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Amazon.com Review The Nexstar 60GT is Celestron’s most affordable computerized telescope. For a surprising price, you get a complete telescope with three eyepieces (and a finder), an adjustable tripod, and a computerized tracking system with a database of 4000 objects.

With the help of the well-illustrated manual, it takes only minutes to assemble the Nexstar 60GT and connect the batteries or optional AC adapter.

The NexStar handset is your user-friendly guide to more than 4,000 celestial objects.

Nexstar’s “quick align” feature allows me to track bright objects like the moon and planets right away, but to get the most out of the tracking system the computer needs to be oriented to two bright alignment stars. Celestron includes some basic star charts, but if you don’t already know a few constellations, you’ll want a guide book like Nightwatch or a magazine like NightSky to introduce you to the bright alignment stars by name.

Once the Nexstar alignment is completed, the fun of seeing star clusters and planets and galaxies is as easy as pushing a few buttons. The low power 20mm eyepiece (35x) is best for viewing open star clusters and finding objects; I use the 10mm (70X) and 4mm (175X) eyepieces to zoom in on stars and planets. The planets show up quite nicely at 70x, and they’re even better with a 6mm plossl eyepiece at 117x. Venus looks like a tiny crescent moon, Jupiter shows off its two major cloud bands, and Saturn’s rings are sharply separated from the planet. Bright double stars also show up well. Castor, one of the twin stars in the constellation Gemini, turns out to be a double star only four arc-seconds wide. You’ll need that 6mm eyepiece (117x) or the included 4mm (175x) to separate Castor into two beads of light.

Students from middle school on up will find the Nexstar 60GT just the right size. It’s affordable, it’s light and portable, and it’s an easy introduction to the world of computerized telescopes. My first telescope, made of telescoping cardboard tubes, came from an ad in Popular Mechanics magazine. I would have been thrilled to have a telescope as good as the Nexstar 60GT. An adult with a serious interest in astronomy, however, is likely to outgrow a 60mm telescope rather quickly. It takes a larger scope to see the divisions in Saturn’s rings or resolve globular clusters into individual stars; if you want that kind of detail, take a look at the telescope buyers guide for some larger ideas. —Jeff Phillips

Pros:

• Complete package is light, portable, and affordable
• Classic refractor design for good planet views up to 120x
• Nexstar computer finds planets, star clusters, and galaxies for you

Cons:

• It’s small–the only way to see more detail is with a bigger telescope
• Batteries only last a few hours