You may be wondering what actually is a Refractor? In short, it is all to do with how the telescope works. Basically, its a type of telescope that uses various components and mechanisms to refract light, compared to reflecting it in (like Reflecting Telescopes do) The reason to buy this telescope over others is for its novel smartphone clamp built into the lens cap. It's an impressive piece of design and relatively easy to use, though it does help enormously if you have a spare 20 mm eyepiece to leave in place. With good, sharp views of the Moon and planets, and worthy observations of deep sky objects, the Inspire 100AZ makes for an interesting first step into the world of astronomical observing and astrophotography. Just be prepared to spend a bit of time getting to know its less-than-perfect bearings.

The Inspire 100AZ is realistically the best refractor you’re going to get in its price range. The Inspire 100AZ is only an acceptable, but so-so telescope. We would recommend you consider a reflector instead, as few refractors of acceptable quality exist in this price range. All reflectors have larger apertures and, in some ways, better mounts and optics than the Inspire 100AZ. Here are some of our favorites. Celestron provide a comprehensive set of accessories to use with this scope. The following come included in the box: We’d also recommend getting a different eyepiece than the 20mm Kellner that comes with the Inspire 100AZ. It has 33x magnification and a 1.5 degree field of view, which is about the size of 3 full moons. A good low power eyepiece is a top recommendation on our list, as it will make finding deep-sky objects a lot easier and, for the largest targets, a wider field of view frames them a lot better—the Andromeda Galaxy, the Double Cluster, and many of the objects in Sagittarius being prime examples. The Inspire 100AZ has a lens cap with a built-in smartphone adapter. Set your device up against the rubberized friction surface on the exterior of the lens cap so that the camera is observing via the imaging port. Two adjustable bungee cords help safeguard your smartphone. The interior of the lens cap features a fitting that fastens to your eyepiece using two set screws. This is all you need to take high power images through your Celestron Inspire 100AZ! That's because its bearings are a little stiff and imprecise, though with a little practice it’s possible to get good views of the star clusters and galaxies. However, the darker the sky, the better.As for the cons, the main one is the tripod, which I do appreciate is quite heavy but what is not great about it is the AZ mount itself and the handle as you cannot make subtle adjustments to the scope as it jiggles all over the place when you move it. And I found this really frustrating as I was trying to view Jupiter and kept swapping out eyepieces and slotting in a 2x barlow lens and each time I tried to find my target, it was impossible for me to keep the view through the eyepiece steady as it just kept jiggling all over the place again. Or also what would happen is when I tried to get a subject in view when I tightened the handle, it would cause the scope to sag a little meaning I would need to start all over again to keep the view in my eyepiece.

It looks like it will make a wonderful gift, and has several features which I would recommend for a young person. These include good aperture and Alt-azimuth mount (as opposed to Equatorial). Tend to be more expensive than Reflector equivalents, Celestron Inspire 100az Telescope PerformanceNot compatible with #93648 Off-Axis Guider, not compatible with #93519 2" Mirror Diagonal (discontinued) The Inspire 100AZ isn't just about astrophotography, but it’s not as able with deep sky objects as it may appear. A reasonably short focal length of 660mm makes this achromatic refractor primarily ideal for observing targets within our solar system, but its f/6.5 focal ratio is just enough to get eyes-on with some reasonably faint deep-sky objects. Setting up the telescope is a breeze and will have you observing in no time. Even on your first time out, you can assemble the telescope and its accessories in just a few minutes. There is no extra tray to attach to the tripod as it is built in. The adjustable tripod legs allow you to customize the telescope’s height or place it on raised surfaces like a picnic table. The integrated flashlight fits in the mount to illuminate the tripod tray, so you can easily find your accessories. The total telescope kit is perfect for impromptu observing sessions or transporting wherever life’s adventures take you.

The tripod has an accessory tray that also acts as a stabilizer, upon which you can store a couple of eyepieces in custom-made slots, which is handy. However, something it also has here is a red light. It points downwards and can light up the accessory tray on-demand, though you can just as easily remove it since it's actually just a red flashlight. Includes 1 free year of the “SLOOH Astronomer” subscription. Remotely reserve, control, and image through professional grade telescopes, access to livestream SLOOH shows, and many other features If you do go with the Celestron Inspire, remember the maximum magnification with the supplied eyepieces is x66. For the Moon and planets, your son would probably enjoy more power. You have two possibilities, get an additional eyepiece - perhaps 5mm or 6mm which would give x132 and x110 respectively. A Plossl design would perform well, but these have little eye relief at higher powers. Q: the phone adapter etc come included?.......or are they optional extras?. I didnt read that bit. I assumed they come with it. The price as mentioned above may be a bit high, but such is life. I personally find Celestron products to be slightly over priced anyway. My 1st scope was a 90mm Celestron on an equatorial mount and i paid nearly 400 euros (i'll let you do the conversion).

The question is...whilst I know we should get some pretty lovely views of the moon...does anyone have any idea if there's anything else we may spot? So those are the basics, but which of our chosen contenders for the best intermediate telescope you can buy will best suit your own particular requirements? Read on to find out… Celestron Inspire 100AZ vs Meade Polaris 114mm reflector telescope: design and features The Inspire 100AZ’s optical tube is a 100mm f/6.6 refractor with a focal length of 660mm-or so they say; in fact, they just stopped down a 102mm f/6.5 slightly due to the design of the front of the telescope being slightly different from the norm. Compré un juego de oculares extra, de 6mm (110 aumentos) y de 15 (43 aumentos), además de una barlow x2. As the editor for www.WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com, he has a wealth of enthusiasm and expertise for all things astrophotography, from capturing the Perseid Meteor Shower, lunar eclipses and ring of fire eclipses, photographing the moon and blood moon and more.