Is the viewing of the stars and planets good?
819298
I gave it to my 39 year old son. He says it works well. You can even see the moons of Jupiter with it.
977783
I have not tried them for star gazing. I am guessing the wider angle of view than standard binoculars would work well for that. I have found these to be very durable and well worth the $20 or $25 I paid for them.
2238328
I have a pair and use them almost every night since to gaze at the stars. The Moon will Fill up your view nicely. If you view say Jupiter with them it will appear quite small but if conditions are good you can actually make out Jupiter's moons even. Very good for starting Astronomy from a starter and will be used once I get a good scope also.
1873331
No, You will not be able to see all the planets with great detail. I volunteer at an observatory with a 16" scope, and neptune still looks like a blue dot. If you want to look at planets, then get a refracting telescope. Also, you do not want an eq for your first scope.
2042955
Hey Joseph, to be honest with you I haven't tried looking at Jupiter. I do look at Saturn quite often. I can see rings, bands and all moons with really good clarity. Jupiter is much bigger and closer so I dont see why on a clear calm night you wouldn't be able to get a good shot with the starblast. Best of luck.
43860
If you want to see the moon and planets, then yes, it will work. But it won't work for anything else like deep space objects. Also, keep in mind that the images of planets you get live on the screen won't be terribly bright or detailed. That's not really the fault of the camera. That's just the atmosphere affecting the image.
1552329
Venus is very bright and due to its thick cloud cover its difficult to see anything but the light. But it is neat to focus on it and watch it go through its phases as the year goes by...similar to the moon phases. I have also gotten excellent views of Jupiter with the storm bands and 3 moons clearly visible, as well as Saturn and its rings. Moon viewing is amazing. Its hard to see a lot because of all the artifical light at night now, but i did take it to an Army field exercise where it was at least significantly darker, and actually got a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy and the orion nebula. For the price...I have seen some incredible things with this telescope. Venus is very bright and due to its thick cloud cover its difficult to see anything but the light. But it is neat to focus on it and watch it go through its phases as the year goes by...similar to the moon phases. I have also gotten excellent views of Jupiter with the storm bands and 3 moons clearly visible, as well as Saturn and its rings. Moon viewing is amazing. Its hard to see a lot because of all the artifical light at night now, but i did take it to an Army field exercise where it was at least significantly darker, and actually got a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy and the orion... » Read More Venus is very bright and due to its thick cloud cover its difficult to see anything but the light. But it is neat to focus on it and watch it go through its phases as the year goes by...similar to the moon phases. I have also gotten excellent views of Jupiter with the storm bands and 3 moons clearly visible, as well as Saturn and its rings. Moon viewing is amazing. Its hard to see a lot because of all the artifical light at night now, but i did take it to an Army field exercise where it was at least significantly darker, and actually got a glimpse of the Andromeda galaxy and the orion nebula. For the price...I have seen some incredible things with this telescope. « Show Less
2279567
You would probably be better off looking at a small telescope for star gazing, good luck.
2279568
I use mine regularly for sky watching, with good results. However, a larger objective would make for brighter views.
2210052
This unit is just a finder. You cannot use it to see the planeta or stars; for that you need a telescope. This unit just helps you identify what you are looking at
1158916
you'll see alot more then that if you really look well, so be sure thats what you really want to do. You'll discover a truth you may not be ready for and it invalves our governments lies about UFO's( yes i've seen them with mine) You may laugh ,but you wont for long. Yes- you'll see real well, even stars. Only thing is they dont give you a wide view in order to see them comming and they come in sooo fast,you'll miss them unless your on it already( meteors).
1765727
I gave this to my daughter when she was 10. It is simple to use, provides a very good view of the moon and really bright planets like Venus. It also comes with a program for your pc that lets you put in where you live and shows you what constellations and planets should be visible in the night skies in your area based on the time of year and direction you're looking.
350547
These binoculars are good for night viewing. As for star viewing, they will do for a beginner. Once you get more into star viewing, you will probably want something more powerful. Amazon has plenty telescopes to choose from.
622876
If viewing relatively fixed objects at long distances is all you want to do, a telescope would be better. For general use and very basic star gazing, these would be fine.
214744
It all depends on the eyepieces. However, you can see Jupiter and Saturn in good detail with the supplied eyepieces. Naturally, the better eyepieces you get, the better images you will see. Keep in mind, however, that this is a very good entry level/novice telescope. But, I can say that it is perfect for my 12 year old junior astronomer. We are fortunate to live in a college town that has an observatory, so we are able to visit it to see higher quality images. But, I'm very pleased with this telescope and would purchase it again -- the only "upgrade" I would get would be the motorized, GPS based tracking system to make finding objects easier. It all depends on the eyepieces. However, you can see Jupiter and Saturn in good detail with the supplied eyepieces. Naturally, the better eyepieces you get, the better images you will see. Keep in mind, however, that this is a very good entry level/novice telescope. But, I can say that it is perfect for my 12 year old junior astronomer. We are fortunate to live in a college town that has an observatory, so we are able to visit it to see higher quality images. But, I'm very pleased with this telescope and would purchase it again -- the only "upgrade" I would get would be the... » Read More It all depends on the eyepieces. However, you can see Jupiter and Saturn in good detail with the supplied eyepieces. Naturally, the better eyepieces you get, the better images you will see. Keep in mind, however, that this is a very good entry level/novice telescope. But, I can say that it is perfect for my 12 year old junior astronomer. We are fortunate to live in a college town that has an observatory, so we are able to visit it to see higher quality images. But, I'm very pleased with this telescope and would purchase it again -- the only "upgrade" I would get would be the motorized, GPS based tracking system to make finding objects easier. « Show Less
1342700
I took it to the mountains at a friend's cabin. I was able to see stars better than his son's mounted telescope ($150 - 200 type). It didn't have the zoom of the telescope, but the field of view and sharpness of the binoculars was much better. I have not had the opportunity to try them on Jupiter's or Saturn's moons. One great feature is that you can focus in on your object and then use the zoom lever. I like the binoculars a lot. And solidly built.
1943774
Yes, definitively. But not with the standard lenses. The Sirius Plossi 10mm are good enough for interesting lunar views. Planets are still too small to really enjoy. But I bought 2x, 3x and 5x Barlow lenses and that is really good. A 3x Barlow with 10mm Plossi means 180x power. Nice views of Jupiter (Red Storm quite visible, atmosphere details as well) and Saturn (clearly defined rings). 5x Barlow with 10mm Plossi means 300x power. Good enough views (hard to focus without a 2-speed focuser, much more chromatic aberration). Furthermore, if at 180x it is already difficult to keep plante on view field (due to earth rotation movement), at 300x is almost impossible (unless you keep your eye on and keep adjusting position manually). For planets, a motorized mounting is mandatory. Also, at such high power, a usb camera plugged to a notebook would provide a much more effective way to see images (at notebook screen, obviously, not so "enjoyable" as a direct sight at ocular lens). I just bought a USB camera, as well as two astrophotography cameras, but have not yet opportunity to test. So, all in all: 1) for pleasant planetary views, with low cost, this Orion 120ST + 3x Barlow is really good 2) for formidable planetary views, consider upgrade either to a 100-to-120 APO Refractor or to a 160mm Reflector, with motorized mounting and good cams.