This review is from: Orion StarBlast 4.5 Astro Reflector Telescope
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.
