skyandtelescope.org • JUNE 2020 33
In my icy driveway on a frosty Febru-
ary night, the electronics-free Dobso-
nian suffered no operational limitations
and continued to provide great observing
experiences. The open clusters M36,
M37, and M38 in Auriga each looked
distinctly different at 50×. M35 in
Gemini was particularly fabulous
through the scope — a beady arc of
light in the northern part of the cluster
resolved into a chain of at least nine
stars. M35’s teensy neighbor, NGC 2158,
was faint yet defi nite. At 135×, M46 in
Puppis was a pale dusting of stars; a
UHC fi lter revealed planetary nebula
NGC 2438 within the cluster. And the
Great Orion Nebula, M42, displayed
broad wings of nebulosity through the
unfi ltered telescope. The tiny Trapezium
energizing M42 sparkled cleanly at 50×.
Final Considerations
The FirstLight 8-inch Dob comes with a
red-dot viewfi nder, which is the weakest
point of the package. This fl imsy plastic
unit-power spotter is inadequate for
locating anything dimmer than bright
stars. The limitation is made worse by a
tinted viewscreen (think mild sun-
glasses) that attenuates the viewfi nder’s
fi eld. The fi rst accessory I’d advise you to
buy to improve the scope is a right-angle
optical fi nderscope. But buyer beware:
The mounting shoes (there are two, one
on either side of the focuser) are of pro-
prietary design, accepting only Explore
Scientifi c fi nders.
Explore Scientifi c’s online promo-
tion confusingly claims this FirstLight
can be converted into a Newtonian
telescope. A subsequent statement
tells us that the Newtonian OTA can
be attached to an equatorial mount
via “the included Vixen-style dovetailplate.” No such accessory was in the kit
I received. The promotional blurb also
states that an “... included adapter
helps observers use their smart device
to capture and share images.” Nei-
ther the quick-assembly pamphlet nor
the online instruction manual refers
to the adapter, which is appropriate
because this accessory, too, wasn’t in
the kit. Pity. A smartphone adapter fully
explained (and actually in the box!)
would appeal to the growing number
of people whose smartphones are also
their cameras.
All quibbling aside, I wouldn’t
hesitate to recommend this telescope
to anyone starting out in the hobby, or
a novice wanting to upgrade to a bigger
yet still uncomplicated and affordable
aperture. Decades ago, when I was
17 and rapidly outgrowing my tiny
60-mm Tasco refractor, I acquired a
friend’s home-built, 8-inch Newtonian
refl ector — a long-focus monster on a
massive steel mount and cinder-block
base. I’m sure I would have preferred,
had it existed, the compact FirstLight.
It’s not perfect, but it’s good value for
the money.■KEN HEWITT-WHITE enjoys observing
the night sky from his home in suburban
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada.uThe 2-inch rack-and-pinion
focuser includes a knurled
thumbscrew between the focus-
ing knobs, allowing you to adjust
the tension of the focus motion
- helpful when employing a heavy
eyepiece.
uuTwo locking screws located
near the base of the focuser are
intended to prevent slippage but
did not seem to function on the
review unit. A metric Vernier scale
is inscribed on the drawtube.
The supplied 25-mm eyepiece
focuses at the 30-mm mark,
or roughly 8 inches outside the
telescope tube with the black
“spacer sleeve” inserted between
the drawtube and the 2-inch
eyepiece holder.
pThe telescope tube of the FirstLight 8-inch
Dobsonian, as delivered, and when properly
balanced, barely clears the base of the rocker
box when pointed high up. Adding a heavy
ocular (such as the author’s 2-lb, 31-mm Tele
Vue Nagler), and the resulting rebalance of the
tube downward, causes the mirror-end of the
tube to strike the base.