My son has always been fascinated by the universe .. for his 11th birthday, we asked him what he wanted and a Telescope was the answer. I went on a hunt for the perfect solution, allowing decent planet observation and introduction maybe of more deep space "stuff"

So I decided to buy a Celestron NexStar 8SE Telescope. It came in double quick time. As soon as I got it, I knew I would not be disappointed. The tripod it sits on is very sturdy, this has been a weak point in my previous smaller astronomy telescope, so good to see. It's dead easy to assemble, although best to do a trial run in daylight first.

I came across PicStop on a review website, it was highly recommended by everyone. So I looked and the first item I saw was this Review of Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114 AZ. I knew that this telescope would be the one for us. The main thing that sold it was that you could link your phone up via an app and could then see the sky around you

As a complete novice I was looking for a dual purpose telescope for celestial and terrestrial viewing. Living in a town environment but within easy walking distance to open countryside, I wanted a lightweight mobile scope that I could easily carry or stick in the car. The Celestron Travel Scope 70 DX with BackPack seemed to fit the bill!

​After doing a little research on the internet for a telescope that would be suitable for an adult novice but also have the ability to be useful for an intermediate, I came across the Celestron Astromaster 114EQ Astro Telescope. This seemed to tick all the boxes for me with its affordable price and a range of features that would allow a beginner like me to instantly enjoy.

I was given a book on stargazing so started looking for a telescope, and having done a small bit of research decided on a Celestron as had been told they were a good make. Having looked on the web I decided on purchasing the Celestron LT114AZ telescope as it was a good mid-price and looked simple for a novice. Product ordered, the next day it arrived.

I recently bought the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ, as I was really intrigued by being able to use a smartphone to guide me as a fairly novice hobby astronomer through the night sky. As with every new technology I was at first sceptic but… This actually works amazingly well. With no prior experience of the night sky and celestial objects you can take this telescope out, setup your phone and just like that, you are looking at the moon, star systems and various planets!

I waited over a week for a clear night, then set myself up for an evening of astronomy. The Starsense application is nothing short of genius. Once everything is aligned and your mobile phone is in the telescope's cradle, you press a couple of buttons to select what you'd like to see, the app works it's magic and directional arrows appear on screen, you follow these and a green lock on symbol appears, look through the viewfinder and there is your celestial body of choice. It really is that simple.

After doing a lot of research the Celestron 130EQ newtonian reflector model kept coming up and now it's clear to see why it's a great starting point.... Using the telescope itself we tested it out on some bright stars by configuring the viewfinder and taking our time to learn to use the different dials. We progressively moved onto different stars which just look like bright tiny lights in the distance but is fascinating to see.

I have always been interested in astronomy and the night sky but with a bit more time on my hands in lockdown I decided to get a bit more serious. That said I had no idea about telescopes and specifications, lenses, eyepieces etc so I looked around on the net and plenty of sites seemed to recommend Celestron as good beginner scopes. The 130eq seemed about the most powerful in the beginners price range that I was looking at and had good reviews for the quality of the optics and general build quality. It also seemed to be portable which many of the more powerful scopes aren't as the wight, length and bulk increases. As it can be used for daytime terrestrial viewing this is a plus point.

I have looked at a number of spotting scopes suitable for birdwatching, borrowing one to start with. I have just received my Celestron 20-60 x 60 and am delighted with it.