When you first begin to view the night sky as an amateur astronomer, you’ll likely start off by experimenting. By moving from room to room with your telescope and trying different positions outside, you’ll eventually learn exactly where the best viewing points are indoors and outdoors for checking out different types of celestial bodies in the night sky. Unfortunately, many telescopes make doing that necessary experimentation difficult because they are bulky and hard to move from place to place once they are set up. The Orion GoScope 80mm Tabletop Refractor Telescope, however, is a rare model that has the advantage of being both incredibly portable, as well as extremely easy for a beginner to use.
Clear, Bright Images
The Orion GoScope 80mm Tabletop Refractor has an 80-millimeter refractor that captures a large amount of light to give you the benefit of very bright images. The brightness gives the telescope the ability to target distant objects in the deep sky, so that you can see things like the Orion Nebulae that smaller telescopes would likely miss. The telescope comes complete with 10 millimeter and 20 millimeter eyepieces, and can magnify objects in the night sky by up to 165 times their size. An EZ finder is included that allows novice astronomers to locate objects in the night sky, and follow their movements with the utmost of ease.
Highly Portable
Although the Orion GoScope 80mm has a large refractor, the telescope is still highly portable. The model weighs only 5.7 pounds, so it’s very easy to lift. Because it features a tabletop mount, you can move it anywhere inside or outside of your home with ease. It can also be taken with you on the go; however, you will need to find a convenient surface to rest it on if you’re using the telescope in a remote area.
While many people find the tabletop mount for the Orion GoScope 80mm Tabletop Refractor to be ideal, some people do complain that the telescope does not come with a tripod. It’s true that using a tripod can make it easier to use a telescope in certain settings, but the truth is that you can still enjoy the convenience of hands-free tripod use with this model. The telescope does include a standard tripod mount, which is compatible with any photography tripod for cameras.
Final Thoughts
The Orion GoScope 80mm Tabletop Refractor telescope is truly an exceptional value when you compare its purchase price to others on the market. Although there are tabletop refractor telescopes that provide a more impressive viewing experience, you won’t find one that provides the same type of clear, bright images and that is sold for such an affordable price. As a result, this model is recommended for beginners who want a good viewing experience, but don’t want to invest a lot in their first telescopes.