Review on 🔭 Celestron C90 Mak Spotting Scope (Black) for Advanced Optical Exploration by Harry Jenkins

I bought this "spotting scope" mainly for astronomy use. Maksutov's Cassegrain design makes it an excellent street scope with very good optical visibility, with no chromatic aberration or "coma". other telescopes. This scope is a superb execution of the design and has excellent optical performance. However, there are a few limitations, which I list here: PROS: Because of its long focal length (F13.9), it works great with economical eyepieces. CONS: Comes with only one eyepiece (32mm, for 56x magnification). To get it as your first telescope, I highly recommend getting the Celestron 93230 8-24mm 1.25 zoom eyepiece. They work great together and offer stunning views of the planets and the moon. PRO: Very light, easy for hiking, carry-on on planes, dark sky trips, etc. Comes with a nice pouch. CON: no tripod included. This is the crux of the matter, because not every photo tripod is suitable for use in astronomy. A good astronomical tripod (with slow motion control or tracking) costs more than this telescope. It *can* be used with a good flexing head travel tripod (which I use), but you sacrifice "ease of use" for portability. PRO: Superb optics, very high useful magnification easy to achieve, and excellent views of the moon and planets, double stars that are easy to separate, and good views of some of the brightest nebulae. CONS: Very narrow true field of view: peaks at only 1°, which benefits many of the larger star clusters (like the Pleiades). not suitable. In addition, the weak fog appears very weak through the small opening of 90mm. BENEFITS: Fully open diagonal makes navigating the sky easier and doesn't get lost with reversed/mirror images. CONS: The 45° diagonal just isn't good for astronomy purposes, as it's very awkward to look at things that are very high in the sky (near the zenith). To use this binoculars as a telescope, you need to buy a "90° star diagonal", otherwise your neck will hurt. (I have a $18 SVBONY 1.25 90° diagonal from Revain and it works) PRO: Seeker is good. Fully retractable, good aperture, balanced magnification, easy alignment. CONS: The viewfinder is "straight". There are "RACI" (rectangular) viewfinders that are more convenient to use, although very expensive, so the included viewfinder works well. PRO: The price of this scope is unbeatable. Its optical performance per dollar is top notch. CONS: Not a complete package. Requires additional purchases of 90° diagonal and tripod/mount. The Celestron C90 was my first telescope and I am very happy with it. Best for planets, the moon, fissuring double stars, and some of the brightest deep sky objects (even more so when you can travel to very dark skies). If portability or price are your priorities, this is a good choice. However, for home use, a telescope with a larger aperture (150mm or more) at a slightly higher price is better. Note: These photos were taken with a Motorola MotoG3 and do not represent what you see through the eyepiece. .