Celestron – PowerSeeker 127EQ Telescope

• The Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ is a simple, yet powerful telescope for beginning stargazers. The PowerSeeker series was created to provide the ideal balance of performance, value, usefulness, and features for people learning about astronomy.
• The Newtonian Reflector is a manual German equatorial mount that allows you to explore the sky. It has a German Equatorial mount with a slow-motion altitude rod for smooth and accurate pointing. Adjust the rod to the desired position, then tighten the cross knob to secure it.
• Bring this lightweight and portable telescope with you on all your adventures, big or small. With its optical coatings of aluminum, it’s perfect for stargazing in any location.
• Multiple accessories: The Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ Telescope includes two eyepieces (20mm and 4mm), as well as a 3x Barlow lens to triple the magnification of each. Users may also download BONUS Starry Night Astronomy Software Package
• Unbeatable and customer support: Shop worry-free with the telescope brand that has been situated in California since 1960. You are also given a 2-year duration and 24/7 access to technical support from our professional team based in America.

From our Network Community member Alexander Buick who recommends this product.

Since owning a telescope can take a lot of patience to get used to. Many people may rush to purchase an excellent expensive telescope and only find them selfs using it for 2 days and then never again.

In terms of computer guidance, I would say that I have had quite a bit of difficulty using and setting up the computer guidance. However, I have gotten into the habit of using the motors in the computer guidance system and manually pointing the telescopes at objects in the sky.

Using a relatively cheap telescope can help a younger child (10 year old for example) get into the habit of going outside and setting up the telescope. It also helps teach your child to identify objects in the night sky manually. Manually pointing the telescope at things in the night sky will also be necessary regardless of using a computer-guided scope. In a computer-guided telescope, you will still have to manually point at objects in the night sky to set it up.

Here is the beginner scope I recommend for your child, the Celestron PowerSeeker 127EQ. This telescope has an aperture of 127mm, meaning how powerful it is. To understand what you can do with this aperture, here is a helpful chart if you scroll to the bottom of this web page.

One last thing that may be useful to use is a smartphone adapter. I haven’t tried it out myself since I use a camera for my telescope. However beginners new to telescopes may find this helpful.

One other thing I would like to note about viewing the night sky is that depending on where you are light pollution can significantly hamper your view of things like galaxies. I have significant light pollution where I live and haven’t had any luck viewing things like galaxies and nebulas. Here is a helpful site to find out how bad light pollution is in your area.

Another site that will be useful to find out what planets should be visible in the night sky.  Note: it is unlikely to get a good view of Uranus or Neptune, but I do recommend looking at Venus since it can be one of the brightest objects in the night sky.

Another helpful site for looking for when to see the moon rise.

Here is another helpful site to see where objects will be in the night sky. It also allows you to simulate the night sky on a given day and time.

This helpful night sky app that I recommend will also notify you when the international space station is visible.

If you get a Celestron computer-guided telescope with a wifi feature, you will need this App:

Another helpful thing to check out is JPL’s night sky monthly update. Every month JPL releases a short video on their youtube channel that tells you everything you can see in the night sky that month (generally excluding galaxies and nebulas) here is the video for this month: