Optics are decent for a scope of this price with some coma around the edges. Lightweight and very portable (though you need a table to set it on). Telescope Reviews
Wide field views are great. But when you put in the high power (short focal length) eyepiece, it becomes nearly impossible to keep the object in the field of view. The mount simply isn’t smooth enough to move without jerkiness. This has been a disappointment in what could have been a very nice scope.
As usual from Orion nice optics for the price. Would work much better on XT4.5″ mount& base. I’ve experimented with this scope taking mirror cell out & installing altitude bearings from a xt4.5.
Then installing on XT4.5 base & mount. Balance is not an issue on such a short focal length. High power views are now easy to track plus height is a liile better. If you love your starblast order an XT4.5″ mount & base from Orion. Telescope Reviews
Probably under 100 bucks. My XT8 base was 110 shipped. Only thing is you’ll have to dig up used altitude bearings from somebody. Well worth the work. I do not suggest attempting this unless your absolutely sure what you have to do to make it work, drilling of holes for bearings, alighning bearings evenly side to side, etc. But the results are great
My sister was considering a telescope but was unsure whether or not she must put out a large amount of cash for something she may not usually use. I suggested the Orion StarBlast Astro Telescope as a way to test the waters 1st. The telescope is very inexpensive, yet reviews from the scope are fine. What I didn’t assume was how great this tiny telescope could be. Saturn’s rings are obvious, having a hint of Cassini on still nights. Jupiter’s two primary bands are obvious as well, and globular clusters are much brighter and far more resolved than you would believe possible for a scope of this value (do not expect glittering jewelry boxes though.)
The scope is properly built, solid, yet lightweight. Its incredibly easy to use, as well as the view in the primary’s sweet spot is bright and clear. Outside the sweet spot the images get distorted quickly, but for this value that’s a small consideration.
Like the rest with the scope, the red dot finder is easy to use. My sister’s scope did not have the jerkyness other reviewers have reported, but I can’t say no matter if we were lucky or they weren’t. Telescope Reviews
I have an informal check of whether a initial telescope is any fine: did the new owners place it in closet right after a few frustrating attempts, or have they developed a growing fondness for and knowledge of astronomy? In our case the little StarBlast excelled at this check.
One prior reviewer asked why, using a telescope this great at this cost, everybody didn’t have a telescope? Great question — for a initial scope, its nicely worth the cost. If you are planning to buy or give a first scope, I wouldn’t look any further. You will still be happily making use of this scope long right after you move up to larger, much more powerful telescopes.
Very first, let me share my experience: I’m an advanced amateur astronomer, having been in the hobby for over fifteen years. I have a 16″ diameter telescope that I made myself, and I worked for a telescope firm (not Orion!) for 4 years, designing telescopes for them. I think I know a little bit about telescopes…
I bought this scope (my 5th!) mainly because it received a quite positive review in Sky & Telescope magazine, and it fit my needs: something portable, easy, of excellent quality, and inexpensive. I bought it with the intention of using it only for quick sessions when someone asks me to look at something. I’ve ended up using it for much more than that!
In talking with my students, I see that choosing a telescope becomes incredibly complicated if you try to learn about the features and specifications and try to make a choice that way. Frankly, don’t bother. Just buy this one and most likely you’ll be satisfied. It certainly beats other telescopes in its price range.
It has only 2 drawbacks. First, the eyepiece ends up extremely low, so you need to place the scope on a table, crate, etc. The option is to observe on your knees, which is fine for most, but might not be what you expect.
The second drawback is that views of the planets will be small. But they WILL be decently SHARP. I would recommend buying a 2x Barlow lens, to increase power. This is an inherent tradeoff in wide-field telescopes like this one, and a tradeoff I would take ANY day because finding objects is much easier if you’ve got a wide field of view. Just buy the Barlow and you’re all set.
Some other reviewers mention a “jerky” motion in either axis. You can adjust that! Just loosen the bolt holding the axis together, and you’ll reduce friction. Note, however, that if it’s too loose, the scope won’t stay put! This happens on every telescope, by the way, not just this one.
I highly recommend this scope. Good luck, and keep looking up!
This telescope is adequate for seeing the moon in great detail, very small images of planets, and some detail in nebulae. However, don’t expect to see huge colorful gas clouds filling the viewing field of the eyepiece…I naievely thought I’d be able to see at least a smaller image of those beautiful Hubble-style nebula shots, but later learned that almost no amateur scope can deliver that kind of viewing. The best Telescope Reviews
You have to be willing to spend thousands to get that, and get into astrophotography to boot, with a specially mounted scope that follows the stars with the earth’s orbit so you can expose the film long enough to capture colors. However, we’ve had fun with the StarBlast, and the Orion company has excellent customer service & quick shipping.
FYI, you can usually get free shipping on “starter scopes” if you order directly from Orion (telescope.com), and despite what their website says they can work with you on shipping small-moderate size items to PO Boxes if you call them.
I chose this based on reviews here and at Science magazine. It was suggested as a higher-end beginner’s telescope, and it’s wonderful. It required nearly no assembly at all the starry night software it comes with is incredible; the EZ finder makes locating celestial objects a no-brainer; it is compact sufficient to carry in one hand utilizing the wooden handle; it’s well-made; it works! I saw Jupiter’s moons within a half hour of opening the box.
The selling price on this is appropriate. I had a few persons who utilized it ask me how much it was, and they were all genuinely surprised since it performs so properly and is so sturdy. I’m happy with the price, simply because why waste a bunch of money on attributes you do not understand or know how to use effectively (like computerized functions), when really you just want some excellent views of the night sky?
