Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ Review

The Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ is a 50mm refractor telescope with an altazimuth mount. It’s on of the most affordable telescopes from the entire Celestron family.

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Most of the times a lower price point also means a product that’s lacking some features. But the 50AZ PowerSeeker that’s not the case as it comes with a series of features that make this telescopes a true value proposition for the absolute beginner astronomer.

The box contains the telescope, the finderscope, 3x barlow lens, three eyepieces (20mm, 12mm and 4mm), an aluminium tripod and the “The SkyX” software.

As with all the Celestron telescopes, special attention has been awarded to the optics. The fully coated glass optical components deliver bright and clear images. The images are also correctly oriented (means the objects don’t look upside down) due to the correct images prism that’s included which makes the telescope ideal for both terrestrial and night sky viewing.

The finderscope included is all plastic, but this is the case with most telescopes in this price range in order to keep the price down. Despite this fact it does it’s job and doesn’t subtract from the overall quality feel of the telescope.

The 3 eyepieces included in the package along with the barlow lens is what makes the 50AZ a value for it’s money as most other telescope packages include only two eyepieces and don’t even include a barlow lens at all.

And as with most telescopes there is a software included, and here we have the SkyX  First Light Edition astronomy software which has 10,000 objects in it’s database, printable sky maps and 75 enhanced images.

Overall this is a telescope with which you can’t go wrong if you’ve just starting out and plan on using it occasionally for night sky gazing or terrestrial viewing.

The Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ strong points:

This telescope’s strong points are definitely it’s price point along with it’s portability given by the total weight. It’s easy to use and very easy to assemble not requiring any tools or special instructions. The inclusion of the 3x barlow lens which tripes the magnifying power of each eyepiece.

The Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ weak points:

While this is a great telescope for an absolute beginner proving great view of the moons craters and planets, it might become obsolete after a few viewings by lacking the star gazing potential of other telescopes that are just slightly more expensive. The tripod has to be considered a weak point for this telescope if you’ve exploring the night sky outdoors and don’t have a perfectly flat surface, as it tends to be rather flimsy.

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Full technical specification:

Aperture (mm): 50 mm (1.97 in)
Focal Length: 600 mm (24 in)
Focal Ratio: 12
Focal Length of Eyepiece 1 (mm): 20 mm (0.79 in)
Magnification of Eyepiece 1: 30 x
Focal Length of Eyepiece 2 (mm): 12 mm (0.47 in)
Magnification of Eyepiece 2: 50 x
Focal Length of Eyepiece 3 (mm): 4 mm (0.16 in)
Magnification of Eyepiece 3: 150 x
Barlow Lens: 3 x
Finderscope: 5×24
Star Diagonal: 0.96″
Mount Type: Altazimuth
Tripod Aluminum
Highest Useful Magnification: 118 x
Lowest Useful Magnification: 7.14 x
Limiting Stellar Magnitude: 11
Resolution (Rayleigh): 2.79 arc seconds
Resolution (Dawes): 2.32 arc seconds
Light Gathering Power (Compared to human eye): 51 x
Apparent Field of View: 1.4 °
Linear Field of View (@1000 yds): 72 ft (22 m)
Optical Tube Length: 24 in (610 mm)