Comparison: Orion SpaceProbe 130mm F/7 Reflector and Celestron AstroMaster 90mm F/7 Refractor
I fell in love with the skies ever since I knew I could not learn astrology – the science of fortune telling, which is based on where all celestial objects are in relation to one another. Since I could not become an astrologer, I wanted to do the other thing, which was to observe the celestial objects. Although, I am not a professional astronomer, I can tell the difference between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. I have tried studying the sky, with no viewing aides, ever since I was a teenager. About 5 years back, I purchased my first pair of binoculars to view some of the more brighter objects in the sky and when I thought I had enough of the binoculars, I ended up buying the Orion SpaceProbe 130mm F/7 reflector telescope from Orion. Since my first telescope, I have bought one more - Celestron 90mm AstroMaster refractor. As you can see, both telescopes are for beginners, and the reason, I haven't bought some of the bigger telescopes is because, I consider myself an amateur, with very little time to venture out and keep viewing the sky for hours on end - although, believe me, I would love nothing more. The reason for this article is to compare the two telescopes and help those who are looking to buy their first telescope.
Reasons for Choosing the Telescopes I Own
Very early in my celestial observations, I had realized the need to be portable, along with the need to have as much aperture as your money can buy. Given that portability is of more importance to me than aperture, I had decided to limit the weight of the telescope, mount and tripod to about 40-45 lbs. Of course, I could have easily bought a Dob, without an EQ mount, but at some point, I want to take up astrophotography and for that reason, I am more biased towards EQ mounts. The second and quite important factor is the aperture. Typically, as a beginner, you want around 90-150 mm (3.5in-6in) coupled with a long focal length. This allows beautiful views of the moon and planets. With the right eyepiece and filter, you should be able to resolve sufficient details in the moon and planets. Of course, with bigger apertures, beginners can also start looking at some of the not so bright stars in the night sky. Lastly, I wanted to keep my budget for just the telescope to be somewhere under $300, this would have allowed me to buy decent eyepieces and filters. I would say, if you are spending about $250-$300 on a decent telescope – both the above telescopes will be under $300, then be willing to spend at least $100 on decent eyepieces and filters, bringing your total cost to about $400.
Equipment Comparison
Before I start comparing the two telescopes, I want the readers to keep in mind the fact that the SpaceProbe is a 130mm reflector telescope, whereas the AstroMaster is a 90mm refractor. Although, the telescopes differ in aperture, this review is really helpful when comparing the two mounts (Orion EQ2 and Celestron CG3, which are used on these telescopes). In general, bigger the telescope, the more heavier it will be from a portability standpoint. On the other hand, a bigger telescope will collect more light than a smaller one and have that much more magnification. Additionally, reflectors and refractors have their own inherent advantages and disadvantages, which is beyond the scope of this review.
I bought the Orion SpaceProbe 130mm reflector from Orion's website (www.telescope.com). Orion promised a 4-5 day shipping of the telescope and the telescope duly arrived in 4 days. The telescope, mount, tripod and all included accessories were packaged nicely – ensuring double box packaging with all items safely bubble wrapped inside each box.
As far as the Celestron was concerned, I ended up buying that from www.OpticsPlanet.com. OpticsPlanet is an online retailer, with their warehouse and headquarters in NW Chicago suburbs. I live close by, and hence picked up the item from their warehouse myself. The good thing about OpticsPlanet is that they do offer free shipping on purchases more than $250. Besides, they do carry other brands, in case you are looking to compare them. They too, had the telescope and the supplied accessories in one box, double packed and nicely bubble wrapped.
The staff at both OpticsPlanet and Orion are knowledgeable and helpful. They will guide you in case you want a decent professional opinion about telescopes and/or accessories.
The OTA for both telescopes is steel, which feels good and sturdy. As far as the optics are concerned, optics for both telescopes are well coated glass. The only thing about the Orion SpaceProbe 130mm F/7 telescope is that the primary mirror is spherical and not parabolic (giving rise to spherical aberration). They do sell another telescope, same size aperture, but short focal length (F/5) with parabolic mirror (which will get rid of the spherical aberration, primarily for deep sky viewing). It is really up to the buyer, what they want to observe in the night sky, if you are more into planets and moon, then go with the long focal length, the spherical aberration won't hurt you, if you are however thinking of deep sky objects, then a shorter focal length without the aberration is better. Beginners, should likely stick with the longer focal length. The reason being, it is very difficult and frustrating, finding DSO (especially if you don't know your way around the night sky) and very easy to loose interest in celestial viewing through a telescope. For beginners, I strongly recommend, viewing the moon and planets, before graduating to DSO and not so bright stars.
With regards to the tripods and mounts, the SpaceProbe comes with the EQ-2 equatorial mount, with the tripod being made of aluminum. The AstroMaster on the other hand comes with the CG-3 equatorial mount (which is the same as the EQ-2 Orion mount), however, the tripod is made of steel, making it a bit lighter as compared to the Orion tripod.
Although, the AstroMaster tripod and mount are lighter as compared to the SpaceProbe mount and tripod, I like the rigid and sturdy construction of the Orion mount and tripod more than the Celestron's. As far as the Celestron mount is concerned, I have noticed that it seems to rotate in either axes, even when locked. I have tried balancing the telescope, but so far, I do see the telescope and mount rotate if I try to view objects directly overhead. This seems like an apparent design flaw as far as the AstroMaster is concerned. I am guessing, you can correct this by buying the right counterweights.
From a portability standpoint, however, the Celestron wins hand's down. I believe there are two reasons for this. The first one is the fact that the AstroMaster comes with a dovetail plate attachment, which can be easily removed and fixed back onto the equatorial mount. This allows for easy dismantling and re-attachment of the telescope, thereby making it easy to carry the two (mount/tripod and telescope OTA) separately. The SpaceProbe on the other hand, does not come with the dovetail plate attachment, however, you can buy it separately, but you are paying extra for that. The second reason for extra portability on the AstroMaster is the way the accessory tray is attached to the tripod legs – no screws to tie to attach the plate to the legs – making it easy to remove the plate and folding the tripod legs, subsequently making it easier to carry the tripod/mount. Again, I cannot emphasize enough, the fact that I am really trying to compare apples to oranges – portability on a smaller scope is always going to be better. The important take away here is the fact that a dovetail plate mounting will significantly improve portability.
As far as setting up the two telescopes is concerned, setting up the SpaceProbe takes about 30 minutes, whereas setting up the AstroMaster takes about 20. Again, this might be important for beginners, because there aren't many parts to play with as far as the AstroMaster is concerned. However, that being said, the SpaceProbe just feels more secure and rigid. With all the different parts on the SpaceProbe, you can easily point out a failure point – if there is one. On the other hand, with the AstroMaster, it is that much more difficult, since all parts are pre-assembled. Also, ensure you read the manual for the SpaceProbe a couple of times, before you actually get the telescope, this will help you get really familiar with all pieces before hand, speeding up the setting up process significantly.
As far as the accessories are concerned, both telescopes come with a set of two eyepieces – 25mm and 10mm. None of the eyepieces are Plossl and pretty much provide the same magnification, since the telescope focal lengths are almost the same (SpaceProbe, 900mm and AstroMaster, 1000mm). However, I've liked the Orion eyepieces better than the Celestron eyepieces – no real reason, it's just that they feel well coated and seem to fit most of the filters very well, meaning the threads in the eyepieces are well made. Other than that, there is not much of a difference in the two sets of eyepieces. I would highly recommend getting at least one more eyepiece, and get a decent one at that – probably, a Plossl 6.3mm for exceptional planet views. I typically don't recommend a Barlow lens, the primary reason being, adding another piece of optic in the telescope tube, really decreases the amount of light being absorbed, and the really nice Barlow lens will cost you that much more. I would rather spend the money in buying decent eyepieces.
Lastly, the focuser. The focuser on both telescopes is made of plastic, which for a beginner, should not matter that much, but at some point, you may want to think of upgrading to either steel or aluminum focuser wheels. These will give you more stability and less vibrations when focusing an object.
Overall, I would say, the Orion SpaceProbe provides more stability through its rigid and sturdy construction, and although the AstroMaster is light and easily portable, I would prefer the SpaceProbe for its exceptional sturdiness – which is very important and I will discuss in the next section.
Performance
Before I start comparing the two, one should always remember, that reflectors and refractors have their share of inherent weaknesses and advantages. It is not the intent of this review to go into the details of those.
On the first night out, with my SpaceProbe, I saw the moon like never before. The views were really sharp, with most of the details on the moon easily resolved with the 25mm EP. Higher magnification, further improved the details on the moon. Comparing the views from both the telescopes, I can definitely say that the SpaceProbe outperformed the AstroMaster by quite a distance. Images of Jupiter have been fantastic as well, with me being able to view the 4 moons of Jupiter quite easily, on both the telescopes, using the lowest magnification. Higher magnification on the SpaceProbe has resolved the bands in Jupiter quite nicely. The problem with the AstroMaster is the fact that it is not an APO, which causes Jupiter views to have shades of blue and orange on its edges. Of course, you can get rid of those by using the right filters. I am yet to see the other planets with the AstroMaster, so a comparison would be inappropriate at this point.
