When I bought the celestron first scope off from Jia Siang for a 100 bucks, my major intention was to give it to a friend to thank her for her support and contribution to the HC astronomy club. Since the 'new scope curse' hangs above the island for the last 2 days after the AGastro conference, I only had a chance to try it out today. Other astronomers suffering from aperture fever had warned me against spending money on 76mm mirrors and that I won't expect to see anything other that the moon. Jia Siang wrote a review about it some time ago and the fact that venus was visible through its eyepiece (duh). Having started out in school astro clubs where the main artillery I used was an 8-inch light bucket and the recently acquired vc200L, I don't expect much from the scope either and was about to dismiss it as a scope for kids.
However, after the obs session from my balcony tonight , I had to conclude that small scopes like the humble 76mm firstscope have been indeed over-stigmatised. What I saw that night through thin clouds was comparable to what I saw during my entire astro career. Also, if given the choice between a Firstscope and a galileo scope, I will go for the small dobsonian.
Taking it out of the box, the main difference it come with a stock 12, 4, 6, 20mm eyepieces, a finder scope, a moon filter and the signature mount. The newtonian which tucks away nicely when folded up gives points to its portability and aesthetics appeal. Unlike the galileoscope, it comes with its own mount. I had some problem aligning the stock finder scope at first due to the unstable bracket but soon solved the problem by wedging paper around the finderscope itself. The short fl of 300mm also means that you can actually go without the finderscope, but the high altitude clouds tonight which makes naked eye visibility poor forced me to use it. While aligning, the smooth altitude-azimuth movement of the mount and the altitude lock came in very handy.
The first object visible is none other that Rigel kentaurus. The sun-like star can be see as reddish orange in the eyepiece, signifying that there is good color balance. I tried to search for blue halos but i found none, so it is a good sign. However, as I moved the star to the very edge of the eyepiece, coma can be seen. That didn't bother me much for what ever I wish to see is in the center of the eyepiece and I don't intend nor recommend this scope for astrophotography. I increased the power up to 75x with the 4mm stock eyepiece, and the image quality remained constant, while contrast and brightness decreases. There is a slight hint that Rigel kentaurus is a binary star, but the magnification is not high enough to visually resolve it. Perhaps, throwing a barlow on it is a possible solution.
Next on the list will be Shaula in Scorpius. I managed to find it with the aid of the finderscope and the star with its companion stands out brightly amongst the rest. Shaula is one of my favourite stars, for it is like my compass in the night sky. Moving the scope to the right and a little down, m7 fits snugly into the 20mm eyepiece. Individual stars with the cluster can be resolved and the pattern formed by the stars can be seen. Move the scope up and a little to the right, the butterfly cluster can be visible as a dim patch of stars. I switched to the 12.5mm and it is still there and some of the brighter stars can be resolved. Nevertheless, it still looks appealing. I panned the scope left and came across m24, the saggitarius star cloud, which again fits nicely into the wide FOV. Having used long focal length scopes for so many years, seeing the star cloud literally as a star cloud is spectacular. As the clouds were closing in, I went back to Shaula and panned it right. What intrigued me was the another star cloud around the HIP82729 region. To my astonishment, NGC 6231 can be resolved.
As you can see, I have gone a far cry from just looking at the moon and venus with this scope... The stable mount proved very effective so far. Next, I moved it to m8, the lagoon nebula and I don't expect to see much. You guys probably won't believe this, but OMFG! , is that nebulosity I see? I checked it twice to ensure it is not some random high altitude clouds and confirmed with my sister who turned away from watching Mythbusters on youtube and looked through the eyepiece unwillingly. Even from her eyes which have not adapted to night vision, the faint bluish white glow was visible. Myth Confirmed.
That put the final nail on my decision that I am sooooo gonna keep this scope for myself. And I highly recommend it to both the amateur and advanced astronomer out there, especially those who don't like stressing necks on binos. Having owned a Galileo scope, which is indubitably has a very good cost to visual quality ratio, I prefer the First scope.
Here is why:
1. In terms of mounting and stability (the mount comes with the scope), the first scope wins hands down. Even when encountered with strong winds during my obs session which sends coconut trees swaying, the firstcope was relatively unaffected, whereas the flexitube of the galileoscope (even if mounted on a good tripod) would have made viewing of clusters and smaller planets near impossible.
2. No diagonal is needed, the eyepiece is placed in a comfortable position. As for the galileoscope, you will have to attempt to dislocate your neck while looking at objects above 45 degrees elevation, or you will have to use it like Jack Sparrow.
3. The smooth rack and pinion focuser on the first scope is definitely more superior than the friction drawtube focuser on the galileo scope.
4. When used by the more experienced astronomer, objects which can be seen in an 8-inch dob can also be seen with ease. While the galileo scope with its relatively smaller aperture and longer focal length makes it much harder to spot and use.
5. The stock eyepieces that comes with the firstscope is of acceptable quality, whereas the first piece of advice I will give to someone with a galileo scope is to throw away the eyepieces.
6. One reason why people love the galileo scope will be its portability. However, considering the fact that you will also need to bring around a tripod to use it properly, that advantage is cancelled off. plus, the scope comes with its own carrying bag
7. The mount is very adaptable. You can place it on the table next to a star chart, on the groundsheet as body metabolism slow to a halt in late night star parties, or on a pelican case to use as a secondary weapon while the main cannon is taking shots of the night sky.
Last but not least, to do astro outreach around Singapore, the relatively low cost of this scope and the galileoscope means that I won't mind giving it away to exceptionally bright amateurs I encounter at public obs sessions in order to further fuel their passion for astronomy. The Galileo scope will also be an option, but that will only be relevant if he or she has his own tripod.
Review of first-scope vs galileo-scope
Review of first-scope vs galileo-scope
Last edited by Chris on Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
