Hello.
Just found this Celestron telescope on ebay.

Description
114mm Newtonian
telescope- 910mm focal length
has three lenses and a barlow's lens (2x) the lenses are 4mm 6mm 20mm there is a lunar filter for the 4mm and 20mm, there is also sun filter for the 6mm
includes stand..

what do you think of it?

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Never, ever, ever use an eyepiece solar filter! They take the full magnified light and heat of the objective lens. They can and have been known to explode, instantly blinding the user!

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T. Anderson

The fact they are using an eyepiece solar filter indicates this scope is likely JUNK.

Back when I was a kid I had such a scope with such a filter. I had no idea they were dangerous. I was looking at the sun out a window. Dumb but I was 10 or so and had a lot to learn. The doorbell rang. I went to answer it. Postman had a package. I took it and went back to the scope. As I approached it I could see the sun shining on the ceiling. That shouldn't be with the filter (made of welding glass). I looked at the ceiling. A good one third of the glass that had been in the filter was now embedded in the ceiling! There was a nice chunk missing from the eye lens of the eyepiece as well. I still have that eyepiece as a reminder. 0.965", 40mm Ramsden, can you say soda straw views? What if I'd been looking at the sun at the time it blew? I did wear glasses even then so maybe, just maybe, the force wouldn't have been enough to shatter them and it would have bounced off. Or, more likely, I'd have damaged or lost my eye. To me that postman saved my eye!

Whenever I see such a scope I cringe and run far far away. Celestron knows these are dangerous and chooses to sell them anyway. That amazes me. I'd think their lawyers would object to the high liability exposure.

Also moon filters can be handy for large scopes but not a 4.5" reflector. They don't collect that much light, especially when used with a 4mm eyepiece. Even the full moon is rather dim at 50x per inch. Something else they threw in that was of no use. At least it isn't dangerous, just of no real use.

Rick

I second what everyone said about sun filters. But I do not really think that just because a telescope has a sun filter, it's immediate junk. Some older "classic" scopes often had sun filters, but they were apparently good scopes. But with this scope, that is not the case. It is a plain long tube 114mm Newtonian, an okay starter scope but considering it's a Celestron, it's probably undermounted. Celestron makes good intermediate and advanced scopes, but their starter scopes aren't so great.

You need to stop shopping on eBay. While eBay may be a good place to get antiques and stuff like that, it isn't a good place to shop for a telescope, unless you are looking for a good find on a "classic" vintage scope or something like that. Many telescopes on eBay are complete junk, especially the 6'' "short-tube" Newtonians and the 50mm refractors, which are quite frankly, crap.

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I agree with Siguy about eBay! The only people who should be shopping there for a scope are those who know scopes inside out, back to front, and top to bottom! Anybody else (self included!) is likely to get burned!

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

oh ok. thanks, ill stay away from that one

how about this one?
MEADE 130mm(5-1/8"

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I have seen that scope before on eBay. The seller is totally overrating that telescope. It is decent, but nothing special.

STOP SHOPPING ON EBAY. It is definitely NOT the place to get a first scope. Listen to the people who know about telescopes, they should guide you.

Many say the perfect starter scope is a 6-10'' Dobsonian, like an Orion XT series or a Zhumell Dob (not sure about where to get those, but apparently they're cheaper than Orion's and have better focusers). You seem to be looking at altazimuth reflectors anyway, so that seems perfect for you.

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oh ok. thanks!!!

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What do you guys think about
Orion SpaceProbe 130mm which is 5.1 inches??
i can get this from ebay or amazon, ebay is cheaper thought.

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www.rapfrancais.tk
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Why do you expect us to do all your research for you?
We have no idea what you want a telescope for!
It could be just right for you. Or it could be horribly wrong!

The SpaceProbe 130 (by the way there are two different one - long tube and short tube) is a nice beginner's "all around" reflector. Whether it's right for you is not for us to decide!

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

Get it from the Orion website. telescope.com

The Orion SpaceProbe 130 is a nice starter telescope, but it does not have the aperture or simplicity of a Dobsonian. It is on an equatorial mount, which though nice, can be complicated for a beginner. It has two models, the normal (long tube) and the ST (short tube) model. I recommend the latter as it has a parabolic mirror and isn't to hard on the little mount.

