Galileoscope - First Light

The above photo shows the $15.00 (plus postage) Galileoscope atop an optional (but recommended) camera tripod. My order was received yesterday. First light was last night - 25 July 2009 UT.

The telescope arrived unassembled with incomplete instructions. More complete instructions were available online. I never did find what I would call 'complete' instructions, but the remaining details I was able to figure out for myself.

The design of the Galileoscope was well thought out. All parts fit together very nicely. The objective is a high quality, 50mm glass achromat. Once fitted inside the optical tube assembly (OTA) the effective aperture becomes 47mm. The plastic eyepiece lenses do a decent job magnifying the image. The telescope can be used at 25x with the included eyepiece, 50x when the included barlow is added, or 18x if one desires to use the telescope as a true Galilean telescope (using the barlow as an eyepiece) - resulting in a narrow field of view (FOV) and erect image. In the 25x and 50x arrangements the image is upside down - typical of many astronomical telescopes, but the FOV is larger, making the telescope more comfortable to use.

Last night I observed and sketched seven astronomical targets including four galaxies (M101, M31, M32, and M110), a globular star cluster (M13), a double star (Mizar - aka Zeta Ursae Majoris), and a planet (Jupiter). A few other objects were observed but not sketched - including M33, a galaxy that some in light polluted areas cannot see even when using much larger $1,000 telescopes! I considered sketching M33, but I was getting tired and decided to go instead for the more beautiful trio of galaxies in the M31 family.

Even at 25x the FOV is rather narrow in the Galileoscope. I had to off-center M31 in order to include M32 and M110 in the same FOV.

Most of the night's observations were made at 25x. Jupiter was sketched at 25x and again at 50x. The double star was sketched only at 50x.

Jupiter's North Equatorial Belt (NEB), South Equatorial Belt (SEB), and Equatorial Zone (EZ) were all visible upon close examination at 25x. At 50x I was able to make out a zone south of the SEB and another north of the NEB. Since none of the Galilean Satellites were in eclipse or transit, all four were easily visible at 25x.

Some structured glare was apparent around Jupiter at 25x, perhaps from the uncoated, plastic eyepiece lenses. That was the only optical defect that really stood out at 25x. It went unnoticed for all other objects observed. Similarly, at 50x, the only optical problem encountered was a smooth, even glare throughout the field of view when observing Jupiter. No glare was noticed when observing any of the less brilliant targets observed. In my opinion the glare is easy to tolerate and ignore considering the price of the telescope.

I enjoyed observing and sketching the deepsky objects! Many, if not most amateur astronomers believe that 'aperture is everything' in a telescope - particularly when one wants to observe deepsky objects. In my opinion and experience a dark sky and observer experience are often of greater significance. I *really* enjoyed observing these objects with the Galileoscope!