Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ 70mm f/13 Alt-Az Refractor Telescope

Introduction

Celestron designed the AstroMaster 70AZ 70mm f/13 Alt-Az Refractor Telescope as a multifunction starter-scope that can be used for both astronomical and terrestrial viewing. Its medium aperture and long focal length allow it to draw in a generous amount of light with a high magnification potential to allow observation of the larger planets and the moon. The included 90 diagonal has an integrated erecting prism that corrects the view to enable the scope’s use on land. Celestron includes two eyepieces for high and medium magnifications.

The AstroMaster is outfitted with a manual alt-azimuth mount and to make finding and tracking objects easy, there is an altitude control handle and an azimuth lock. Supporting the mount and optical tube is a stainless steel tripod with sturdy 1.25″ diameter legs and an adjustable height from 24 to 41-inches. Its center accessory tray pulls double-duty as a convenient place to store eyepieces and smartphones while it locks the legs in place to improve stability and reduce vibrations.

Optical Tube

• 70mm aperture
• f/13 focal ratio
• 900mm focal length
• Antireflection fully coated optics improve light transmission, color rendition, and contrast
• Resolution: Rayleigh: 1.99 arcsec; Dawes: 1.66 arcsec
• Rack-and-pinion focuser with 1.25″ drawtube
• Dovetail plate allows OTA to be attached to mount quickly and without tools

Mount and Tripod

• Mount:
• Manual alt-azimuth
• Control handle helps to adjust altitude
• Azimuth lock reduces vibration and additional movement
• Dovetail saddle accepts OTA plate
• Tripod:
• 1.25″ stainless steel legs
• Adjustable height from 24-41″
• Accessory tray locks in-place for added stability and vibration reduction
• Spiked feet provide additional stability on soft, rough, or uneven ground

Eyepieces and Accessories

• Eyepieces:
• 1.25″ diameter barrels accept most astronomical filters
• 10mm produces 90x magnification
• 20mm yields 45x power
• Diagonal:
• 90 angle places user’s head in a comfortable viewing position
• Built-in erecting prism corrects view for terrestrial use as a conventional spotting scope
• 1.25″ barrel and eyepiece holder
• StarPointer Finderscope:
• Unmagnified to provide an exceptionally wide field of view to make finding subjects fast and star-hopping navigation easy
• Projects a center aiming dot that won’t obscure the subject
• Variable intensity center dot won’t affect night-adjusted vision