Celestron PowerSeeker 60AZ Telescope

What the PowerSeeker 60AZ Is

The PowerSeeker 60AZ is a 60mm (2.36") f/12 refractor, perfect for terrestrial and celestial viewing on the go. The complete kit weighs 4.2 lbs (1.9 kg), and the erect image 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 60AZ is a refractor with fully coated optics. The 60mm (2.36") aperture and 700mm (28") focal length (f/12) gather 73x more light than the human eye. Its limiting stellar magnitude is 11.4 and its resolution 2.32 arc seconds (Rayleigh) or 1.93 arc seconds (Dawes); the highest useful magnification is 142x and the lowest 8.57x.

The tube is 522mm (20.6") long and 63mm (2.48") in diameter, and weighs 1.8 lbs (0.82 kg).

The Alt-Azimuth Mount and Tripod

The mount moves up and down (altitude) and side to side (azimuth). The manual says the altitude locking knob controls the up and down motion and the azimuth lock the side to side; with both loose you find your object through the finderscope and then lock them. For fine adjustments in altitude, with the altitude lock tight, you turn the knurled ring of the altitude slow motion rod in either direction.

The steel tripod has 1.25" legs and adjusts from 32" to 51" (812.8mm to 1295.4mm) in height; the adjustable legs also let you place the telescope on a raised surface like a picnic table. An eyepiece accessory tray threads into the center leg brace.

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 lock it, keeping the three the same length, and thread the tray into the brace. Insert the slow motion control rod attached to the tube into the hole on the mount, line the tube up and secure it with its two threaded mounting bolts. Fit the finderscope on its posts with the longer lens facing the front, insert the diagonal into the focuser, put the 20mm eyepiece in the diagonal and take off the lens cap.

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 35x with the 20mm, 175x with the 4mm; the 3x Barlow lens turns these into 105x, 525x. Celestron's highest useful magnification for this aperture is 142x, so the 4mm alone (175x) and the 4mm with the Barlow (525x) go past it: expect dim, soft views there. The 20mm with the Barlow (105x) is the highest combination within it.

The quick setup guide puts the Barlow in the diagonal in place of the eyepiece, then the eyepiece into the Barlow. 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

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 60mm aperture, the limiting stellar magnitude is 11.4.

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.