The most obvious advantage of the SpaceProbe over the AstroMaster is the aperture size. It has almost 95% more light collecting ability than the AstroMaster, which really makes the performance comparison a little more biased towards the SpaceProbe. Having said that, because the SpaceProbe is more heavier and sturdy than the AstroMaster, it takes vibrations very well. I distinctly feel less vibrations and less shaking time with the SpaceProbe, which is the primary reason why I would rate the SpaceProbe higher than the AstroMaster.
The one advantage the AstroMaster has is with the finder scope. The finder scope on the AstroMaster comes with a red-dot, making it easy for you to point and see objects in eyepiece. But then again, if you are thinking of going with the SpaceProbe, think seriously about a Telrad. I have only heard good things about it and even people with red-dot finder scopes, prefer to have a Telrad.
Conclusions
In general, I would recommend the SpaceProbe to a beginner than the AstroMaster. Portability for both the telescopes is almost the same, however, a bigger aperture makes a huge difference. Besides, the sturdy and rigid feel of SpaceProbe is always more welcome than the “plastic” feel of the AstroMaster. In conclusion, I have noted the pros and cons for both telescopes. Please note, I have tried not to include advantages / disadvantages based on aperture size and inherent advantages / disadvantages of reflectors and refractors telescopes.
Orion SpaceProbe 130mm F/7 EQ Mount
Advantages:
* Well built, rigid construction, giving you a heavy feel (but not necessarily less portability)
* Ability to take vibrations well
* Better accessories, especially supplied eyepieces are very well made
* Sharp images with well collimated optics
* Easy collimation with the provided collimation cap
Disadvantages:
* Collimation may be intimidating for beginners, but there is no reason you cannot master it
* Finder scope and its calibration with the telescope. If not properly aligned, chances are, you will never find the object that you are looking for, get really frustrated with your hobby very quickly. Strongly recommend buying a Telrad, or ensuring proper calibration every time you take the telescope out
* Lack of dovetail plate attachment
Celestron AstroMaster 90mm F/7 EQ Mount
Advantages:
* Easily portable, primarily because of dovetail plate attachment to the mount and easily removable accessory plate from tripod legs
* Better finder scope, with red-dot pointer, making it significantly easy to point and view celestial objects
Disadvantages:
* Construction and materials give you a “plastic” feel, which although makes the equipment light, makes it susceptible to breakage
* Mount and counterweights not given enough design thought in the overall construction
* Shaking time is noticeably more than in Orion
Reasons for Choosing the Telescopes I Own
Very early in my celestial observations, I had realized the need to be portable, along with the need to have as much aperture as your money can buy. Given that portability is of more importance to me than aperture, I had decided to limit the weight of the telescope, mount and tripod to about 40-45 lbs. Of course, I could have easily bought a Dob, without an EQ mount, but at some point, I want to take up astrophotography and for that reason, I am more biased towards EQ mounts. The second and quite important factor is the aperture. Typically, as a beginner, you want around 90-150 mm (3.5in-6in) coupled with a long focal length. This allows beautiful views of the moon and planets. With the right eyepiece and filter, you should be able to resolve sufficient details in the moon and planets. Of course, with bigger apertures, beginners can also start looking at some of the not so bright stars in the night sky. Lastly, I wanted to keep my budget for just the telescope to be somewhere under $300, this would have allowed me to buy decent eyepieces and filters. I would say, if you are spending about $250-$300 on a decent telescope – both the above telescopes will be under $300, then be willing to spend at least $100 on decent eyepieces and filters, bringing your total cost to about $400.
Equipment Comparison
Before I start comparing the two telescopes, I want the readers to keep in mind the fact that the SpaceProbe is a 130mm reflector telescope, whereas the AstroMaster is a 90mm refractor. Although, the telescopes differ in aperture, this review is really helpful when comparing the two mounts (Orion EQ2 and Celestron CG3, which are used on these telescopes). In general, bigger the telescope, the more heavier it will be from a portability standpoint. On the other hand, a bigger telescope will collect more light than a smaller one and have that much more magnification. Additionally, reflectors and refractors have their own inherent advantages and disadvantages, which is beyond the scope of this review.
