A fantastic small grab-and-go telescope made for beginners and experienced astronomy enthusiasts.
Highlights:
compact grab-and-go telescope made for astronomy enthusiasts at the beginning and intermediate levels.
Bright, detailed views of solar system targets like the Moon and planets as well as wide-field celestial objects like nebulas and star clusters are made possible by the telescope's large 4.5" aperture and quick f/4 focal ratio.
Low weight - 10.9 lbs fully assembled
Credit: Amazon
FYI, Prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing. Top Reviews By Satisfied Customers
Helpful review: "This was my first scope.... So I'm no astro nerd expert. But let me tell you, your mind will be blown.Shipped quickly, easy assembly, I glanced over the instructions.... trial and error, it takes a little practice to get the hang of this thing if you've never used a telescope. The laser sight works pretty good, for some reason I can't get mine to stay sighted in perfectly, probably need to read the instructions more carefully, but the scope works fine overall. Focuses well, really picks up light.... you know how you feel like you can almost see a bizillion stars in between the brighter stars? Well, they're there. You can stare into a dark area with this thing and boom there are more stars there. I did a little research before the purchase. This seemed like the best bang for your buck as far as a good entry-level scope that can collect a decent amount of light. Started eyeballing around, learning the constellations.... the moon is crazy detailed and close up... haven't gotten a chance to view planets yet.... but I see satellites all the time zipping around up there, star clusters... and I live in an area with somewhat bad light pollution, haven't even tried it out in the country yet where the view will be better. Maybe I'm nuts, but this is better than watching T.V. I sit out there in the bed of my truck in the driveway just eyeballing around, staring at stars... they're all different colors... flashes of light.... you can really see them.... like, you can tell they're just like the sun but just really far away.... I don't know. A couple of weeks ago I was out there eyeballing the stars late at night sipping on a screwdriver and staring at one star in particular and pondering existence and if we're alone and whether or not there's a god and all of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks and I can hardly put in to words what happened.... but it was a religious experience. Strange. Hard to explain. Best way I can put it is that I was overwhelmed with a mix of love, grief, peace, a longing, fear, happiness and sadness, all melded in this one powerful crippling emotion. A presence. I no longer have any doubt in my mind. If you've never had a religious experience.... well, maybe you'll have one eventually. I hope so. Aside from possibly triggering life-altering experiences, this little light bucket is your eyeball into the cosmos. I love it. One of these days I'll go for a bigger light bucket but this one is great... very portable.... I've been using it as much as I can for about three months now, cloudy winter skies sometimes... learning all of the stars.... the great thing is that the stars change with the seasons. Always something new to see, somewhere else to look and explore. Your mind will be blown! If you're thinking about whether or not to buy it, buy it. Stare at the heavens. Ponder existence. There's so much to learn, so much we don't know. Go for it! As an inexperienced amateur with nothing to compare it to, I've been very pleased with the scope and its performance. Exceeded my expectations, very well worth the money. I will come back and dig up this review should it prove to be cheap and break or have a serious malfunction. If no updates, assume I'm still out there in the driveway sipping on a screwdriver. *UPDATE APRIL 2019* It fell apart. What a cheap piece of garbage. Naw I'm just kidding. Still works as good as the day I got her. Since I wrote the original review I've seen the planets, seen a band or two of clouds on Jupiter as well as the moons, seen the rings of Saturn, eyeballed Andromeda, the brighter Messier objects... star clusters... etc. And great news! Moved out into the boonies where I can really see the stars. Almost zero light pollution. One really clear night the ole' lady and I were camping and looking at the night sky... I put the scope in the center band of the Milky Way... you could see as many stars through the scope as you could see in the entire night sky with the naked eye. Its just ridiculous. Watch the Tim and Eric documentary on space. It will blow your mind. Great scope. She's been bounced around in the back of my truck on crusty rutted gravel roads and still held up great. I wouldn't recommend doing that but it is a fairly durable piece of equipment. SOON... someday soon I'll order the XT8 (the step up with the 8" aperture.) Amen brother. Amen brother. Keep on keepin on." - Bobby McFanny