I’d say, if you’re acquiring started, begin with this and you can move on to more complex characteristics and views later. This has just what you require, absolutely nothing additional, absolutely nothing less. I don’t think there’s a better deal for such a wonderful telescope anywhere else on Amazon.
I have been interested in astronomy for over 50 years and am familiar with quite a few amateur level scopes. Never had a chance to view with the “big boys” but I do know the difference between a toy and an instrument and this scope is not a toy.. I in fact bought this scope as a gift for a quite remarkable 5 year old thinking that it might spark some interest. Prior to giving it to her, I took it for a test run. Within 10 minutes of taking it out of the box it was ready to go. The tabletop model is extremely to move around and setup is a breeze. It uses a battery powered red dot finder rather than a finder scope but this was basically a blessing.
The alignment is proper on. If the red dot is on target, the object is visible. The night I introduced the youngster to the scope afforded just a few targets. No moon out or major planets were visible. She was fascinated far more by the red dot finder than the targets visible. A few nights later, although, her parents took her out and showed her the moon. Now she can’t seem to get enough.
If I’ve any gripes at all, I would have liked to see eye pieces with a small a lot more relief as both the little girl and I wear glasses. Also a moon filter would have been a nice addition. All in all although, I was so impressed, I am going to have myself the 6″ model. I’m not into photography, just looking and this scope does a fine job.
If you’re the occasional stargazer on a budget, you couldn’t do much much better. And hopefully, I’ve sparked an interest in another that will afford her the same pleasure that astronomy has given me almost all my life.
As a teen, I had a tripod refractor scope that I went via the business of setting up, aiming, lining up, moving, aiming and so forth. Much to my surprise, this scope blew away those kinds of troubles I’d experienced years ago. Assembly was only the sight and also the eyepiece, everything else was already together.
Looking via the sight there’s a red dot that looks like it’s laser-sighted. After lining it up, I’d looked into the eyepiece to come across it was dead-on! Moon targeting took under three seconds.
Mars in about ten seconds. Swapping out eyepieces was a breeze and remained aligned. Swivel base was steady and simple to turn, all moving parts were smooth and intuitive. Portability was a selling point for me, no bulky tripod to pack up for a camping trip. It is a stunning desktop scope for any hobbist.
At 4.5 inch aperture the Starblast gathers a reasonable amount of light, has a useful robust mount and includes 17mm and 6mm eyepieces (x26 and x75 magnification). The Starblast also comes with a simple red-dot finder to make it easy to aim the scope. My ten-year old (with a normal ten-year old boy’s attention span) is able to find objects such as Orion’s Nebula, star clusters, and faint galaxies two-million light years away (Messier objects 81 & 82) without difficulty. Planets also look great.
There is a saying that the best telescope is the one you use the most. This relatively cheap and functional scope arrives already assembled and ready to go. It can be taken outside for a few minutes viewing with no preparation or effort required.
The only caveats with the Starblast are:
(1) it is a reflecting scope and does not invert the image to the right way up. This is unimportant for astronomy but makes it not useful for terrestrial viewing.
(2) it needs to be placed on a table or other object as the sturdy stand is very short.
(3) although the scope is not heavy and is easy to carry outside, the mount does not fold away like a tripod in a case and so the scope is not really designed to travel.
(4) it has a short focal length. A consequence of this is that, although with 4.5 inches of aperture you have enough light to get x200 magnification, to get these higher magnification views you would need to use an eyepiece with very limited eye relief i.e. a small opening making it less comfortable to use.
(5) I didn’t find the supplied software easy to use compared to other programs. However this is not required to enjoy the scope and there are a wealth of websites that provide information on what’s observable in the night sky.
To help you get started and find objects that will excite you and your family, refer to some of the beginner’s guides on websites or get “Turn Left at Orion”.
We added the following accessories; solar filter which allows viewing of sunspots; a moon filter allowing study of the moon without excessive glare; x2 Barlow lens effectively extending the supplied eyepieces from x26 and x75 to x52 and xፖ respectively. This significantly increased the overall cost but greatly added to the versatility.
I’ve had an Orion StarBlast for over a year now, and even even though I’ve larger, more sophisticated telescopes, it will be the one I use most. The setup is instantaneous although, like other reflectors, it takes some time to cool down on cold nights. It’s quickly portable, and works well being a grab `n go. The short focal length makes it exceptional for low power, wide field views of deep sky objects along with the moon. By way of the StarBlast, I have observed (to name a few) the Ring Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy (along with its two neighboring galaxies), Galaxies M81 and M82, countless open clusters, the Lagoon and Trifid nebulas, The Eagle Nebula, the nebula in Orion, comets NEAT and LINEAR. Jupiter’s belts and moons are apparent at higher power, as are Staurn’s rings as well as the phases of Venus and Mercury. In the course of the last opposition, I could see Martian polar ice caps. In the course of the last lunar eclipse, I had no trouble taking digital photographs through this instrument.
This is the same fast optics formula as the Edmund AstroScan and Bushnell Voyager bowling ball. The StarBlast is far and away the ideal of the three, but as with the others, the high power views are soft. That feature is not a difficulty for those of us primarily interested in deep sky. Planetary views could be more detailed, and my own StarBlast won’t split the double double in suburban skies. (Orion’s somewhat longer 4.5″ f 8 dobsonian is a lot more suited to these subjects.) Additionally, most globular clusters present as unresolved fuzzy balls, as they will in any instrument of this aperture.
For the price, although, you can’t actually beat the StarBlast. It works well as a family telescope, or as a casual scope for someone interested but not obsessed by astronomy. It can be little, inexpensive, and intuitive sufficient to be handled by kids. It also functions nicely for crusty old guys like me who have bigger hardware, but just don’t feel like moving it each and every night.