I still think you should consider a Dobsonian, either an Orion XT/i or a Zhumell.

But then again, you should also tell us what you want, because as Captain K said, we have no idea what you need!

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BECAUSE I DONT KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT TELESCOPES

Thanks Siguy!

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Nobody starts out knowing "that much about telescopes", but they do research to educate themselves as to what different scopes do and how they differ from other types of scopes!

What they don't do is pick a scope at random (eBay or whatever) and go to a bulletin board and ask "how about this one". "No, then what about tis one?" "Or this one?"

Figure out what you want to do with a scope (Moon, planets, deep space, whatever) and your approximate budget. Then, we can make suggestion as to basic types and maybe specific brands and models.

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Any day you wake up on "the right side of the dirt" is a good day.

T. Anderson

Here are some informative websites that deal with choosing a telescope:

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=ss&id=9

http://skyandtelescope.com/howto/sco...icle_241_1.asp

http://www.scopereviews.com/begin.html

http://www.floridastars.org/telescop.html

http://www.company7.com/library/begin.html

http://starizona.com/acb/basics/equip_whichisbest.aspx

http://stupendous.rit.edu/richmond/a...telescope.html

http://www.celestron.com/c2/esupport..._j=subcat&_i=4

http://www.astronomics.com/main/cate...lescope/Page/1

An 8" f/6 Newtonian telescope on an alt-azimuth Dobsonian mount, commonly called a Dob, is an excellent starting telescope for many amateur observers. Here are some reviews of one of the most popular ones, the Orion SkyQuest XT8:

http://www.bpccs.com/lcas/Articles/xt8.htm

http://www.scopereviews.com/page1j.html#4

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1043

http://home.comcast.net/~astrohammer/opinionspage1.htm

http://www.eastvalleyastronomy.org/r...yquestxt8.html

http://www.epinions.com/pr-Orion_Sky...splay_~reviews

Dave Mitsky

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you have to do a lot of research. Buy Sky & Telescope Magazine, Astronomy Magazine, get some books and read the websites Dave sent you. You have to remember that you are most likely going to use the scope for years, so please invest wisely, do not just go on Ebay and click on buy or bid, like you were buying a T Shirt or something. I researched for months and then purchased.
Also you will probably chop and change your mind 100000 times like I did. First I wanted a Dobsonian, then a Light Bridge, then a 10", then an 8". Also, scopes are BIG so be sure you can handle it. In the end I wound up with a 6" because the 10" & 12" were way to large for me to handle, I am having a tough time with the 6", so please purchase wisely and steer clear from Ebay, this is not the place to shop for this.

I know someone who did do the Ebay thing, well let me tell you, when the scope arrived the primary mirror was shattered. The seller ditched my friend and he gt burned. the mirror was probably cracked to begin with, I would not doubt that for a second.

listen to the posters here, they are very knowledgeable about scopes. Take your time and in the end your scope will give you years of enjoyment. NO EBAY for Scopes

As Starchild615, and others, said, you have a lot of research to do. Frankly, it sounds like you're nowhere near ready to buy a telescope. Get yourself a pair of 10x50 binoculars, a reclining lawn chair, and some star charts. Go outside at night and learn your way around the sky.

In the meantime, go to Cloudy Nights telescope reviews and read everything. you'll be more confused than ever, but at least you'll have an idea of what the different telescopes are and what they can do.

Dave Mitsky gave you a lot of homework above. Read the links he provided.

Oh yeah, and quit looking for a telescope on eBay.

Edit: On rereading, this sounds much more harsh than I intended. You have a lot to look forward to as you learn the sky, and there is no need to hurry out and buy a telescope. Join an astronomy club if you can, read as much as possible (on cloudy nights) and get out and enjoy this hobby. You are going to have fun.

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Good ideas and the other thing you can do is find out if your city has an astronomy club and go try out a few scopes and see which one is most comfortable for yourself. Stay away from ebay. I am friends with the guy that started ebay and have heard stories that would just make you sick