I bought the Orion SpaceProbe 130mm reflector from Orion's website (www.telescope.com). Orion promised a 4-5 day shipping of the telescope and the telescope duly arrived in 4 days. The telescope, mount, tripod and all included accessories were packaged nicely – ensuring double box packaging with all items safely bubble wrapped inside each box.
As far as the Celestron was concerned, I ended up buying that from www.OpticsPlanet.com. OpticsPlanet is an online retailer, with their warehouse and headquarters in NW Chicago suburbs. I live close by, and hence picked up the item from their warehouse myself. The good thing about OpticsPlanet is that they do offer free shipping on purchases more than $250. Besides, they do carry other brands, in case you are looking to compare them. They too, had the telescope and the supplied accessories in one box, double packed and nicely bubble wrapped.
The staff at both OpticsPlanet and Orion are knowledgeable and helpful. They will guide you in case you want a decent professional opinion about telescopes and/or accessories.
The OTA for both telescopes is steel, which feels good and sturdy. As far as the optics are concerned, optics for both telescopes are well coated glass. The only thing about the Orion SpaceProbe 130mm F/7 telescope is that the primary mirror is spherical and not parabolic (giving rise to spherical aberration). They do sell another telescope, same size aperture, but short focal length (F/5) with parabolic mirror (which will get rid of the spherical aberration, primarily for deep sky viewing). It is really up to the buyer, what they want to observe in the night sky, if you are more into planets and moon, then go with the long focal length, the spherical aberration won't hurt you, if you are however thinking of deep sky objects, then a shorter focal length without the aberration is better. Beginners, should likely stick with the longer focal length. The reason being, it is very difficult and frustrating, finding DSO (especially if you don't know your way around the night sky) and very easy to loose interest in celestial viewing through a telescope. For beginners, I strongly recommend, viewing the moon and planets, before graduating to DSO and not so bright stars.
With regards to the tripods and mounts, the SpaceProbe comes with the EQ-2 equatorial mount, with the tripod being made of aluminum. The AstroMaster on the other hand comes with the CG-3 equatorial mount (which is the same as the EQ-2 Orion mount), however, the tripod is made of steel, making it a bit lighter as compared to the Orion tripod.
Although, the AstroMaster tripod and mount are lighter as compared to the SpaceProbe mount and tripod, I like the rigid and sturdy construction of the Orion mount and tripod more than the Celestron's. As far as the Celestron mount is concerned, I have noticed that it seems to rotate in either axes, even when locked. I have tried balancing the telescope, but so far, I do see the telescope and mount rotate if I try to view objects directly overhead. This seems like an apparent design flaw as far as the AstroMaster is concerned. I am guessing, you can correct this by buying the right counterweights.
From a portability standpoint, however, the Celestron wins hand's down. I believe there are two reasons for this. The first one is the fact that the AstroMaster comes with a dovetail plate attachment, which can be easily removed and fixed back onto the equatorial mount. This allows for easy dismantling and re-attachment of the telescope, thereby making it easy to carry the two (mount/tripod and telescope OTA) separately. The SpaceProbe on the other hand, does not come with the dovetail plate attachment, however, you can buy it separately, but you are paying extra for that. The second reason for extra portability on the AstroMaster is the way the accessory tray is attached to the tripod legs – no screws to tie to attach the plate to the legs – making it easy to remove the plate and folding the tripod legs, subsequently making it easier to carry the tripod/mount. Again, I cannot emphasize enough, the fact that I am really trying to compare apples to oranges – portability on a smaller scope is always going to be better. The important take away here is the fact that a dovetail plate mounting will significantly improve portability.
As far as setting up the two telescopes is concerned, setting up the SpaceProbe takes about 30 minutes, whereas setting up the AstroMaster takes about 20. Again, this might be important for beginners, because there aren't many parts to play with as far as the AstroMaster is concerned. However, that being said, the SpaceProbe just feels more secure and rigid. With all the different parts on the SpaceProbe, you can easily point out a failure point – if there is one. On the other hand, with the AstroMaster, it is that much more difficult, since all parts are pre-assembled. Also, ensure you read the manual for the SpaceProbe a couple of times, before you actually get the telescope, this will help you get really familiar with all pieces before hand, speeding up the setting up process significantly.
