Celestron PowerSeeker 80EQ Telescope

What the PowerSeeker 80EQ Is

The PowerSeeker 80EQ pairs an 80mm (3.15") f/11 refractor with a manual German equatorial mount. A refractor uses a lens to focus the light, and with the included erect image diagonal the image is correctly oriented, so it also serves for land viewing. A quick and easy no-tool setup gets you started discovering the Solar System.

It is a manual telescope with no computer: you find objects yourself with the finderscope, a star chart or an app, and on the equatorial mount you follow them by turning the RA slow motion knob once the mount is polar aligned.

Refractor Optics

The PowerSeeker 80EQ is a refractor with fully coated optics. The 80mm (3.15") aperture and 900mm (35") focal length (f/11) gather 131x more light than the human eye. Its limiting stellar magnitude is 12 and its resolution 1.74 arc seconds (Rayleigh) or 1.45 arc seconds (Dawes); the highest useful magnification is 189x and the lowest 11x.

The tube is 645mm (25.4") long, 90mm (3.54") in diameter, and weighs 4.7 lbs (2.15 kg).

The Manual Equatorial Mount

This manual German equatorial telescope has a mount with two slow motion control knobs for fine pointing adjustments in right ascension (RA) and declination (DEC). The equatorial mount lets you tilt the telescope's axis of rotation so you can follow the stars as they move across the sky, and it carries setting circles on both axes.

For rough moves, loosen the RA and DEC locking knobs slightly and swing the telescope by hand; for fine adjustments, lock them and turn the slow motion cables. The longer cable is for RA and fits either of the two RA shafts; the DEC cable goes on the shaft just below the telescope mounting platform.

Balancing the Telescope

Balance in RA first: release the RA lock with the tube to one side and the counterweight bar horizontal, let go gradually and slide the counterweight until the telescope stays put. Then lock RA, release DEC with the tube level, let go gradually, never completely, and slide the tube forward or back in its rings until it stays still. Good balance avoids undue stress on the mount and, the manual adds, is crucial for accurate tracking with an optional motor drive.

Polar Alignment

The latitude adjustment covers approximately 20 to 60 degrees. The manual's easiest polar alignment uses the latitude scale: point the polar axis due north using a landmark, level the tripod, and raise or lower the mount until the latitude indicator shows your latitude. It can be done in daylight; it does not put you exactly on the pole, but it limits the corrections you make while following an object. Make the final altitude adjustment against gravity, raising the mount with the rear latitude screw.

At night you can get within about a degree by setting the tube parallel to the polar axis (the declination circle reads +90) and adjusting the mount in altitude and azimuth until Polaris, found from the two end stars of the Big Dipper's bowl, is in the finder. In the Southern Hemisphere the manual uses Sigma Octantis, a faint star about a degree from the south celestial pole. While polar aligning, move the mount, never the telescope in RA or DEC.

Finding Objects with the Setting Circles

To use the setting circles, align the RA circle on a bright star of known coordinates near the celestial equator; it does not turn with the telescope, so it must be set again each time. The declination circle is factory set. Then dial in your target's coordinates, lock each axis and check the finder; the accuracy depends on your polar alignment, and for faint objects the manual suggests a star chart to star hop to the target.

Tripod, Assembly and Weights

The tripod has 1.25" steel legs and an eyepiece accessory tray on its center brace. The complete kit weighs 10.6 lbs (4.81 kg).

The quick setup guide's steps: spread the tripod legs until they are fully extended and push down the center leg brace, extend each leg 6 to 12 inches and lock it, keeping the three the same length, and thread the eyepiece tray into the center of the brace. Set the mount into the tripod platform and thread the attached bolt into it from underneath, then thread in the latitude adjustment screw until the latitude scale shows your latitude. Slide the counterweight half way down the counterweight bar, thread the bar into the mount and lock the weight, and fit the two slow motion cables over the flat spots on the gear shafts. Finally, fix the tube rings to the mount with their wing nuts, close them over the tube and fit the finderscope on its posts at the focuser end.

