the secondary mirror, taking the main mirror off twice and putting crossed strings on the end of the main tube to aim the secondary mirrors, and purchasing a laser collimator, the telescope is now pretty clear. Distant stars look like points of light and not smears and details are now in focus on the moon. We haven't tried much else yet, but a starter telescope should have reasonably clear images so that a neophyte doesn't get discouraged right away by poor image quality. I expect to spend another $100 or more on optics to get some standard screw-on filters and eyepieces that will accept standard filters instead of the "it-fits-Celestron-only" variety that Celestron sells. In retrospect, I would look for a somewhat better quality telescope rather than spend my way up to what I should have bought in the first place.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
not for childsJan 11, 2010
Este lo compre para ver las estrellas con mi sobrino, esta bien construido y es fácil de armar, pero no es fácil de utilizar, realmente hay que meterse de lleno en la astronomía para aprovecharlo, lo recomiendo para personas interesadas en esta materia que tengan tiempo y paciencia
15 year old telescopeJan 06, 2010
I bought this as a gift for my 15 year old daughter. She loves it. We have only used it once due to bad weather and a bad cold we are sharing. Its relatively easy to assemble. It's our first telescope and I recommend it for the younger beginner. You get a lot features for the price. Critical reviews I've read don't comprehend the low price you pay for what you get.
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