Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ Telescope

What the PowerSeeker 50AZ Is

The PowerSeeker 50AZ is a small 50mm (1.97") refractor, perfect for terrestrial and celestial viewing on the go. The whole kit weighs 2.31 lbs (1.05 kg), and the erect image star diagonal lets it double as a spotting scope by day.

It is a manual telescope with no computer: you find objects with the finderscope, a star chart or an app, and move the telescope up and down and left and right to follow them.

Refractor Optics

The PowerSeeker 50AZ is a refractor with fully coated optics. The 50mm (1.97") aperture and 600mm (24") focal length (f/12) gather 51x more light than the human eye. Its limiting stellar magnitude is 11 and its resolution 2.79 arc seconds (Rayleigh) or 2.32 arc seconds (Dawes); the highest useful magnification is 118x and the lowest 7.14x.

The tube is 435mm (17.1") long and 54mm (2.12") in diameter, weighs 1.1 lbs (0.5 kg), and has a lens shade attached.

The Alt-Azimuth Mount and Tripod

Put simply, you navigate the sky by moving the telescope up and down and left and right to follow your object in the eyepiece. On the 50AZ, you loosen the altitude locking knob, move the telescope to where you want it, ideally with the object already in the finderscope, and tighten the knob again.

The steel tripod has 31.75mm (1.25") legs and adjusts from 32" to 51" (812.8mm to 1295.4mm) in height. The adjustable legs let you set the height or place the telescope on a raised surface like a picnic table, and an accessory tray fits on the lower support bracket.

Setting It Up

Setup is a breeze: even on your first time out you can assemble the telescope and its accessories in just a few minutes. Spread the tripod legs fully and push down the center leg brace, extend each leg 6 to 12 inches and flip its tightening lever inward, then fix the accessory tray to the lower support bracket with its fastener. Remove the threaded bolt from under the tube, line the tube up with the hole in the mount and refit the bolt. Fit the finderscope on its screws with its front facing the front of the tube, insert the diagonal into the focuser, put the 20mm eyepiece in the diagonal and take off the lens cap.

Eyepieces, Barlow Lens and Finderscope

Three 0.96" eyepieces are included: the 20mm for low power and the widest view, the 12mm for medium power, 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 30x with the 20mm, 50x with the 12mm, 150x with the 4mm; the 3x Barlow lens turns these into 90x, 150x, 450x. Celestron's highest useful magnification for this aperture is 118x, so the 4mm alone (150x), the 12mm with the Barlow (150x) and the 4mm with the Barlow (450x) go past it: expect dim, soft views there. The 20mm with the Barlow (90x) is the highest combination within it.

The 1.5x image erecting eyepiece is meant mainly for daytime land viewing: the manual says it makes the image both right side up and correct left to right. It goes in like the Barlow and gives 45x with the 20mm, 75x with the 12mm and 225x with the 4mm (the last again beyond 118x); the Barlow cannot be used at the same time.

The manual says to put the Barlow straight into the focuser in place of the diagonal and 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 0.96" star diagonal turns the light at a right angle for a more comfortable view. Its prism makes the image right side up but reversed left to right; this right-side-up viewing suits land subjects and also works on celestial objects.

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

The PowerSeeker can view the planets, the Moon, star clusters and brighter deep sky objects like the Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy at night. Expect those two as soft glows rather than the detail of photographs: with a 50mm aperture, the limiting stellar magnitude is 11.

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.

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.

Software

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.