Eyepieces, Barlow Lens and Finderscope

Two 1.25" eyepieces are included: the 20mm for low power and wider views, and the 4mm for high power. Magnification is the telescope's focal length divided by the eyepiece's focal length, and the 3x Barlow lens triples it. The manual's rule for the highest useful magnification is about 60 power per inch of aperture under average skies, and it notes that most observing is done at 20 to 35 power per inch. It also says the greatly magnified Barlow views should only be used under ideal conditions.

Worked from the focal length, the eyepieces give 45x with the 20mm, 225x with the 4mm; the 3x Barlow lens turns these into 135x, 675x. Celestron's highest useful magnification for this aperture is 189x, so the 4mm alone (225x) and the 4mm with the Barlow (675x) go past it: expect dim, soft views there. The 20mm with the Barlow (135x) is the highest combination within it.

The 20mm eyepiece's true field of view is 1.2 degrees, or 61 ft (19 m) at 1000 yards, which helps with land viewing.

To use the Barlow on a refractor, the manual says to remove the diagonal and put the Barlow straight into the focuser, then the eyepiece into the Barlow; you can also put the diagonal into the Barlow, but some eyepieces may then not reach focus. Start with the low-power eyepiece, which is easier to focus.

The erect image diagonal is a prism that turns the light at a right angle, so you observe in a more comfortable position, and corrects the image to be right side up and correctly oriented left to right, which the manual says is much easier for terrestrial observing. It can be rotated to whatever angle suits you.

To focus, turn the knob below the eyepiece holder: clockwise for a more distant object, counterclockwise for a closer one. If you wear glasses you may remove them at the eyepiece, but the manual says to keep them on if you have astigmatism.

Align the 5x24 finderscope in daylight on an easily recognizable object such as a streetlight, a license plate or a sign, as far away as possible and at least a quarter mile off. Center it in the 20mm eyepiece, then, without moving the telescope, turn the screws around the finder bracket until its crosshair sits on the same object; the guide suggests loosening one screw half a turn and tightening another by the same amount so the finder stays held. It won't need realigning unless it is bumped, dropped or removed.

What You Can Observe

It provides bright, clear images of the Moon, planets, star clusters and more for great nighttime viewing. You can follow the planets' changing positions with a web source or an app, and atmospheric steadiness is usually what limits planetary detail.

Start with the Moon on your first night: the best time is from two days after New Moon to a few days before Full Moon, when the craters and lunar mountain ranges show the most detail. Center it with the 20mm eyepiece, focus, then try the 4mm for a much larger view; you may need to refocus when you change eyepieces.

The manual is frank about deep-sky objects: most have a large angular size, so low to moderate power is all you need, but visually they are too faint to show the colour seen in long exposure photographs and appear black and white. Because of their low surface brightness they need a dark sky; light pollution around large cities washes out most nebulae.

Getting the Best Views

Viewing conditions decide what you see. Transparency (haze, moisture, thin cloud) dims faint objects and lowers contrast; sky brightness from the Moon or city lights hides extended nebulae but matters little for the planets and brighter stars; and seeing, the steadiness of the air, sets how much fine detail the planets show. Avoid looking at the planets low on the horizon or over rooftops and chimneys, and never observe through a window, whose glass will blur the image.

Photography

The manual says the PowerSeeker series was designed for visual observing. It describes short exposure photography of the Moon and the brighter planets with a camera attached to the focuser through adapters sold separately, and notes that Celestron's planetary cameras with image processing software also suit the Moon and planets. The quick setup guide lists a 1/4-20 mounting stud on one tube ring for cameras.

Care

To clean the optics, remove dust with a camel hair brush or a two to four second burst of pressurized air sprayed at an angle, then use an optical cleaning solution on white tissue, with low-pressure strokes from the center outward, never in circles. Dew can be cleared with a hair dryer on low or by pointing the telescope at the ground until it evaporates. Replace the covers after each session, since the tube is not sealed; internal cleaning and adjustments should be done only by Celestron's repair department.

Optional Motor Drive and Software

An optional single-axis motor drive (93514) for the PowerSeeker equatorial mount is sold separately: once the mount is polar aligned it tracks objects in right ascension, leaving only minor declination adjustments. It runs on one 9V battery.

Starry Night Basic Edition software and the SkyPortal app come with the PowerSeeker. Starry Night is a way to learn about the night sky and plan observing sessions, and you don't need it to use the telescope.