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The Orion StarBlast is a compact point-and-view altazimuth reflector that swivels smoothly on a sturdy, low-profile tabletop base. It’s a great gift for the young budding astronomer, one that won’t break Grandma or Grandpa’s birthday or holiday budget. It’s also a good second scope for Mom or Dad for spur-of-the-moment viewing when there’s not enough time to set up the big scope. It’s a nifty travel scope, as well as the right size scope to plop down on the patio table for quick glimpses of the sky between dunks in the pool on a hot summer night. The StarBlast comes pre-assembled and ready for action right out of the box. Just carry it outdoors by its built-in handle, place it on the ground or on a picnic bench, and let the fun begin. It weighs only 13 lbs., so carrying it is no problem, even for a youngster. Sky & Telescope magazine said “Orion’s spunky 4-1/2" StarBlast reflector is remarkably portable, easy to use, and provides nice views of the Moon, the planets, and beyond." Astronomy magazine said “Imagine a telescope that is small, light, has great optics, and costs less than $200. It’s not a dream – it’s Orion’s StarBlast, and the name says it all." The StarBlast’s 18" long aluminum optical tube holds quality telescope optics. The concave 114mm (4.5") primary mirror is ground and polished to a true parabolic curvature to give you surprisingly good views of the Moon’s craters, the planets, star clusters, and more. It’s not an inexpensive (and far less sharp) spherical mirror of the type you’ll find on most other starter scopes. And, unlike many starter scopes, its primary and diagonal mirrors are fully collimatable for optimum performance. The primary mirror uses a push-pull locking collimation system. This keeps the scope optics collimated (aligned) almost indefinitely and makes it difficult for small and curious fingers to affect the scope’s performance. A collimation cap for the focuser lets you align the scope optics quickly by eye, with no other collimation tool required. The scope has a wood tabletop altazimuth mount that’s surprisingly stable. There are no manual slow motion controls, but adjustable friction locks allow the mount to be moved smoothly from place to place in the sky by simply laying hands on the optical tube and pushing gently. Aiming the StarBlast is easy with the supplied red dot finder. The short tube damps vibrations quickly, so there’s no long annoying wait for the image to stop shaking enough to see after you move the telescope. The scope’s optical tube can be rotated in its mounting ring to bring the easy-to-use red dot finder and 1.25" rack and pinion focuser to the most convenient observing position. The two supplied 1.25" Explorer II eyepieces have a good 50° field of view, and show good contrast on bright objects like the Moon and planets. The standard eyepieces provide magnifications of 26x and 75x, a pair of powers that will keep you happily observing for a long time. The 17mm (26x) eyepiece has a wide 1.9° field, almost four times as wide as the full Moon, for good lunar and deep space views. The 6mm (75x) eyepiece has enough power to show you surprisingly detailed views of the planets and star clusters. Other eyepieces will give you still higher power capabilities as your observing interests and experience level expand. A handy eyepiece rack on the side of the scope keeps the eyepiece close at hand. The scope’s metal tube and small mirrors cool down to ambient temperature quickly, so there’s no wait to observe when you first go out. Good views of lunar features by the hundreds; the rings of Saturn; the storm belts and moons of Jupiter; plus many, many of the best and brightest deep sky objects – they’re all yours for the looking with the Orion StarBlast . . . at a price that’s almost too good to be true.
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