You have two options here; you can either buy the kit separately or buy the FirstScope and kit bundled together. Either way, the total outlay works out about the same. There are some straightforward instructions on how to do this for anyone who’s never used a scope before. The instruction sheet also explains how to point the telescope, observe the image correctly and focus the view. There’s also a few brief notes on observing the Moon, planets, deep sky objects, terrestrial objects and optional accessories. Surprisingly, the user’s ability to aim the Celestron FirstScope 76 is more important than its optics when it comes to how well it works. Anything besides the Moon, planets, or any other naked-eye visible target is going to be a bit of a challenge to find.

A finderscope is also included in the box along with the standard two eyepieces and a free planetarium software and app. Its compact design makes the FirstScope Signature Series easy to take along on your next camping trip, picnic, or hike. When not in use, the FirstScope Signature Series: Moon by Robert Reeves will be a stylish decorative fixture on your bookshelf or desk. The Cometron edition of the FirstScope, as previously mentioned, comes with a 5×24 finder (slightly inferior to a red dot) and a pair of wide-angle eyepieces. Celestron has joined forces with master lunar imagerRobert Reeveson this new addition to the beloved FirstScope family: Moon by Robert Reeves. Important safety note: inspect your filter before every use. Do not use and discard if damaged, torn, punctured, or separated from the frame in any way.It was a similar story with Mizar & Alcor, the famous double in the Big Dipper’s handle. The pair are sufficiently far apart to produce an aesthetically pleasing view, while Mizar itself was a close but clean split. Cor Caroli, the brightest star in neighboring Canes Venatici, was also a clean split, with the primary appearing a peachy color and the secondary white. Celestron 8mm to 24mm Zoom Eyepiece – avoid having to carry a range of eyepieces with you by using a zoom eyepiece. This eyepiece provides a magnification range of between 13x and 38x when used with the FirstScope.

Another missing essential is a lunar filter. A must-have accessory that’s sometimes provided with some scopes, it attaches to an eyepiece and reduces the light from the Moon, thereby making for a more comfortable viewing experience. Without it, the Moon can be dazzling, and when you’re outside looking at the night sky, you’ll want to keep your night vision. If you’re looking for additional resources to improve your stargazing experience, we have a number of articles that you might find helpful.

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The Pleiades can always be relied upon to put on a good show, so if the FirstScope didn’t produce a good image of the cluster, it would have been a problem. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case, as the stars appeared sharp and blue, with the occasional white star visible among them. But unlike the previous two models, it has some additional features that partly justify it’s slightly higher price point.

The finderscope is a nice addition but overall the first model in this range along with the FinderScope accessory kit is a better option. Our Moon is the most popular object to observe with a telescope. It’s an obvious target that’s easy to locate and full of exciting geographical features to explore. Moon filters enhance lunar viewing by cutting down on the Moon’s bright glare, improving contrast and making faint details easier to observe. Amateur astronomers refer to Moon filters as “sunglasses for the Moon” because they provide a more comfortable view and reduce eye fatigue. If you’ve owned a telescope before you might be expecting a bit more, but unfortunately that’s not the case. There’s no finderscope, Barlow lens, lunar filter or smartphone adapter and no free software. While the FirstScope is hardly the most expensive on the market, this seems like cost-cutting to an almost unnecessary extreme. Quality & Durability

Celestron’s beloved entry-level telescope gets a stunning new look! The Signature Series FirstScope features a superb Moon image by astroimager and Team Celestron memberRobert Reeves Celestron Lens Cleaning Kit – dust can get everywhere and it’s important to keep the optics of your telescope and eyepieces clean. This kit has everything you need to ensure you get the best views possible. While this is common with reflectors, it seems somewhat conspicuous on the FirstScope and could prove irritating

The FirstScope 76 Newtonian reflector telescope comes with a simple tabletop Dobsonian mount to which it is semi-permanently attached. Altitude tensioning can be adjusted with a hand knob while azimuth can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the nut in the middle with a wrench or pliers. As to the smoothness of the mount’s motions, they’re pretty good, but it’s more or less irrelevant for a scope that is probably not able to handle more than 40x. Should I buy a Used Celestron FirstScope 76? Familiarize yourself with the Moon, our neighboring world. Robert Reeves’ signature FirstScope comes with a custom wrap that highlights 10 lunar features to explore including Tycho, Plato, and Copernicus. Learn more about the Moon with Robert Reeves’ Lunar Landscape eBookwhich goes into detail about the sizes of craters, how marias are formed, the natural history of the Moon, and other fascinating tidbits. About Robert Reeves Forget observing planetary nebulae—they’re too small to identify at 20x and trying to increase the power will, of course, only lead to blurry views.If you have a Celestron FirstScope telescope and want even more versatility and portability, take a look at the Celestron FirstScope Accessory Kit! It includes six separate pieces that will enhance your observations and help you learn even more about the Universe. You can buy an “accessory kit” for the FirstScope. All the kit contains is some more garbage Huygenian eyepieces, a useless 5×24 finderscope, and a cheap Moon filter, which you plain don’t need and don’t work well anyway. Celestron has joined forces with master lunar imager Robert Reeves on this addition to the beloved FirstScope family: the FirstScope Signature Series: Moon by Robert Reeves. This quality Dobsonian-style telescope features a spherical glass mirror with a generous 76mm of aperture. The FirstScope’s wide field-of-view provides bright, sharp views of the Moon’s mountains and craters in crisp detail. You’ll also enjoy using the FirstScope to pan the Milky Way, explore open star clusters, marvel at Saturn’s rings, or view favorite deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula. The moon filter is something that is most of the times overlooked by new astronomers, but it’s a great accessory to have as it puts the moon into an entirely new context. With a moon filter you get better viewing images of the moon and it’s craters as well as less strain of the eye when you have a full moon or almost full moon.