Orion SpaceProbe 3 EQ Reflector Telescope
by ORION

Our Price: $149.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details

• Great for all-around astronomical observing, this is a great beginner's telescope at a great price!
• 76mm aperture and 700mm focal length for wonderful views of the moon, planets, and even some nebulas
• Includes sturdy tripod and equatorial mount for hands-free celestial tracking
• Includes two eyepieces, finder scope, focuser, collimation cap, and FREE astronomy software
• One-year limited warranty

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Orion SpaceProbe 3 EQ Reflector Telescope

Customer Review: Awesome!
Summary: 5 Stars

Description of Orion SpaceProbe 3 EQ Reflector Telescope

The Spaceprobe 3 comes with an unusually complete set of accessories. The package includes two very good Explorer II eyepieces (25mm and 10mm), an equatorial mount with adjustable tripod, a good red-dot finder, a student edition of "The Sky" planetarium program, and a well written manual. The package even includes the tools you'll need to assemble the telescope and align the optics.

The Spaceprobe 3 is a Newtonian reflector. That means it uses mirrors instead of lenses. Newtonians are primarily used for astronomy because the images are upside-down. Orion includes a collimation tool and good directions for aligning the mirrors. The reward for aligning the mirrors is seen in images that snap into sharp focus. My Spaceprobe 3 arrived properly aligned right out of the box.

With its Explorer II eyepieces, this telescope consistently delivers fine views. Using the 25mm eyepiece (28x magnification) the Pleiades cluster is simply wonderful, showing dozens of stars. From a rural location with a dark sky, the Orion Nebula is a big ghostly glow, and when I zoom in with the 10mm eyepiece, the Trapezium resolves into four tiny pinpoints. The double star Gamma Andromeda becomes two beads of light, one gold, the other one pale blue. Moon and planet images are crisp, with none of the false color I see in low cost refractors. When I look at the Moon I see mountains and terraced walls inside the larger craters. With the 10mm eyepiece (about 70x), Saturn's rings are sharply separated from the planet, and I can even pick out the planet's shadow on the rings.

If you point the polar axis at the North Star, the EQ-1 equatorial mount will make it easier to track the stars and planets; an AstroTrack motor will even give you hands-free tracking. A similar telescope, Orion's Spaceprobe 3 Altaz comes with an intuitive (and lighter weight) altazimuth mount, and Celestron sells essentially the same optical system with the computerized NexStar 76GT. -Jeff Phillips

Pros:

• Best in class optical performance
• Two good Explorer II eyepieces
• Complete accessory package

• Small 76mm aperture
• Upside-down terrestrial images

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