Cosmos at Glance

Since I was a little kid I am always amazed about those sparkling lights up in the sky, I wonder what they are and is there any way to go there. I love astronomy but I don't have the equipment, since I live in the Philippines and having a telescope was a luxury for most of us which I and my family can't afford. I always dreamed of having one but that not what we needed for living. As time goes by, and now I’m 23 years old I am a stable job, I want to own one. Luckily my Aunt who lives in America sent me a Birthday present, a telescope!

My first telescope was a table top BARSKA 40070 refractor telescope. It has 70mm aperture lens and a focal length of 400mm, it includes 2 eyepieces the K20mm and SR4mm, and also a 3X Barlow lens. This was my very first telescope. It took me an hour to assemble and I'm really excited.

At first I am having trouble using the telescope, since i don't know how to use it. I kept reading the manual and trying to figured out how to use it. This telescope had a sturdy table top tripod. Well, you need a table or something to place the telescope above the ground for easy viewing.

I live in an urban place which is not good for viewing deep sky or for astronomy, light pollution are heavy. My first attempt was to look at the moon. I am trying hard to focus onto the moon.  The focuser was properly which is really my fault. And when I finally get the moon center I was really amazed. I said to myself, I only this on the internet and on the book. Using the K20mm eyepiece i get a wide FOV of the moon, as expected from a 70mm aperture telescope, a small telescope. Even my mom and dad and my sister was happy seeing that event.

IMO, this telescope is worth buying, it really meets your expectation, it’s cheap but the quality was good. Even when i get old I will never sold this scope to anyone. I will treasure it. The only drawback about his telescope is the table top tripod and the knob on the axis, it was made of plastic and there is a metal spring inside, there is no slow motion. You cannot view object within 90degrees angle and the diagonal was 45degree angle which is only good for terrestrial viewing and not astronomical viewing. And the 3X Barlow lens, I don't if this is useless or I only don't know how to use it, I tried using it once but I don't even see a thing, i tried focusing and aligning but nothing. Maybe it’s my fault or the Barlow really sucks. I found online that the SR4mm sucks but in my opinion, it’s worthy. With this small telescope I can see the Saturn ring at 4mm which is spectacular!!! I went online and bought a 90degree diagonal and 2 eyepieces.

I recommend this telescope! Worth buying!