As far as the accessories are concerned, both telescopes come with a set of two eyepieces – 25mm and 10mm. None of the eyepieces are Plossl and pretty much provide the same magnification, since the telescope focal lengths are almost the same (SpaceProbe, 900mm and AstroMaster, 1000mm). However, I've liked the Orion eyepieces better than the Celestron eyepieces – no real reason, it's just that they feel well coated and seem to fit most of the filters very well, meaning the threads in the eyepieces are well made. Other than that, there is not much of a difference in the two sets of eyepieces. I would highly recommend getting at least one more eyepiece, and get a decent one at that – probably, a Plossl 6.3mm for exceptional planet views. I typically don't recommend a Barlow lens, the primary reason being, adding another piece of optic in the telescope tube, really decreases the amount of light being absorbed, and the really nice Barlow lens will cost you that much more. I would rather spend the money in buying decent eyepieces.
Lastly, the focuser. The focuser on both telescopes is made of plastic, which for a beginner, should not matter that much, but at some point, you may want to think of upgrading to either steel or aluminum focuser wheels. These will give you more stability and less vibrations when focusing an object.
Overall, I would say, the Orion SpaceProbe provides more stability through its rigid and sturdy construction, and although the AstroMaster is light and easily portable, I would prefer the SpaceProbe for its exceptional sturdiness – which is very important and I will discuss in the next section.
Performance
Before I start comparing the two, one should always remember, that reflectors and refractors have their share of inherent weaknesses and advantages. It is not the intent of this review to go into the details of those.
On the first night out, with my SpaceProbe, I saw the moon like never before. The views were really sharp, with most of the details on the moon easily resolved with the 25mm EP. Higher magnification, further improved the details on the moon. Comparing the views from both the telescopes, I can definitely say that the SpaceProbe outperformed the AstroMaster by quite a distance. Images of Jupiter have been fantastic as well, with me being able to view the 4 moons of Jupiter quite easily, on both the telescopes, using the lowest magnification. Higher magnification on the SpaceProbe has resolved the bands in Jupiter quite nicely. The problem with the AstroMaster is the fact that it is not an APO, which causes Jupiter views to have shades of blue and orange on its edges. Of course, you can get rid of those by using the right filters. I am yet to see the other planets with the AstroMaster, so a comparison would be inappropriate at this point.
The most obvious advantage of the SpaceProbe over the AstroMaster is the aperture size. It has almost 95% more light collecting ability than the AstroMaster, which really makes the performance comparison a little more biased towards the SpaceProbe. Having said that, because the SpaceProbe is more heavier and sturdy than the AstroMaster, it takes vibrations very well. I distinctly feel less vibrations and less shaking time with the SpaceProbe, which is the primary reason why I would rate the SpaceProbe higher than the AstroMaster.
The one advantage the AstroMaster has is with the finder scope. The finder scope on the AstroMaster comes with a red-dot, making it easy for you to point and see objects in eyepiece. But then again, if you are thinking of going with the SpaceProbe, think seriously about a Telrad. I have only heard good things about it and even people with red-dot finder scopes, prefer to have a Telrad.
Conclusions
In general, I would recommend the SpaceProbe to a beginner than the AstroMaster. Portability for both the telescopes is almost the same, however, a bigger aperture makes a huge difference. Besides, the sturdy and rigid feel of SpaceProbe is always more welcome than the “plastic” feel of the AstroMaster. In conclusion, I have noted the pros and cons for both telescopes. Please note, I have tried not to include advantages / disadvantages based on aperture size and inherent advantages / disadvantages of reflectors and refractors telescopes.
Orion SpaceProbe 130mm F/7 EQ Mount
Advantages:
* Well built, rigid construction, giving you a heavy feel (but not necessarily less portability)
* Ability to take vibrations well
* Better accessories, especially supplied eyepieces are very well made
* Sharp images with well collimated optics
* Easy collimation with the provided collimation cap
Disadvantages:
* Collimation may be intimidating for beginners, but there is no reason you cannot master it
* Finder scope and its calibration with the telescope. If not properly aligned, chances are, you will never find the object that you are looking for, get really frustrated with your hobby very quickly. Strongly recommend buying a Telrad, or ensuring proper calibration every time you take the telescope out
* Lack of dovetail plate attachment
Celestron AstroMaster 90mm F/7 EQ Mount
Advantages:
* Easily portable, primarily because of dovetail plate attachment to the mount and easily removable accessory plate from tripod legs
* Better finder scope, with red-dot pointer, making it significantly easy to point and view celestial objects
Disadvantages:
* Construction and materials give you a “plastic” feel, which although makes the equipment light, makes it susceptible to breakage
* Mount and counterweights not given enough design thought in the overall construction
* Shaking time is noticeably more than in Orion
Labels: AstroMaster, astronomy, celestron, Orion, reflector, refractor, SpaceProbe, telescope
posted by dhaval brahmbhatt at 8/01/2008 01:17:00 PM
0 comments
