WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 51
Meade ETX125 OBSERVER
MAKSUTOV-CASSEGRAIN
The ETX125 is perfect for aspiring astroimagers. Using
the attached camera, one can look through an eye-
piece, using the built-in star diagonal, and then quickly
flip the mirror out of the way to take a photo.Celestron
NexStar 8SE
The NexStar 8SE features the
legendary Celestron 8
telescope on a one-armed,
computer-controlled mount
that automatically locates and
tracks objects selected from
the onboard database. It
comes with a red-dot finder,
a 25mm eyepiece, and a star
diagonal.Which telescope is best? That
depends so much on you, your
expectations, and your budget. But
in my experience, the best telescope
doesn’t have to be the biggest or the
most expensive. The best telescope
is one that is used often and
enjoyed by its owner!REMEMBER
THE GOLDEN
RULE:
Never buy a telescope
based on magnifi cation.
You can make any
telescope operate
at any magnifi cation
just by changing
the eyepiece.
Explore
Scientific
FirstLight
100
Maksutov-
Cassegrain
Mounted on the Twilight
Nano Mount, this com-
pact 3.9-inch (10 cm)
Maksutov telescope is
ideal for anyone who
needs to carry their
telescope down a flight
of stairs or is short on
storage space. The
scope also comes with
an eyepiece and a red-
dot finder.SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $399.99
Mount: German
equatorial
Aperture: 3.9 inches
(10 cm)
Focal length: 1400mm
Focal ratio: f/14
Eyepieces: 25mm (200x)
Weight: 4 pounds
(1.8 kg)
$^8
29
.^99
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $1,599.00
Mount: altitude-azimuth
Aperture: 8 inches (20.3 cm)
Focal length: 2032mm
Focal ratio: f/10
Eyepieces: 25mm (81x)
Weight: 24 pounds (10.9 kg)SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $829.99
Mount: equatorial dual-
fork
Aperture: 5 inches
(12.7 cm)Focal length: 1900mm
Focal ratio: f/5
Eyepieces: 9.7mm
(196x) and 26mm (73x)
Weight: 25 pounds
(11 kg)CELE
STRONCELEST
RON$^1
,^59
9
Phil Harrington is a longtime
contributor to Astronomy. He received
the Walter Scott Houston Award at
Stellafane 2018 for his lifelong work
promoting and teaching astronomy.And for younger amateur
astronomers looking
to get their first scope,
check out Astronomy’s
April 2021 story “The best
scopes for kids.”Scan the QR
code to read
the story online.