Get it from Amazon now: $229.99 & FREE Returns
Credit: Amazon
Trending review: "Just 3 things first before I get into the meat of the review . I really loved that the StarBlast was calibrated from the factory, for me it was only a little bit off due to shipping bumps. But otherwise I highly recommend not messing with the secondary mirror too much. Always make sure you read the instructions first to avoid being frustrated. And if you do not already, make sure you have a 2mm Allen wrench or (Hex socket). And Once it was all set up; I had a 17mm, 6mm 4mm to work with, having ordered the 6 and 4 mm, plus a 2x barlow lens. Which combined with the 4 mm, brought the magnification to X225 (one short of the mag limit on the StarBlast at X226, also called "maximum useful magnification".). This is plenty thought to see the stripes on Jupiter, the slight discoloring of Saturn with it's ring dipping and raising. If you have the money for a 6" I would highly recommend going for the extra 1.5" of Aperture. But this one is a fantastic option for me personally. I ordered a Laser collimator from Astromania (twas the cheapest) and it worked out perfect. You make sure it's aligned close enough, turn on the laser then use the 2mm wrench to adust three screws which push it different ways. BUT. MAKE SURE U HOLD THE SECONDARY MIRROR as you adjust it, you do not want it to turn. I'd recommend putting some kind of mark just past the medal spider center strut, so you can make sure you get it back to the calibrated orientation. You then look down the barrel and align the laser in the center dot on the primary (the big mirror) mirror, you then fine tune the primary mirror via the adjustment knobs. These kind of telescopes are a lttle more vulnerable to dust and particulates, so make sure it's covered any minute you're not consistently using it. With the help of the Moon Filter too (Use it for 8mm and above, below that - the magnification blocks out some of the light anyway. I haven't spied Uranus yet, but my favorite so far is Jupiter. The telescope is WELL BUILT!! The regular bumps that would knock the hell out of your image in other telescopes? Don't phase this one. It's sturdy and smooth, making target acquisition smooth when the laser target finder is tuned in. Highly recommend this product for ANYONE who is starting out in astronomy, and is on a budget. It's a tad vulnerable to high wind but it stands it's ground. I still have yet to drive like 40-50 miles out of town to really start to see some incredible things. But every night, even with bad light pollution (I live in Fort Worth), you can always observe most planets and always the fantastic moon with it's phases. I even tracked a satellite!! It was flying across the sky, I switched to my 17mm and tracked it, It was BOOKIN' it across the sky lol. Thank you Orion! This purchase has made me very happy!." - Jacob
Get it from Amazon now: $229.99 & FREE Returns
Credit: Amazon
Reassuring review: "Love this guy! This is my first telescope as an adult, so I figured this was a good “test the water” scope to see if I’d actually get into it or not. Had it for a couple of months now and have used it frequently for backyard viewing. This is great right out of the box. I can see tons of detail on the moon and I’ve been taken aback by star clusters. I haven’t had an opportunity to see Saturn or Jupiter yet, but I expect I’ll have a decent view. That said.. I did upgrade a few things. 1. The EZ finder that comes with the scope was difficult for me to use. I’m sure it was user error, but even whenever it was almost working, it was uncomfortable to use. I ended up getting an Orion finder scope to replace it ($60-70) and am happy I did, even if it kind of looks ridiculous! 2. The eyepieces included are great. I also got the shorty Barlow lens, which made them even better. But after doing some math/research, I decided to get an eye piece with a greater field of vision. The included eyepieces are 50 deg, and I found a 70 deg 15 mm for about $50 on another site... and wow! Big difference. Also got a 3x Celestron X-cel Barlow lens which seems to be better quality than the Shorty (at three times the cost..) 3. The collimation cap is very helpful. But I did purchase a laser collimator to make it even easier. Altogether, I couldn’t be happier with this telescope. I don’t know if I should have spent a little more and gotten the 6” Starblast instead, but I’m having a blast with this one and will probably be getting a “slower” scope in the near future. If you decide to get the Starblast 4.5, I highly recommend getting a proper finderscope to go with it. Definitely get the shorty Barlow lens. But hold off on buying more eyepieces until you know exactly what you want. The ones that come with it are great, and you’ll have more appreciation for any others you buy in the future :)" - S.H.
Get it from Amazon now: $229.99 & FREE Returns